The Ragged, St Patrick’s College Theatre, directed by Jim Moriarty, reviewed by Lynn Freeman.
JIM Moriarty may never win an Oscar or get a knighthood for his contribution to the arts, but he is exactly the kind of guy who should. When the at risk young people he creates theatre with talk about how the experience has put them on a different path, you know they mean it. This work could be ‘worthy’, instead it is gritty, gorgeous, honest and fascinating.
The Ragged is a slice of early Wellington history, where two very different cultures collide. Here a young Maori chief from a village in the new colony of Port Nicholson is seduced by the trappings of the European settlers. Meanwhile a young Manchester man seeks a peaceful life living in a Maori village rather than living on the bottom rung of a carbon copy world to the one he left behind. Education and religion are portrayed as mixed blessings, we are reminded of the curse of disease, guns and alcohol the settler ‘landeaters’ also brought with them. The two races, it is felt, could live in peace – but not together, and the eventual extinction of Maori is predicted.
The set is simple – a boat on sand. The young men in the cast are the waves that bring the boat and its occupant to the Maori settlement of Te Miti’s cursed stretched of coastline.
Helen Pearse-Otene has written a mini epic – a big story even though the time span is just six months, starring a hardworking cast of around 30. Many are newcomers to the stage but they are so well directed and so focused that their ensemble work is a pleasure to watch. Moriarty’s three youngsters in the cast have inherited their father’s on-stage charisma, while the adult cast members with lead roles give moving performances. The final tableau offers hope for the future as well as being a lament for all that has been lost.