Victor Rodger
Earning an Airfare
Victor Rodger’s address at Pasifika Playwrights 2008
I am half Samoan, half palagi; my father is from Iva in Savaii and my mother's of Scottish decent from Christchurch.
I started off, straight out of high school. I was a cadet journalist on a daily newspaper for nearly three years, then I went to London for a couple of years. I came back to New Zealand and I decided I wanted to do my own writing.
While I'd been in London there was this story I was burning to tell, and that was the story of the very difficult time I had trying to establish a relationship with my Samoan father and trying to get him to tell my half brothers and sisters that I existed. Cos he had not done that at that stage. I was about 18. It was a very confusing time for me. A very painful time for not just me but a lot of people that were associated with my father's family, my own family and in trying to make sense of it, I had tried to write this story, when I was in London as a novel. I had never written one before. I did one chapter about 12 times. I tried to do it as a screenplay, and I did about two pages.
When I came back to New Zealand, I went and worked for Pacific Underground in Christchurch. I was encouraged to do a draft and submit it for (Playmarket's) Oceania Playwrights workshop.
This was in '94, a whole lot of Australian practitioners and New Zealand practitioners coming together and workshopping new works. In two weeks, I wrote the first draft of the play, which I called Sons. It got accepted to the workshop. Nat Lees is somewhere here; Nat Lees directed the workshop.
I still recall that first morning where I heard my words spoken for the first time by actors. I remember feeling like I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me, you know, and run screaming from the room. You know at the time there was a show on TV called 'Models Inc', which was an offshoot of Melrose Place, and I thought I've written an episode of 'Models Inc'. Shame on my undies. But you know what, it was an amazing experience because, you know working with Nat, working with Alison Quigan who was the dramaturg, working with actors, I mean Oscar Kightley, Mario Gaoa, Dave Fane, Odile Le Clezio, Whetu Fala, and Jo Briant. It was amasing, you know it taught me because I thought what I'd written was crap, it really taught me to just listen to why these people were suggesting to me and what they had to say.
I think we workshopped over three, four, five days and I just went for it. I remember working into the night. All through the night I could hear everyone else getting wasted outside my room, singing till about six o'clock in the morning. While, I was crying, while I wrote the climactic scene of my play. But you know I just went for it.
It was an amazing experience, so I hope that Junior and Victoria (being workshopped in Pasifika Playwrights 2006), you guys are having a great time and a very open to what's being suggested to you guys. Cos a lot of the stuff that I learnt at that workshop has really stayed with me, in my playwriting career.
I've written four plays now. Its like with Sons, the main impetus was not only to make sense of a very confusing time, but also to get across my personal experience as a half Samoan who had been raised white and didn't know how to negotiate the Samoan world. Cos having been raised in a palagi environment I was about 17 when I started to identify with being Samoan. It's pretty hard when you don't know what you're doing, especially when you don't understand the concept of a father that expects you to respect him just because. It's something that I struggled with and still struggle with. I wanted to see my afakasi experience reflected on stage and that's something I've used in most of my plays.
Cunning Stunts was my second play, which I wrote while studying acting at New Zealand Drama School. That was just a self-indulgent little piece where I wanted to have three afakasi characters be nasty to a white man. I thought it was really funny. (Laughter)
And my third Ranterstantrum, which was on at the (New Zealand) Festival of the Arts. You know I worked with a palagi woman who had been assaulted by Samoans and we had a very fractious relationship. I guess that play was an attempt to make sense of; you know that kind of race/racism/ racial relationship dynamic that exists here, and often doesn't really get explored deeply. I don't think.
My last play was My Name is Gary Cooper on last year, directed by Mr. Roy Ward, who is in the audience. What else can I say, I think my five minutes is up. For the last eight years, I have been writing for Shortland Street, doing scripts for them. To help my KFC fund grow and prosper. It's given me a lot of freedom. I've been able to travel quite a lot the last few years and not have to get a job. I can do my own scripts and email them in and it still lets me apply my craft. So if any of you are interested in doing it and can get on the list I would go for it. It's nice and it's nice to keep your VISA in check as well.
But you know the playwriting that I do, that stuff is for me and that's the nice balance with doing this money job. So I think I've earnt my airfare now, so thank you for listening. Cheers.
