The debut of playwright Aroha Awarau marks the emergence of a distinctive talent and highlights a growing trend among Maori artists asserting the freedom to move beyond specifically Maori issues and engage creatively with the wider world. 

Our enduring fascination with the rich and famous is given a historical perspective as the production drops us into the glamorous world of the 1958 Oscars where five nominees for Best Supporting Actress trade barbed compliments at an informal luncheon. [More]

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Aroha Awahau’s first stage play tells a tale from over half a century ago, at a place halfway around the world.  It has universal appeal however, given that for one night a year, Hollywood, California, the play’s location, is the centre of the universe. 

The date is a few days off the big night in 1958, and these 30th Academy Awards are historically significant for two reasons: they are the first ones to be televised, and they include the first ever (and only to date?) nomination of a Japanese woman for Best Supporting Actress. 

There are five nominees in the category and one of them, Carolyn Jones (Hannah Banks), has taken it upon herself to invite her four rivals for a luncheon in her ritzy LA mansion.  I gather this particular event is fictional but the characters have clearly been crafted with a great deal of research, and everything they discuss during the 80-minute show presumably has some authentic basis.  I further assume the women’s personal views on race and culture, domestic issues, fame and professional conduct, etc, are to some degree imagined by the author out of necessity.

Directed by local screen and stage veteran Katie Wolfe, the cast roundly deliver strong portrayals of their roles. Besides Jones and the Japanese contender Miyoshi Umeki (Tomoko Taouma), the other nominees are two younger actresses – platinum blonde Hope Lange (Lauren Gibson) and scruffy angst-ridden Diane Varsi (Alex Jordan) – and seasoned English veteran Elsa Lanchester (Jennifer Ward-Lealand).

Bede Skinner’s depiction of Aaron Spelling, Carolyn’s husband at the time, is a likeable portrait of the noble 50s husband just breaking into television production, although his accent sounds as much South Island as Southern Californian.   

Their diverse backgrounds make for a sort of microcosmic sampling of Hollywood life: Carolyn the well-meaning but highly-strung hostess; Elsa the party queen with the forthright wit; Hope the venomous competitor; the sweet, natural and unpretentious Diane; the delightful, controversial Miyoshi, the very model of politeness and oriental grace.  Elsa is the only one with preceding fame, having played the title character in Bride of Frankenstein, but a little online investigation reveals the varying subsequent careers of the younger women. 

John Verryt’s splendidly appointed set has the Basement decked out in smart vintage 50s style, with its long white sofa centrepiece surrounded by classic ‘futuristic’ furniture and matching kitsch hanging lampshades, bookended with Venetian blinds.  Although the black painted brick wall suggests more New York loft than LA glamour-pad, the level of class achieved is admirable. 

Rose Jackson’s adorably vintage costume designs contribute a significant degree of the period flavour, as does hair and make-up artist Luisa Petch’s quietly lavish range of hairdos and wigs.  From the opening swelling orchestral strings to the timeless strains of ‘As Time Goes By’, the fitting selections of musical director Paul Barrett are evidently wholly informed by the material. 

There are pointed moments in Awarau’s script that touch on issues as topical now as then: race, gender (the bitchiness of women vs. the cruelty of men), the price of fame and glamour (e.g. plastic surgery), the arguable perceived value of winning such an award, and so on.  Food for thought certainly, made all the more gripping by the engaging and diverse performances.  

But if there is a main point to the play, I cannot distinguish which of its numerous layered aspects that may be.  To me it reads as a simple classic behind-the-scenes exploration of an exciting and pivotal time in Hollywood’s history.  While there seems to be potential for the more dramatic sections to be more moving, there’s enough affinity with the characters generated to produce a definitively feel-good result.

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For a play that deals with the fickleness of fame, the most telling feature that of the five actresses gathered for luncheon to mark their nominations in the 1958 best supporting actress race, none of the them are well-known today. Certainly, reading the characters names down the program, none of them were immediately familiar to this sometimes film buff.

The 1958 Oscar ceremony was notable as the first live televised Oscar-cast, and the dominance of Best Picture The Bridge on the River Kwai. That years supporting actress race included the first nomination for a Japanese actress, Miyoshi Umeki, who co-starred with Marlon Brando in Sayonara. First time playwright, journalist Aroha Awara, has taken this footnote to craft a bubbly comedy that has attracted some top-shelf talent, including the return of director Katie Wolfe to the theatre. [More]

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