British actor returns to help create Massive play about family

British playwright / actor Lennie James. Photo / Supplied

British actor and writer Lennie James has renewed his association with ensemble theatre group Massive Company, spending two weeks in Auckland working with them on a new play.

James helped propel Massive on to the world stage when he visited New Zealand and co-wrote the play Sons of Charlie Paora in 2002. After performances throughout the country, it travelled to London for a season at the Royal Court Theatre.

From 2006 to 2008, he played undercover agent Robert Hawkins in the TV series Jericho. Before that he was best known for his role as pawnshop owner Sol in Guy Ritchie's movie Snatch, although he has appeared in around 20 films.

Massive's founder and artistic director, Sam Scott, says she and James have spent two years trying to arrange a second collaboration. With the working title Havoc in the Garden, the new play is about family and how definitions of it are changing.

Exploring family and home is a natural progression for Massive, says Scott, given that it is a theme that features in previous shows including 100 Cousins and Whero's New Net.

James has his own take on what family means. "Most of the people in my life that I count as family share no blood tie with me."

Born in 1965 in South London to Trinidadian parents, he never knew his father and his mother died when he was 10. For six years, he and his older brother lived in a foster home with 18 others. At 15, he was fostered by a social worker whom he refers to as "mum". He lived with her for four years before leaving to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

"I don't know what's going to be in the play because I haven't written it yet but if you're asking me if I'm doing it as some form of therapy or to exorcise some demons, then the answer is no.

"I'm kind of a grown-up and have worked through those issues."

In keeping with Massive's methodology, those involved with the project include established actors like Angela Bloomfield, Tammy Davis and Blair Strang, as well as Massive stalwarts Wesley Dowdell and Scott Cotter, and newcomers with little theatre or performing experience.

The two weeks they spent with James involved sharing personal stories, introducing him to their families and discussing traditions and memories which hold special relevance for them. He and Scott say there was no shortage of stories or ideas.

"I believe we can again find a play to rank alongside Sons of Charlie Paora," says James.

He credits some of his more recent successes to the work he did with Massive on that play, describing it as an important benchmark in his career.

"I wrote stories in England based on people I knew and the environments I grew up in," he says. "I was frequently described as a black writer, which was incredibly limiting - an attempt, I think, to put me in a box to serve a particular purpose.

"Working with Massive meant I was able to travel to the other side of the world to tell a story I did not know. It involved crossing cultures and attempting to find some common ground. That we succeeded gave me a huge amount of confidence in myself."

While James writes Massive's next play, the company begins a North Island tour of Whero's New Net, starting in Gisborne on July 30.

The production comes to the PumpHouse Theatre in Takapuna on August 19-22 and the Hawkins Theatre in Papakura on September 10-11, with other dates in Hamilton, Wellington and Upper Hutt.

It is based on short stories by Witi Ihimaera and adapted by playwright Albert Belz.

The original cast returns except for Madeleine Sami, whose role as musician Red will be performed by Natalie Medlock.