That's as it should be, actually, because the play is nearly as much about the evolution of Goldie's relationship with his best known subjects, the Maori people, as it is about his transformation as an artist and a man.

In that, the play delivers a timely polemic despite being nearly 20 years old and does so, thankfully, through humour rather than hectoring.

There is some chop in the second act, which compresses much of Goldie's life and many controversies into a series of rapid fire scenes that make for a dizzying view.

Generally, however, intelligent direction by Colin McColl provides the audience with a well-defined sequence of landmark scenes that make sense of this tumultuous, and ultimately tormented, life.

Superb supporting performances back Hurst and Henare throughout the production.

Cherie James, in particular, conjures up a delightfully laconic Hanah, Goldie's maid and muse.

Peter McCauley brings Lear-like gravitas to the vehicle and is particularly successful as Goldie's mentor, collaborator and eventual antagonist, Louis Steele.

Sophia Hawthorne is intriguing and feverishly provocative as Goldie's wife, Olive, and it is through the lens of her emotional conflict that the poisoned painter's tragic decline acquires its most evocative human face.