Tzigane is the Romanian word for gypsy and also the title of John Vakidis’ play which premiered in 1996 and the same year won the Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for best New Zealand play and production of the year.
Our Rep Theatre play Reading Group enjoyed reading this play atour last gathering in October. It’s good drama in that it highlights real issues but tempers the pain of the difficult ones with humour.
The Romanian-Greek parents fled to New Zealand following the 1946-1949 Greek Civil War, leaving many loved ones behind. That is never going to be easy. Although their three children were born in New Zealand, they didn’t really feel that they fitted in: ”Even our food was different...”
Now they’re adults, the two sons have chosen to make their homes in Australia while their daughter is married to a successful businessman in Wellington.
When their mother is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she organises a family reunion, calling the sons home from Australia, her daughter home from Wellington. She wants them to promise that they will take care of their father when she is gone.
Gradually old grievances surface but there’s a lot of laughter as well. It’s not a long play but it’s quite thought-provoking. The Repertory Theatre staged this play some years ago and I’m wondering if perhaps we might consider staging it again in the future.
It would be a really good idea considering the number of people choosing to make their homes in New Zealand and having to adapt to an entirely different way of life. It’s worth thinking about.
