Hine Hōia (CMNZ 2023) Photo: Stuart Lloyd-Harris
Hine Hōia is a new multi-artform work from director Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Mutunga, Moriori, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), circus arts expert Danny Lee Syme and composer Hamish Oliver.
Inspired by the narrative of Stravinsky and Ramuz's Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) in which a soldier makes a pact with the Devil in return for great wealth, Juanita Hepi has set the story in 1918 Aotearoa, in a country ravaged by the New Zealand wars and the Spanish flu pandemic.
The title character, Hine Hōia, stands at the precipice of a world in tatters, until a chance encounter changes her life forever.
Juanita Hepi talks with Bryan Crump about the work, which is touring as part of Chamber Music New Zealand's CMNZ Series, and what attracted her to the story.
"It's a Faustian tale, it's a tale that most of us already know. I think what's really attractive to me is that it's really asking questions of human nature, so it really doesn't matter what time [period] you're in."
"These are age-old questions that we've been asking for a very, very long time... What is important to us as people, and what are we willing to give up for these things?"
