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    Nga Tangata Toa
    Nga Tangata Toa
    Nga Tangata Toa
    Ebook150 pages58 minutes

    Nga Tangata Toa

    By Hone Kouka

    2/5

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    About this ebook

    Set on a marae on the East Coast in 1919 when a war weary soldier, Taneatua, returns from Europe a hero. A powerfully dramatic play of family secret, confrontation and revenge.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVictoria University Press
    Release dateApr 1, 2014
    ISBN9780864737939
    Nga Tangata Toa

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      Book preview

      Nga Tangata Toa - Hone Kouka

      NGA TANGATA TOA

      Hone Kouka

      Nga Tangata Toa

      Hone Kouka

      Derived from

      The Vikings at Helgeland

      by Henrik Ibsen

      Victoria University Press

      To my father

      John Mahurangi Kouka

      Contents

      Title Page

      Dedication

      First Performance

      Characters

      Nga Tangata Toa

      Scene One: Arrival

      Scene Two: Discovery

      Scene Three: Father and Sons

      Scene Four: Dawn

      Scene Five: Honour

      Scene Six: Powhiri

      Scene Seven: Premonition

      Scene Eight: Kai

      Scene Nine: Hakari

      Scene Ten: The Fields

      Scene Eleven: The Race

      Scene Twelve: Whaikorero Tangi

      Scene Thirteen: Utu

      Scene Fourteen: Sisters

      Scene Fifteen: The Fire

      Scene Sixteen: Poroporoaki

      Notes on the characters

      By the Same Author

      Copyright

      First Performance

      Nga Tangata Toa was first performed at Taki Rua Theatre, Wellington, on 25 May 1994, with the following cast:

      Characters

      The play is set in 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War.

      Nga Tangata Toa

      Scene One: Arrival

      The wharf at Auckland. T

      E

      W

      AI

      , wife of returning soldier T

      ANEATUA,

      waits on the wharf for her husband. She is dressed in her best. He has been serving with the Pioneer Battalion in Europe and is returning a hero. The ship is approaching down the harbour. The wharf is packed with people. There are large ope waiting to welcome back their boys from war. The ship arrives and there is a karanga to welcome the men to shore. T

      ANEATUA

      enters. He is dressed in military garb and carries a duffel bag. T

      E

      W

      AI

      searches for him amongst the crowds. The other cast members perform haka powhiri and there is much noise and excitement. T

      E

      W

      AI

      and T

      ANEATUA

      weave through the crowds searching for each other. Eventually, the crowds disperse and leave T

      ANEATUA

      and T

      E

      W

      AI

      alone on stage, apparently uneasy with each other.

      Scene Two: Discovery

      A high-country sheep station in the Kaikoura ranges, South Island.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : I know you haven’t come all this way because you missed me. Come here, up amongst the clouds and mist. What reason then Rose? Why has my sister-in-law journeyed so far?

      R

      OSE

      , after a moment: I have something for you.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : Well, give it to me.

      R

      OSE

      : I think it’s for you.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : Are you being stupid? Is it for me or not? Give it. I’ve wasted enough words on you. What is it, Rose?

      R

      OSE

      : A letter.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : For me?

      R

      OSE

      : No.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : Then whose?

      R

      OSE

      : Mine.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : You’re wasting my time.

      R

      OSE

      , hesitantly: It concerns you, Rongomai, and your father, Whai.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : Well?

      R

      OSE

      , holding an envelope out to  R

      ONGOMAI

      : Don’t you want to read it?

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : No, you know what’s in it. Tell me.

      R

      OSE

      : It’s a letter from my husband Kahu, just before he was killed. He wrote telling me something he had hidden away since he was a boy. About how your father died.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      , calmly: Read the letter.

      R

      OSE

      , pulling out the letter and beginning to read: To my Darling Rosie, How I miss you so. Touch this letter and you touch my heart—

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : Not that! Paikea and my father. What concerns me!

      R

      OSE

      : Oh … um, here, yes, here. I had been playing by the shore, when I saw my father and Uncle Paikea coming down the beach. I ran to one of the hills, to watch them closer. They had been diving. Their bags were full, paua and kina were busting out of the top …

      R

      ONGOMAI

      begins to take over the story.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : … the tide was coming in fast. They were moving around the rocks. My father, Whai, had to hurry, then he slipped and hurt his leg. He called to Paikea, but Paikea just stood and watched. My father left the kai moana behind and tried to crawl, but the waves snapped in and pulled him back. Paikea just standing there. Then a wave took my father and smashed him hard against the rocks. Paikea stood and watched. Then he turned and walked away. My father kept calling, then nothing.

      R

      OSE

      : How did you know? It says he told no one.

      R

      ONGOMAI

      : I have magic, I dreamed of this long ago. But as a child. So I dismissed it. Pause. I hid it from my memory, now you bring it back. Why?

      R

      OSE

      : It was a letter from my

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