TeKohe Tuhaka, Nicola Kawana and Erina Daniels (sitting on the ground) feature in tragi-comedy The Vultures. Photo / Matt Grace
This excellent show, written and directed by Wellingtonian Miria George, is both an amusing exaggeration of adult-sibling bickering and a darkly comic reflection on a significant theme in Maori theatre: ties to the whenua, the land.
What happens when kaitiakitanga, guardianship, is (mis)interpreted as making money from the land, even
if lakes die? What if (surprise) some members of the upper class dont care about community, even within Maoridom?
It is broad treatment of complex issues, perhaps, but the two titular characters are amusingly awful. They shun the sun like vampires, and their moral hideousness is literally highlighted by lighting designers Natala Gwiazdzinskis brief spotlight flashes in which they pull grotesque faces and hold their hands in claws.
Nicola Kawana attacks her role as the ironically named Atawhai (kindness) with the wonderful vim and maniacal laughter of a pantomime villain. Te Kohe Tuhakas false niceness as her vulture brother makes him a good foil: quieter, therefore menacing.
Erina Daniels as their sister Hinemoa is convincingly sweet. (Her scientist daughter - a fresh, energetic Ani-Piki Tuari - is named Kiwi; neither moa nor kiwi seem a match for vultures.)
