Drama

Valita

Unity Theatre

Watching a performance by Amamus can be likened to attending some sort of religious ritual. Two similarities are immediately obvious. Firstly it takes place in a carefully prepared environment, and secondly it consists of a series of intensely symbolic acts which have little or no meaning for anyone not participating in the ritual. Unfortunately the audience cannot be said to be participating — we are merely observing.

Amamus, presumably the vanguard of experimental theatre in New Zealand have come up with nothing new in 'Valita' in terms of their presentation. Their style of presentation is based on the ideas of Polish theatrical innovator Jerzy Grotowski. This influence can be seen in much of the production, from the style of the costumes to the philosophy behind the group's work. The most significant thing however is the use of Grotowski's ideas on theatre. The basis of this is a rejection of the technical machinery of conventional theatre such as complex lighting and sound effects. These are replaced by a reliance on the resources of the actors; their bodies, their voices and their intellects. This is all very well, but Grotowski has gone on from this to state that the purpose of theatre is to provide a 'spiritual' experience for the audience who watch the production. The result of this is the development of a theatre for an elite audience, which Grotowski freely admits.

The result of accepting this philosophy by Amamus has been to produce a group who are strongly committed to their ideals. However it has also produced a form of theatre which is highly introverted and unapproachable. The performers indulge themselves in a series of acts which have their own symbolism— a symbolism which is not open to the audience. For example, the ideas involved in 'Valita' are simple enough but one must wade through piles of confusing often mindless garbage in order to get at them. Basically the play, (if that is what it can be called) concerns two groups of protagonists; a Pole and his companions, the Nazi and the Jew: and a New Zealander and his two companions the mother and a girl. The idea is that the Pole confronts the Kiwi with the experiences of the concentration camps. He forces the Kiwi and his companions to examine their own history to find comparisons. These can be found in the treatment of the Maori people by our ancestors, the only difference is that the hatred and destruction were on a smaller scale. The message therefore can be seen as being a pretty important one. However it is very difficult to approach.

The reasons for this unapproachability arise from three major sources. Firstly the group, as actors, are very introverted, directing their energy inwards, towards the audience. Secondly, the vocal gymnastics indulged in by the actors, on which director Paul Maunder seems to place so much importance, renders much of the dialogue incomprehensible. This arises from a reliance on resonators in the chest and abdomen which, coupled with little change of pitch and almost no articulation produces a mon-otonous droning voice which forces the listener to strain to pick out individual words. Paul Maunder has been known in the past to say that words are not important when this has been pointed out to him. If this is so, why does he carefully list the sources of his material at the end of the programme?

Finally, there is the 'clenched fist' style of movement which forms a predominant part of the action. By this I refer to the various leaping, crawling and writhing actions indulged in by the actors which are meant to increase the potency of their messages. However the unrelieved tension involved in controlling these movements gives the movement a feeling of being contrived and meaningless. Rather than reinforcing the message movement only puts up more barriers between the audience and the message which the group are trying to communicate.

'Valita' is a piece of theatre which has some important messages for our society. However, the messages have been submerged by the introverted and" convoluted style of acting which Is so characteristic of Amamus. Amamus is a group who, though being committed to a style of acting, have, in spite of their obvious skill, become so introverted as to be almost incomprehensible to their audience.

— Andrew Dungan.