In the late 90s, musician Charlotte Yates, came up with a concept for a CD and then a show about James K Baxter. The concept was simple and inspired. She invited some of New Zealand’s best musicians to put James K Baxter’s poetry to music. The show Baxter incorporated performances with images and words of Baxter’s life. It was a huge success. Then in 2005, Charlotte wrote and directed a similar show that celebrated the poetry and life of Hōne Tūwhare: Tūwhare. The last time Tūwhare was performed, Hōne completely surprised the cast and audience by turning up at the last moment. It was a rare appearance and a precious gift for all who were lucky enough to be present that night! Charlotte shares her memories with Lively…

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“There’s a photo on my desk of some of the performers in Tūwhare taken at the Auckland Festival Club after the performance for AKO7 at the Civic Theatre. I’m in the centre of the snap with a grin from ear to ear, Michael Keating, the manager of Goldenhorse, is also smiling beatifically, pointing at the camera, and beside him is Graham Brazier, arms at full stretch. On my other side is Blanche Rawiri, from WAI with another set of pearly whites and beside her is Rawiri Paratene in dark glasses, looking very urbane.

It had been an exhilarating concert, partly from the buzz of everyone performing the show again, partly from the ‘one night only factor’, but mostly because Hōne Tūwhare had come to see the twelve acts perform his words set to our music, interlinked by a script I’d written that Rawiri narrated. Hōne had never read the script, which was chocker block full of his own biographical paraphernalia. No one in the show, myself included, realised he was coming until a couple of hours before the curtain went up, and the fact that he was in the audience set backstage alight. And although I’d been asked to be part of the media frenzy that had hit when Hōne arrived in Auckland, by then (March 17, 2007), he couldn’t even remember who I was.

What I like about the photo is that it reminds me now how much I enjoyed meeting Hōne when his memory was intact, listening to him describe how he wrote, and hearing him read. It’s a snapshot representation of how rewarding it had been working with the artists involved in the CD and concerts, how much I liked the connections between the artists, hearing about the different processes of putting music to Hōne’s poems and the sense of almost secret excitement as each finished track arrived. The many thoughtful emails and phone calls from people – musicians, friends and family saddened by his death, have made me wryly smile at how those Tūwhare connections are still happening. In death, as in life.

Over the last few days, I’ve often glanced at the little photo and felt so very, very glad to have had the opportunity, albeit in the nick of time, to do this project. Sometimes, there are moments when you re-realise how good a person is at something. When I was typing the poems into a format that the graphic designer, Charlotte Hird, could incorporate into the CD sleeve, I was forcibly reminded (again) what a standout poet Hōne Tūwhare was. Coin-silver.”

“The keynote of Tūwhare’s writing is an uncommon emotional honesty. Each poem is alive from start to finish. The shock of warmth and discovery, as one reads these poems, happens again and again.” James K. Baxter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Events, National identity, Guest blogger - Charlotte Yates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.