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Comments from Promoters and Audience.

The Pioneers offer a very special experience where music has been woven with theatre and back projection to create a riveting, moving performance, which not only pleased me on an artistic level but engaged me in a very human way about the implication of relocation. The early settlers in New Zealand had to be brave and resourceful, as do ‘new’ immigrants in Britain today and the show got me thinking about the personal challenge that immigration presents both to incomer and native.I would travel a long way to see this show but was able to see it in my tiny local hall where it was loved by the community audience. The show is suitable for small or larger scale performance spaces and I think would resonate with a wide age group.The singing and instrumentation is superb, as is the storytelling. Jo Bousfield. - Theatre Development Co-ordinator, Gloucestershire County Council

Really ingenious use of instruments,hair raising singing thankyou. Michael Weller, promoter at Selmeston Village Hall, East Sussex.

We look forward to part II and III ! Take care and good luck with the show it’s brilliant! Lydia Eldridge, promoter, Huntingdon

I had never really thought about what it was like for the early settlers in New Zealand; listening to Pioneers made me realise how hard it had been for them to survive. The beautiful poetry of James K Baxter was also a discovery, and the music and stories made for a fascinating and enjoyable evening. Peter Nightingale, promoter, Stroud

I was blown away , I had hoped it would be good , but this was way beyond my excpectations, in the words of Wayne "We're not worthy" Absolutely sensational -keep up the good work, you deserve worldwide success. David Jones , Director Bournemouth Literary Festival

I must visit New Zealand

The performance was authentic and pure and opened many doors ...

Powerful, will have a long lasting impact on the audience for many years to come.

Touched my soul, what an amazing performance. (London)

Has to be the most original act I have ever seen. ( May Hill)

An amazing show-very emotional, brought me to tears, so unusual , amazing voices and instruments , I will look out for you again!

Reviews and comments

On a very bleak October evening in the year of 2007, I was invited to hear the first performance of the Pioneers at the Pacific Playhouse in London near Southwark Bridge. I had been formerly notified that they would be performing a version of a song I wrote about 25 years ago called “Old Jack Ryan” , and this was enough to persuade me to hoist my fat ego off the sofa and get
down there to view the proceedings.
The Pioneers are a trio of New Zealand musicians working and living in various parts of the UK. Most of them seem to have come more from a jazz background rather than folk. Their dramatic talents are also very strong and they have produced a very powerful and engaging piece of theatrical work about the journeys of several characters from Britain to New Zealand in the 1800s. The songs are a mixture of narrative ballads from the New Zealand folk scene, interpretations of James K Baxter’s poems, Maori song, and their own, more atmospheric, original compositions.
The theatre was small and comfortable and no sound system was used. They performed on a small stage to an audience of about 40 or 50 people with a backdrop of slides to enhance the visuals. Before and after, refreshments were served in the form of really good quality New Zealand wines for only £3 a glass, which (believe me) is cheap in London. I drank too many
and hence the tardiness of this ere review. It was an hour and a half performance with no break. I didn’t need a break, I was gobsmacked from beginning to end.
They did a version of “The Black Swans” which almost had me in tears. The songs were interspersed with narrative and drama. Wonderful how the atmosphere of being “at sea “ was aptly portrayed by squeaking on the double bass and the topsy turvy positioning of the performers. Their version of “By The Dry Cardrona” was a surprise. They did it as a drinking song which added a touch of comedy to the evening.
The performers were all musical virtuosos moving easily fr om jazzy atmospheric ambience to folky ballads.Angeline is an amazing vocalist who flits easily from one style to another. David is a wicked bass player and Ben a very accomplished classical guitarist. Economically, artistically, effectively, moving and profound. I loved it. They performed “Old Jack Ryan”
at the end as a sort of summing up of the life of the pioneer in New Zealand. Ben Brewer, who seems to be about half my age, said he learnt the song from a Mike Harding record his father had, called “Time On The Road “. Funny how a song, that you think you’ve finished with, will pop its head up unexpectedly as if it has a mind of its’ own. I hope they continue with their
plans to tour New Zealand and I hope you all go and see it when they do.
Watch out for them. Don’t miss ‘em or you’ll be sorry.

Review from the Pacific Playhouse, London , October 22nd 2007.
by Kath Tait for www.Kiwifolk.com

Who were those 19th century emigrants, Victorians seeking a better life and Irish escaping from famine, who sailed from Liverpool to the Land of the Long White Cloud? As a second generation New Zealander, I learnt about my country’s history at school, but The Pioneers company brought that history to life for me at their September performance at the Buddhist Centre.
One of the first pieces evoked the journey of Captain Cook’s ship, “Endeavour”, with extraordinary creaking of ship’s rigging by the double bass bow across strings. Then “Seagull”, a poem by New Zealand’s well known 20th century poet, J K Baxter, echoed round the theatre. Angeline Conaghan’s powerful voice exercised its wide range and I sensed the mixture of fear and excitement those early settlers must have felt at the sight of their destination.

Throughout the whole event there was a changing, grainy backdrop of sepia-coloured slides showing both the flimsy structures the settlers established and the raw beauty of New Zealand landscape. For decades it was a primitive life. Wooden shacks, papered inside with newsprint, tried to keep the weather out, and sacking kept the settlers warm at night. A prominent feature of the early settlements were the pubs, where the men swilled away their hardearned cash. We heard about “My Donald”, a whaler; the gum diggers (gum being amber-coloured kauri resin, melted down for varnish), immortalised in “Black Swans”, and the gold panners in “Bright Fine Gold”.

There was an effective light show to a piece about the bloody conflict between European soldiers and Maori chiefs. But there were no songs about farmers; it took years to turn the land from native bush into pasture. Some of the settlers married Maori women. A traditional song, “E Tu Kahikatea,” portrayed such a courtship, with the haunting voice of Angeline. Some couples emigrated together, while some fellows such as “Old Jack Ryan” stayed single all their lives. I imagine my great grandfather having drunk many a beer with Jack Ryan, “By the Dry Cardrona”. In this number, Ben and David magically slid to the floor, ‘drunkenly’ propped against each other while both continued to sing and play!

The Pioneers are an impressive trio. David Leahy (vocals and double bass), Ben Brewer (vocals and guitar) and Angeline Conaghan, (vocals and guitar) each have backgrounds in music training and have worked with other performers in the field of improvised music. A washboard, pebbles and a tea chest were great percussion accompaniment at this performance. A third of the pieces were composed by The Pioneers, the rest either by a range of other composers or were traditional compositions.

This performance was the first of three The Pioneers have planned. The second piece will explore the post colonial period when a distinct New Zealand identity was born. We heard a great snippet of this repertoire as an encore. The third will look at the relationship between the British Isles and New Zealand from a contemporary perspective through the personal experience of David, Angeline and Ben. I look forward to their return to Cambridge, hopefully next year – don’t miss it! ?

Review from the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, Cambridge, September 28th 2007.
by Anjali for www.cambridgebuddhistcentre.com