Invert your assumptions
Laurel Devenie as Mary Ann Martin: who wore old clothes, but had a modern mind.
“It’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking the Victorian, colonial or pioneer women were a certain way, but [Mary Ann Martin] turns these assumptions on their head. We see portraits of dour faces in old clothes, but she is a young, vibrant, witty, and liberal woman,” she says.
Devenie says that while Martin came from a privileged position, she quickly learnt to cope on her own.
“There’s a scene she describes where it’s pouring with rain and she’s just arrived, and all the Māori come up to inspect the stranger... it must have been very intimidating. But she enjoyed the language and the people – she became good friends with many in the Māori community.”
Martin became fluent in te reo, set up a makeshift hospital for Māori on the beach at Judges Bay in Auckland, and wrote in her memoir about the struggles between government, missionaries, soldiers and Māori – the resolution of which she wasn’t optimistic about.
“She was aware of the complexity of the situation and how it was going to work out… in that it probably wasn’t. I feel very moved by and close to matters of Māori -Pakeha relations and Pakeha identity… They’re things that are hard to face, so it’s been great to dive into them.”
“Arthur’s created a piece of theatre that’s not historical, and not a documentary, but an attempt to speak to us about where this situation is at now… “Pakeha guilt is so present. I encounter it in myself and in others so often, and what I think the piece does is show that there were so many people who wanted it to work. We learn about big archetypal images of colonials, but this was a real person in a real situation trying to survive, and trying to help without being patronizing. There were thousands like her, and there’s reassurance in that.”
On The Upside-Down of the World, Downstage, August 24-September 10.
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