Thursday night’s production of Ted, Poppy and World War Two was most enjoyable, and it was a step back in time to be welcomed into the ‘hall’ in the ritual manner (I’m not giving it away  – you need to experience it). 

Kiwi-Possum Productions’ set layout brings the audience into a shared space; like a community coming together. The cast moving freely within the central space are not directing their performance at me, so, like a fly on the wall, I feel I am witnessing the stories being told. 

Paul Maunder re-enacts the weekly radio talks from actual transcripts of Ted Kehoe’s eloquent and interesting observations on many of our beautiful birds, on Rata and Kowhai, and of his dismay at the native bush being “blindly burnt” to provide poor farmland. I find these parts of the production most engrossing and educational, my eyes gazing but not seeing as I focus on listening to the ‘radio’.

The play intersperses slices of Ted Kehoe’s radio shows with the story of Greymouth- based Sister ‘Poppy’, the sister of James Joyce, played brilliantly by Heather Fletcher.  These lesser-known elements of Greymouth’s rich history are further interlinked with moving vignettes of true stories from the war; Elisa Wells throwing herself with passion into her many roles.

Tying the whole together is the fictional interplay between Ted Kehoe and Poppy. The play moves along at a cracking good pace, cutting from one story to another and maintaining audience interest well.

The set is very simple with minimal props but this is quite appropriate to the story-telling. Sound effects were used well, subtly enhancing the scene, be it the bird-filled bush, the sea-side cave of the Punakaiki conscientious objector, or fighter planes and bombs. The costuming is convincing and the cast all perform very well on this, their first night.

So I follow the threads of these stories as they are chopped and interrupted by the next until, at the end, with birdsong ringing clear over the beautiful Albinoni Adagio in G, the stories are complete and a rich tapestry woven.

After the play Stewart Nimmo facilitated a good group discussion on what heritage is and what it means to people. Some common themes emerged, reiterating Paul Maunder’s play. What I took away from this night was that heritage is the connection maintained by telling the story. If we don’t tell our stories to keep them alive, we lose the meaning and history of the things around us. We forget their value and we lose our heritage.

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