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Aria Dehar as Ma and Dana Leaming filming Season Two of Not Even Photo: Rebecca McMillan
It may be true that the most exciting place at a flat party is the bathroom. Private, yet not so private.
In a queasy bravado move for local television, that bathroom over one long night is the setting for the entire first episode of second series of comedy Not Even.
“Not for the easily alarmed or offended,” suggests NZ Listener this month. Yet Not Even is also a very warm, charming reflection of being a gang of 20-something cousins and pals living in the city. A more adventurous, 21st century Māori take on Friends, if you like. Indeed creator Dana Leaming has said she looked to more recent “off kilter brown shows” like Atlanta, Insecure and I May Destroy You.
At its core, this group of “messy-ass b*tches, doing messy-ass things” - as the producers describe them - celebrates all the mixed up confusion of coming to grips with yourself and each other, as you make mistakes and new connections.
It's also a celebration of inner-city Pōneke Wellington, with a strong soundtrack (Spotify playlist here) celebrating Urban Māori and Pasifika sounds of the last 25 years, including current locals MĀ and Mauri..
Creator and director Dana Leaming has worked with producers Ainsley Gardiner and Georgina Conder from Miss Conception Films (Cousins, The Breaker Uppers), and co-written this second season with one of its stars, Manu Vaeatangitau (who is remarkable as Pua, one of television’s few trans characters).
Leaming won the best comedy prize award at the 2023 TV awards for the first season. She developed Not Even as part of her MA in Scriptwriting at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University. Now in her 30s, it’s a reflection of Leaming’s own coming-of-age in the city. She arrived in the capital from Tauranga aged 19 to do a BA majoring in theatre.
The second season of Not Even is on Sky Open and Neon from September 4.