KŌANGA HERALDS THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING & THE FUTURE OF MĀORI THEATRE

Te Pou Theatre presents
Kōanga Festival 2022
Presented in partnership with Auckland Live and Basement Theatre
23 September - 8 October 2022
Tickets on sale 1 August

As Tāmaki Makaurau looks forward to the arrival of spring, theatre lovers will be delighted that Te Pou Theatre have confirmed the dates and lineup for the eighth iteration of their annual Kōanga Festival - an annual celebration of Māori playwrights and their work. This is a chance for Aucklanders to see some of the very best of what’s happening in Māori theatre, and be the first in the world to experience these new works. 

Kōanga is heralded by the blossoming of the kōwhai and the call of the pīpīwharauroa as it returns to our shores. This is a time for coming together and combining efforts to plant for prepare the whenua for new growth. 


Kōanga is Te Reo Māori for the Spring season in maramataka Māori, traditionally a time to plant seeds and prepare for a bountiful harvest. In a poetic parallel, the festival provides a fertile ground for playwrights to develop their skills in a supportive environment. While Te Pou Theatre’s physical venue remains closed as they work to complete renovations, the festival’s in-person events will be hosted between Auckland Live, Basement Theatre, Corban Estate, while virtual events remain on the programme, offering those who cannot attend the in-person events a chance to get in on the action.

The heart of the festival, as always, is the annual Playwrights’ Programme - uplifting and nurturing emerging Māori voices. Over the three months preceding the festival, 2022’s playwrights have been working with script mentor Gary Henderson on their works, and will undertake a five-day workshop in the lead-up to the public readings at Basement Theatre. Audiences will have the chance to engage with some of our most exciting writers’ brand new works during their development phase, and enjoy a staged public reading from emerging and established actors. For 2022, the readings will be staged in person, with a digital edition for anyone around Aotearoa to tune in. Join in and hear these works performed for the first time. 

The playwrights and works selected for the 2022 programme are:

  • Maraea Rakuraku (Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) - Te Kooti Ariki Rangi Te Tūruki - a series of monologues telling selected aspects of Te Kooti's life story through the bodies and life experiences of four Māori men. 

  • Rawinia Parata (Ngāti Porou) - Pōraru - a close and intimate look at one woman's struggle and a steep decline in her mental health, the impacts of that on her relationships, whānau and self-esteem

  • Alvie McKree (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa) - The Handlers - a story of  Auckland in the 1970s: when a group of Māori women working at Crown Lynn Potteries all take time off to attend a tangihanga, the production line grinds to a halt. Now their jobs are on the line.

  • Waitahi McGee (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tama ki te tau Ihu, Te Ātiawa) - Still Friends? - Two youths, about to graduate high school, have been best friends since day dot. Now they're realising their wants are moving them in separate directions... 

  • Fabian MacGregor (Muaūpoko, Ngāti Raukawa) and Alex Medland (Kai Tahu) - Pākehā Skin, Māori Blood  - a work based on the lived experience of inhabiting a space between Māori and Pākehā and is for anyone who has felt like they aren’t Māori enough.

  • Tainui Tukiwaho (Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa) - The Sun & The Wind - a surreal home drama about the dangers of holding on to things that aren’t yours to hold. Prepare yourself for a birthday party you’ll never forget.  

Outside the annual Playwrights’ Programme, there’s plenty more for theatre lovers to sink their teeth into. Rutene Spooner presents a return season of his 2021 smash-hit show Thoroughly Modern Māui - part of the Auckland Live Cabaret Season, showing for two nights only in The Civic’s Wintergarden as part of his Aotearoa tour. Spooner’s tongue-in-cheek cabaret sees him marry his breathtaking music theatre prowess to the tale of Māui - our very own Superman of the Pacific in a show that “radiates authenticity and joy” (Theatreview, 2021.) 

Over at Basement Theatre, Ngā Tohu o Te Taiao, shows for five nights, celebrating the change in season in a soul- filling live arts experience. Bringing together mātauranga Māori with Rikki Solomon, live sand art from Marcus Winter and taonga puoro from Pūoro Jērome. In this first development of the project, these creatives weave stories of Kōanga through video and wānanga, connecting us to this time and place. Also on at Basement Theatre for one night only is Kōpū - Our Kōrerō, an in-development showing of this ballad of a show, and a chance to be welcomed into the warmth of the creative process. These wāhine will share stories, songs and some real talk, as we all examine the ira wahine in 2022.    

Back at Corban Estate is fun for the whole whānau - on Saturday 8 October, head to Henderson for a free day of family fun with Active Whakapapa at Te Pou Theatre - a walking storytelling tour through Henderson Park, written by Tainui Tukiwaho. This is a great way to connect with your local area as a whānau on this gentle hīkoi, suitable for all from tamariki to kaumātua. Presented with Healthy Families Waitākere, headphones are provided for the tour with both bilingual and rūmaki reo versions loaded. Book your session time on Te Pou’s website.
 

“We are so stoked to have the support of our partner venue Auckland Live and our mates at Basement theatre to host Kōanga Festival this year while our whare is in build mode.  The arts industry has been through a rough time together lately and it's been amazing to be able to reach out to other venues as friends and colleagues to support these Māori stories and storytellers. 

We are also looking forward to bringing these stories and storytellers into the city to get a taste of Te Pou theatre's mahi. These writers are from all over the motu to share these new plays and being able to be there to be the first to listen to their stories is something super special.

 Our festival this year is all about connection; connecting artists with audiences again in person and digitally, connecting with stories that fill up our hearts and connecting with te taiao, the natural world, at this change of season.”
- Amber Curreen (Ngāpuhi), Kōanga Festival Director, Te Pou Theatre
 

So what are you waiting for? Spring into action and get involved with the latest and greatest in Māori performing arts in Tāmaki Makaurau as part of Kōanga Festival 2022. Tickets are now on sale - learn more and book at tepoutheatre.nz

Te Pou Theatre presents

Kōanga Festival 2022
Presented in partnership with Auckland Live and Basement Theatre
Virtual events presented online at Whare Whakaari Matihiko
23 September - 8 October 2022

FULL PROGRAMME:

He Puāwaitanga
23 September, 7pm
Whare Whakaari Matihiko

Thoroughly Modern Māui
24 & 25 September,6.30pm and 4pm
The Wintergarden at The Civic
Presented in partnership with Auckland Live
Part of the Auckland Live Cabaret Season 

Ngā Tohu o Te Taiao
27 September - 1 October, 6.30pm 
Basement Theatre

Kōanga Play Reading:
Pōraru | Te Kooti Ariki Rangi Te Tūruki
30 September, 8.30pm
Basement Theatre

Kōanga Play Reading:
The Sun and The Wind & The Handlers
1 October, 8.30pm
Basement Theatre

Kōanga Play Reading:
Pākehā Skin, Māori Blood & Still Friends?
7 October, 6.30pm
Basement Theatre

Active Whakapapa
8 October, 10am & 12pm
Corban Estate

Kōpū - Our Kōrerō
7 October, 6.30pm 
Basement Theatre

tepoutheatre.nz

Michelle Lafferty