following your passion

This week in drama* on the waterfront, we hear from Scotty Cotter about a typical day in rehearsal of the beautiful ones – following your passion! 

Scotty Cotter, currently starring in the beautiful ones

The rehearsal day normally starts at 9.30am, everybody comes in rugged up in clothing due to the cold weather that has hit Wellington. (I’m from Auckland and as you can tell I fear the cold, TYPICAL!)

Dolina Wehipeihana, the choreographer, starts the music and it’s all on. Muscle and bone for a hour. This consists of  stretching, moving, rolling on the ground, body conditioning, figuring out how you get your left foot in front of your right, how to leap gracefully without feeling like a fat hippo. I successfully pass warm up!

The room is now hot and everyone has shed their winter layers, including socks, and are now to the basic shorts and t-shirts. From there we head into working over one of the dance sets. Detailing and cleaning each move and lift and figuring out how we do this seamlessly. I find myself lifting a lot of people. I feel like the Hulk! This makes me smile. The room is fueled with determination to get each point right, but also filled with a lot of laughter. I walk over to Sandip, who plays Sachin, to have a pretend wrestle with him. He taps out. I win. We work on the choreography till lunch time. By this time we are all sweating and having fun. I have passed the morning. Time for lunch.

Lunch normally starts with us all skulling back water to keep hydrated then rugging back up to fight the cold. Normally we're all still warm so just chuck on a hoody or a jacket. The Circa balcony has the best view of the waterfront, if you ever get a chance to see the rehearsal rooms you’ll see the balcony. You can see right to the ranges on a clear day and when it’s sunny its the most epic view. We all figure out what we are having for lunch cause by this point we are starving! This cast loves to eat – it’s great!

After lunch we are into the acting side of the mahi. Braedyn and Sharn, who play Juju and Ardie, are working on their scene with the director Hone Kouka. Braedyn is cracking me up and I think to myself he is someone we should all keep our eye on. He has a natural instinct when he performs and he has a bright future in the arts. From the side of my eye I spot Sharn doing the splits, he is an amazing dancer. I somehow find myself signing up to the splits challenge where at the end of the season I would be able due to me stretching everyday, do the splits. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes.

The rest of the ‘youngins’ leap up on the floor to work on the scene. Te hau and Paige who play Vaine and Lil Paulina are part of that crew. These two are our wahine force! They both effortlessly draw your attention, both amazing dancers in their own right. I like rehearsing with this crew we have a instant complicité.

Kali Kopae walks in with her baby Willow. The whole room stops and makes baby noises and faces towards the baby for a couple of minutes then we are all back into rehearsal. After the youngins have finish their scene we find out that we have the music for a song that Kali sings produced by K*saba and composed and written by Tama Waipara and Kali Kopae. See starts to sing along. Her voice is a formidable. I’m glad she’s my mate so that I can tell people how flash she is. She tells me to shut up and then we laugh at each other. It’s fun to work with her again.

Manny Solomon, who plays Ihia, gets up and dances to K*Saba's track. I like this kid. He’s got spark. He knows how to hold a stage. I appreciate that. I find myself trying to hug Te Hau so that I can get her into a playful headlock she is already on to my tricks and try's to get me in one. We make a truce then crack up.

Besides all the fun. We work hard. Which is why I love making theatre. Work shouldn’t be boring. For me following your passion and being excited about what you do is why I am involved in the arts. Having fun creating, imagining, telling stories, allowing the audience to dream and self reflect. That is why I make theatre. To share time and transport the audience to another place.

SO COME AND CHECK OUT THIS SHOW!!!! Dust off all your old dance moves and bring them along. the beautiful ones is an exiting visual tapestry that will have you shaking and grooving in your seats.

See you all there!

Peace.
Scotty Cotter


the beautiful ones is on at Circa Theatre until 11 July, the last production in the inaugural Ahi Kaa AK Festival.
Book now at 04 801 7992 or www.circa.co.nz

View the beautiful ones trailer on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKXhFCHkMI

MDF 2014, Aroha White and 2080: a wave of creative productivity

Playwright and actor AROHA WHITE is currently riding a wave of creative productivity at Circa Theatre, having her new play 2080 in development as part of Tawata Productions’ MDF 2014 as well as performing in Hapai Productions’ HIKOI!  We caught up with AROHA just over a week away from the opening of the Development Season of 2080.

1.  Aroha, you're very busy in the rehearsal room as an actor for Hapai Productions' HIKOI, whilst the third play you've written, 2080, is being rehearsed for a Development Season with Tawata Productions in Circa Two - how are you finding the creative mind split?

Oh! Well I think 2080 is destined to be a mind splitting play. You see, when I was lucky enough to first develop the script two years ago, I was in the same situation. I was work shopping the 2080 script during the day, performing Sunset Road in the evenings and writing at night. This time round, I’m flat out in the rehearsal room for Hikoi during the day but have been making the most of our early chilly mornings to make any amendments to the script that are needed. Knowing that the 2080 crew are just next door is definitely distracting, I want to be in there and playing with them, buuuut at the same time I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than on the floor with my nutty Hikoi family. I count myself very lucky to have the opportunity to undergo a mind split.

2.  In 2012, 2080 made its very first outing as a brand spanking new script - how have your ideas about your play changed over the last two years?

The main change has been growth in the world. Finding dark corners I didn’t see the first time, looking for more of them and realizing the longevity of this story.

3.  The word on the street is that 2080 is an 'indigenous sci-fi' - would you care to elaborate upon this statement?

2080 is a cautionary tale. It is one of many many possible outcomes for our future. It is a world I would never want to live in. For me so often the only way to start solving a problem is to sit down and talk it out, that’s what started this korero. The world that 2080 exists within is science fiction, no doubt about it, set in the not too distant future with laws of its own, 2080 skates the line of reality and fiction. But the growing gap between rich and poor in this country is not fiction nor is the ease with which people are dismissed because they are deemed as “different”. I’m a fan of this new indigenous Sci-Fi genre I think.    

4.  You and Tawata wanted to develop 2080 a little further before taking the play into full production -  how is the Development Season useful for you as a playwright?

It is the chance to take bold swings for all elements of the play. As far as the script's concerned, already the development season is introducing me to aspects of the world I hadn’t realized. Having Natano, Shadon, Acushla and Hone knocking their heads together also means we get to fearlessly explore the world. The growth of the play is the natural next step. When we take 2080 in to full production next year I expect to know all the street names in the brother’s neighborhood, no stone left unturned.

Using animation for the set is a big job. Even simple animation like what we want to look at for 2080. It’s amazing not having to rush straight to an end result, trying to avoid broad strokes in order to get to an end product and aiming for specificity. The development season lets us explore our options and also see how it reads to an audience. The hip hop is in the same boat as the animation.

5.  With 2015 being the year of full production for 2080, what's your idea for your next stage play? 

Ladies. Leisure. Love. Lust and loss. We’ll start there.

6.  As we're celebrating Matariki, what are your hopes and dreams for the forth coming year?

I have some travel on the cards in August this year and if I’m well behaved February next year. I’m blessed to be a part of Tawata’s Auckland season of Sunset Road after Hikoi finishes up for this year. There is a play for the ladies wandering around my head looking for a piece of paper to get all over, I very much hope this can be a collaboration of wahine toa writers and actors. I hope to get up to Auckland in October to work with Nga Rangatahi Toa on a project called Manawa Ora telling stories from our South Auckland brothers and sisters. And then it will be time to get this Maori / Pasifika Sci-Fi production (2080 that is!) up and singing.  Woo-hoo.

The MDF Development Season of 2080 runs in Circa Two from 25-28 June, with a preview on 24 June. Hikoi runs in Circa One from 28 June to 12 July, with a preview on 27 June. A series of free rehearsed readings will take place as part of the Matariki Development Festival on 4 and 5 July. To book for any of these fantastic works, visit www.circa.co.nz or ring the Circa Box Office on 801-7992.