New Zealand Herald, 31 March 2004 31.03.2004 By NIGEL GEARING The impetus for Kip Chapman's first solo performance came from a collection of 200 slides found in a Wellington junk shop last year. Scenes of bashful blokes in front of their beloved gleaming cars and smartly frocked women exhibiting a plate were the same kind of images his co-writer Paul Rothwell also found when he picked up a collection of slides in a Levin junk shop. "They were the exactly the same stories being told in two totally different locations," Chapman says. "These images of ordinary New Zealanders' lives in the 60s made me realise the tiniest things make us so proud. The amount of cakes and committees in this country is incredible." Chapman and Rothwell both graduated from the Unitec Screen and Performing Arts degree in 2002. They joined forces with musician James Milne who has been a friend of Chapman's since their school days in Christchurch. Their collaborative Arohaotearoa is the result, one third of the SiLo's Season of One. After culling and the addition of 10 new slides, 150 images remain. The 50-minute show has 21 scenes depicting slices of New Zealand life from the 1840s through to Franklin District's "Most Beautiful Family" show in 1993. Taking his cue from one of the slides, Chapman has recreated a New Zealand living room in the SiLo Theatre, complete with floral carpet, radiogram and, of course, the slide projector. "I wanted to evoke a feeling of nostalgia for our culture," he says. While researching some of the sketches he made some surprising discoveries. "When [pioneering aviator] Jean Batten arrived home the mayor of the day told her she had been a very naughty girl who deserved a good spanking for giving us all such an anxious time. After the Wahine hit the reef, passengers were given icecream and soft drinks by the crew. A group of RNZAF women sang Michael Row the Boat Ashore and when it came time to abandon ship the captain told everyone to move to starboard or the left. "News reports of the time quoted one passenger as saying he was impressed with the level of calm and comradeship on board. This is all in the transcripts. Our director [Jennifer Ward Lealand] found some of our findings a little hard to believe, but it's all true." New Zealand Listener, 17-23 April 2004 SEASON OF ONE, Silo, Auckland (to April 10). by Natasha Hay The trigger for Kip Chapman's Aro-ha-o-tearoa came from a serendipitous find of a slide collection in a junkshop. We are in a living room from the 60s, with floral carpet, stereogram and slide projector and it's like witnessing a slideshow. Snaps of beaming ladies in frocks proudly displaying homebaking, chaps in walkshorts squinting in the unforgiving light and picture-postcard scenery form the backdrop for about 20 sketches of the tiny things that made us proud: cakes, committees, etc. Infused with a sense of nostalgic charm, Chapman's caricatures evoke tearooms, groomed lawns, corrugated iron and lamingtons. Although a few sketches fall flat (particularly the pedantic Wahine survivor), the quirky songs (with musician James Milne) and slapstick comedic turns, such as a Peter Plumley-Walker drinking game and Ed Hillary sendup, work a treat.

New Zealand Herald, 5 April 2004 05.04.2004 By FRANCIS TILL Arohaotearoa is an extremely dry look under some damp Kiwi covers at issues, stories and characters from the barely beating heartland. Witty, droll, an elegant little suite in minor keys accompanied by a slide show that Te Papa should acquire as a reflection of mid-century European Kiwiana. Of particular note: the revisionist version of history in which Captain Cook receives a drubbing during an encounter with a triple-decker waka from which sharpened kumara are thrown, by Maori maidens, with deadly precision. A shaggy dog story about a feckless newlywed ties the myriad events together and there's even a bit of gratuitous semi-nudity. It is performed by Kip Chapman, directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand, and created by Chapman, James Milne and Paul Rothwell. Sunday Star-Times, 11 April 2004 by Gilbert Wong Forget the comedy festival. There's unlikely to be anything funnier than this series of solo shows featuring a trio of young actors who surely have great futures ahead of them. The season aims to find the next best thing, but even if none of them are near that, the energetic and adept performances make up for any shortcomings. Arohaotearoa, featuring Kip Chapman directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand and created by Chapman, James Milne and Paul Rothwell, is a surreal journey based on anonymous and artlessly shot slides harvested from junk shops. Chapman, often better and smarter than his material, is our guide through edited highlights of social history. Jean Batten's visit, famous and mundane tourist spots, and the sinking of the Wahine. Chapman narrates stories of poignant banality, sings the glories of Wanganui and can make a tea-room menu funny. xtramsn, 19 March 2004 AROHAOTEAROA has been created and will be performed by Kip Chapman, who first showed promise as Laertes in Michael Hurst's Hamlet and went on to showcase his talents in Play 2.03, Macbeth and as an Italian rent boy in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Directed by the uber-skillful Jennifer Ward-Lealand and featuring live music from The Brunettes' James Milne, this is a love letter to New Zealand, told kinda like The Front Lawn would have done it - a fast paced ride down memory lane with lamingtons, a rugby ball and a guy called Peter Plumley-Walker. Journey over the three blessed rocks on the edge of the Pacific that we call home. Enter into a slide show of your past as ordinary people get caught up in the events that have defined our nation. From infidelity aboard the Wahine to a little girl from the Hutt Valley making it big, this is a picture postcard from New Zealand, to its inhabitants saying "it's brilliant weather, the views are amazing. We wish you were here... and you are!"