Excerpts from the Play
Excerpts from 'Reporting Live from the Battle of Gate Pa'
From Scene 1. General Cameron
Reporter 1 I understand that Reverend Brown from the Elms has been living among these people for 27 years. Perhaps he can make peace and avoid the need for a battle?
Cameron Well, winning a battle does have an advantage...
Reporter 1 You take of the losers land?
Cameron I wasn't thinking of that! (pause) Well, actually, (lowers voice) just between you and me, that may be the real reason the Government is fighting with the Maori. Settlers are arriving from England by the shipload. You know how over-crowded it is back there. But when they arrive, hardly any Maori are willing to sell their land.
Reporter 1 So the Government picks a fight with the Maori, and the winner takes the land? (shake head) That's not fair.
Cameron It's not my job to decide what's fair. I just obey orders.
Reporter 1 You can't help feeling sorry for the Maori, though. Taking their land is like cutting off their right arm.
Cameron They've left us no choice. They built their pa just 5 kilometers away (points) on the boundary of the mission land. If we don't attack them first, they could murder us in our sleep. (gesture across throat) Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got almost 1700 soldiers and sailors relying on me to come up with a plan that will win the battle.
From Scene 7. Rawiri Puhirake
Reporter 3 It's been a busy day here in the pa, preparing for battle. It's raining, but here underground the men are dry and comfortable, roasting potatoes on small fires and resting on beds of fern. Kia ora, Rawiri. What's happened since our talk this morning?
Rawiri Kia ora. This morning the soldiers marched up the track from their camp at Te Papa. They came in their blue uniforms, (sweep arm in front) like the tide surging up onto the beach.
Reporter 3 Do you feel prepared?
Rawiri The men have cleaned their guns and sharpened their tomahawks. But our only hope of survival against the bombardment from the cannons will be to hide down here in our holes, like kiwi, and pray.
Reporter 3 Any thoughts of leaving the pa while it's dark?
Rawiri To flee the pa is to lose our land. Without our land, (shrug) what is there left to live for?
From Scene 10. Heni Te Kiri Karamu
Reporter 4 This is (name) reporting live from the Battle of Gate Pa. Kia ora Heni. What has the morning brought you?
Heni Shock. I almost died before breakfast.
Reporter 4 Really! How?
Heni We were seated on the parapet before the battle began, saying our morning prayers. Our Christian leader, Ihaka, was standing, praying a blessing. Timoti, my old friend the tohunga, didn't join us. He was standing in the trench near my feet, watching the British gunners preparing that huge cannon for battle. Suddenly he caught the flash of the charge exploding. He grabbed my skirt and yanked me down into the trench. At the same time there came a terrific crash, the bursting of the first shell to be fired today. Ihaka was hit by the exploding shell and killed instantly.
Reporter 4 It's a miracle that you survived!
Heni Yes. Thank God. But that was just the beginning. All day the cannons have roared while we crouch here in our trenches. We've been drenched by the rain, covered in mud and blasted by the terrible force of the shells as they scatter in fragments in the air above us.
From Scene 12. Archdeacon Brown
Brown With each blast of the cannons, I fear for the lives of my dear Maori friends. I have been praying continually for their safety. The bombardment lasted for hours. Who can have survived it?
Reporter 2 And now that it's quiet?
Brown Even more cause to fear. The assault must surely follow soon. The Ngai Te Rangi will face the bullets and bayonets of one of the deadliest armies in the world.
Reporter 2 That of your fellow countrymen...
Brown Yes, and led by my officer friends. There's likely to be a massacre.
From Scene 14. Rawiri
Reporter 3 What turned the tide of battle, in your opinion?
Rawiri Well, when the troops flooded into the pa, some of my men lost their courage and fled out the back. There they ran into more British soldiers, who fired on them. As my men turned and re-entered the pa, the soldiers inside must have thought they were reinforcements coming from down the coast. I heard one yell, 'Here they come in their thousands.' (smiles)
Reporter 3 And they fled?
Rawiri Like startled lizards! (flick fingers away)
From Scene 16. Heni
Reporter 4 The high point of the battle for you?
Heni An act of kindness, that shone very brightly on a grim and dark day.
Reporter 4 Tell us about it.
Heni A wounded soldier got left behind. He was lying in the mud, his sword beyond reach. One of our warriors approached him, bending to pick it up. I saw the soldier cringe, bracing himself for the blow.
Reporter 4 How terrifying!
Heni Yes. The warrior swung the sword around, handing it back to the soldier hilt first. (smiles) Hah! The soldier looked astonished! I recalled one of our Rules of Conduct, 'The unarmed Pakeha will be spared.' It warmed my heart, this cruel day, to see such mercy.