A Festival Of Maori And Pasifika Works Comes To The Court Theatre This August
By: A.A. Cristi Jul. 25, 2018
For three nights in August The Court Theatre will be welcoming a trio of Maori and Pasifika theatre practitioners who will each present a new and different work-in-progress theatre piece in The Forge at The Court production ? Toru.
Opening the series is writer Tania Gilchrist with her play R?peka on the 9th August. R?peka follows Paia in Christchurch as she learns more about the life of her ancestor, R?peka, and her life in The East Cape back in 1860.
Following Gilchrist on Friday 10th August is Tavita Nielsen-Mamea with political story of environmental relevance in Au Ko Tuvalu as three siblings are displaced from their homeland of Tuvalu due to climate change.
The final performance on Saturday 11th August comes from theatre collective Y NOT who are giving a Pacific twist to a traditional cabaret setting in Palu, a tri-lingual show that highlights the differences (and similarities) between Samoa and Tonga over the shared kava bowl.
Vanessa Gray, the Kaih?pai Toi (M?ori and Pasifika Producer) at The Court Theatre believes that ? Toru is immensely important for the theatre.
"It's important that The Court Theatre puts on work like ? Toru because Aotearoa New Zealand and its M?ori and Pasifika peoples have a unique perspective found nowhere else in the world."
As these three very different plays begin to take shape, audiences now have to choose which evenings - if not all three - they will come along to.
? Toru runs at The Court Theatre from the 9th - 11th August.
IN DEPTH:
For three nights in August The Court Theatre will be welcoming a trio of M?ori and Pasifika theatre practitioners who will each present a new and different work-in-progress theatre piece in The Forge at The Court production ? Toru.
Writers Tania Gilchrist, Tavita Nielsen-Mamea and collective Y NOT will present their individual pieces - each still growing and developing as rehearsals begin - to a Christchurch audience for one night only in The Court Theatre's Pub Charity Studio from 9 - 11 August.
Opening the series is writer Tania Gilchrist with her play R?peka on the 9th August. R?peka follows Paia in Christchurch as she learns more about the life of her ancestor, R?peka, and her life in The East Cape back in 1860.
"R?peka is about whakapapa and identity," Gilchrist says.
Following Gilchrist on Friday 10th August is Tavita Nielsen-Mamea with political story of environmental relevance in Au Ko Tuvalu.
"Au Ko Tuvalu means 'I Am Tuvalu' and is a reference to the people of Tuvalu who are losing their islands to climate change. Au Ko Tuvalu is about three sibilings who are being displaced from their homeland. It's about the struggles and hopes of these siblings as they try to say goodbye to the land where they come from, where their family comes from and all their ancestors before them," Nielsen-Mamea says.
The final performance of ? Toru on Saturday 11th August comes from theatre collective Y NOT. Their production Palu will be taking a traditional cabaret setting and giving it a Pacific twist in this tri-lingual show that highlights the differences (and similarities) between Samoa and Tonga.
"Palu is about the essence of Kava," says Y NOT co-founder Albany Peseta. "Palu will show the difference of how Tonga and Samoa use kava, but also the similarities in both cultures. You will see the tradition of kava in the cultures, but also what it's like now in today's generation, alongside a lot of singing, laughter and a great time."
Vanessa Gray, the Kaih?pai Toi (M?ori and Pasifika Producer) at The Court Theatre, is working on the project alongside Associate Director Dan Bain and believes that ? Toru is immensely important for the theatre.
"It's important that The Court Theatre puts on work like ? Toru because Aotearoa New Zealand and its M?ori and Pasifika peoples have a unique perspective found nowhere else in the world."
As these three very different plays begin to take shape, audiences now have to choose which evenings - if not all three - they will come along to.
Toru runs at The Court Theatre from the 9th - 11th August. R?peka will be performed on the 9th August; Au Ko Tuvalu on the 10th August and Palu on the 11th August.
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