Maurice Gee’s science fiction classic Under the Mountain has captivated Kiwi kids since it was published in 1978. The story of twins Rachel and Theo battling the Wilberforces, who are plotting planetary destruction from beneath Auckland’s extinct volcanoes is not only a classroom staple, but it was made into an iconic TV series in 1981 and a 2009 film.
Now it’s also a dazzling stage production – complete with music, special effects and contemporary dancers as the Wilberforces. However, playwright Pip Hall, who adapted the beloved story, says she can’t take all the credit for getting it into theatres.
“It was my daughter Billie’s idea,” she tells, sitting at the kitchen table of the Auckland home she shares with her children, and film and TV director husband Peter Burger.
“I think I had read the book a week prior and you asked, ‘I’m going to write a play. What shall I write it on?'” says Billlie (15).
“I thought Under the Mountain was such a good idea that someone had probably done it, but I said it anyway.”
Pip felt a connection to the Under the Mountain lead characters, thanks to her children, Tamai (left)and Billie, who helped with the dialogue.
It was like a real lightbulb moment for Pip (46).
“I rang up my agent, even though it was the end of the day. Often theatre rights are tied up with film rights, so even though a play hadn’t been done, the rights might not be available. And he said, ‘I don’t know, but that’s a great idea!'”
To Pip’s delight, the theatre rights were available and Auckland Theatre Company commissioned the play.
“I read Under the Mountain as a child, but I think the more memorable medium was the TV show. I think I might have had a crush on Theo,” she laughs.
“I loved that it was a New Zealand story because most of the books I was reading, or were available, seemed to be by overseas writers for teens or young adults. I also hadn’t been to Auckland a lot because we grew up in Dunedin, so it seemed like an exciting, foreign world.”
Pip also says she felt a strong connection to the Under the Mountain characters as Billie was 12 and her son Tamai was 11 at the time. Although they’re not twins, there’s only 15 months between them.
“We’ve been in the same class before! It was terrible.” says Tamai (14).
“The relationship between Rachel and Theo is kind of like theirs,” confirms Pip. “They’re super-loving, then they bicker.
I would use them as a resource. When Theo and Rachel are trapped in the lava tunnel, and they think they’re going to die, I asked them, ‘If you were trapped in a lava tunnel, what would be your big regrets? I think Billie said, ‘I haven’t learnt to play the guitar’ and Tamai answered, ‘I would wish I’d learnt to surf.'”
Billie and Tamai also helped her make the characters’ dialogue more contemporary.
“A lot of my mannerisms are in the play,” confirms Billie.
“Mum asked me what kind of insults there are for people with ginger hair. I didn’t want to be too mean, though.”
Pip, who is also a water ballerina and proud owner of a gold medal in basketball from the World Masters’ Games last April, concedes that sporty Aunt Noelene in Under the Mountain isn’t dissimilar to her, so the play really is a family affair.
She is also proud that this play caters to a younger audience, as she went to a lot of theatre as a child with her father, acclaimed playwright Roger Hall.
“Dad took our family to every opening night at the Fortune Theatre from quite a young age. Some of the plays went over our heads, but being in that world was enjoyable and we got to meet lots of cool people.”
Pip says her dad encouraged her into theatre but only after she dropped out of university.
“I did law, economics, marketing, every subject that was really unsuitable for my skills and personality. And I flunked out. We went to London a couple of years later, when I was still kind of struggling with what I was going to do, and he and Mum gifted me tickets to any plays I wanted to go to. And then, he said, ‘Why don’t you think about drama as an option?'”
She has since gone on to win the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 2009 and her play The 53rd Victim picked up the New New Zealand Play award that year. She has done a lot of writing for TV, including for hit shows Shortland Street and The Brokenwood Mysteries, but admits the stage is her first love.
“As a medium, it’s the writer’s vision. So you write a play and people want to honour that, and in film it’s a director’s medium. So the script gets changed to what the director envisions.”
As to whether there will be a third generation of playwrights in her family, Pip says, “I’m hoping they find something that is interesting and fulfilling. I don’t mind what it is.”
