Out the Gate
Theatre Marae kōrerorero about the broken promise
9 venues
te Ūpoko
o Te Ika
Performance dates
29 October - 16 November 2025
Powerful, uplifting storytelling told with movement, music and words centered around lived experience
Out the Gate is Theatre Marae presented by Te Rākau Hua o Te Wao Tapu, is a theatrical conversation about incarceration in Aotearoa. Presented by an ensemble of over 16 performers and followed by a facilitated kōrerō Out the Gate asks questions and provides hope.
Written by Helen Pearse-Otene
Directed by Jim Moriarty
Choreography by Tānemahuta Gray
Created by actors, technicians, creatives, and community members
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As we travel together on this emotional rollercoaster, we know it is safe because we are breathing the same air.
John Smythe, Theatreview
Your exceptionally talented cast gave a voice to the true experience of our most vulnerable selves and I will be forever grateful for the experience.
Audience member, Horowhenua College, Levin
Take some tissues, and prepare for your heart to be ripped out and woven back together.
Audience Member, Māoriland, Ōtaki
About
Out the Gate is an intimate Theatre Marae experience presented at nine community spaces across the lower North Island. For one night only we are presenting in Porirua, Levin, Upper Hutt, Ōtaki, Palmerston North, Whanganui, Caterton and Wainuiomata and we end with a 5 night season in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. We are performing at marae, community centres and schools.
"Ultimately, Out the Gate is a postulation of hope. Hope springs eternal. It’s inside people no matter how damaged they might have been by their experiences, no matter how wounded they are. We’re all basically looking for the way out." Jim Moriarty - Kaitohu
A conversation about incarceration in Aotearoa, the work presents episodic vignettes woven together through music, waiata, choreographed movement and physical theatre. Out the Gate is Theatre Marae in action, created with and for the community, deliberately blurring the lines between research, performance, and public kōrero.
Theatre Marae creates connection. Connection between our people, our audiences and our lived-experience research. The Out the Gate performance is 1hr 25mins followed by whakanoa and a community kōrerorero.
Writer statement - Helen Pearse-Otene
The show was developed over a four week period where our kāhui of actors, technicians, creatives, and community members were introduced to the TIAKI study, and engaged in a process of sharing their personal stories and reaction to the interview material. Their creative responses were woven into the show as script, waiata, and choreography, and I thank them for their generous contribution.
Performance dates
29 October -16 November 2025
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Tickets: $30 | $15 | extra aroha $50
Please note Out the Gate is restricted to age 14 years old and up due to the taumaha heavy subject material
7pm, Sat 1-Nov
Orongomai Marae, Upper Hutt
7pm,
Wed 12 - Sun 16 Nov
Matinee 1pm
Thu 13 & Sat 15 Nov
Tea Gardens, Massey University, Pukeahu (Mt Cook), Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington)
7pm Wednesday - SOLD OUT
7pm Friday - Selling Fast
7pm Saturday - Selling fast
Location: Tea Gardens, Dominion Museum Building, Massey University (Tokomaru, Block 10). Use Entrance D of the campus, the entrance to the venue is on the side (on the left as you face the front of the building) by the carparking area. The Dominion Museum Building is located behind the National War Memorial at Pukeahu Park.
Transport:
Some paid parking at Entrance D. Massey Wellington campus parking is free during the week. Parking is limited, with spots available at Entrance C off Wallace Street, Entrance E off Tasman Street, and Entrance D off Buckle Street between the blue lines next to the Museum Building. Some coupon parking on Tasmin Street. There is Wilson Parking on Tory Street with a 10min walk.
Closest bus stop is Stop 6912 Taranaki Street at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park.
Content advisory
This production contains explicit language including racist slurs and themes that audiences may find confronting. It includes taumaha content about sexual violence, abuse and trauma that may be triggering. It is recommended for ages 16+, the performance is restricted to age 14 years old and up. Whānau and caregivers should use discretion and consider the maturity of younger audience members and the potential impact on them.
Background
TIAKI Research
The play draws upon the Kaupapa Māori research project, TIAKI – Community wellbeing for whānau with lived experience of incarceration, funded by the Health Research Council. It is part of our kaupapa oranga hapori programming, and follows the plays The Swing and Unreel.
TIAKI has been running since 2023, co-led by Cheryl Davies (Tū Kotahi Māori Research), Associate Professor Paula Toko King (Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare, University of Otago in Wellington), Associate Professor Ruth Cunningham (University of Otago) and Te Rākau, with people with lived-experiences at the centre.
Te Rākau
Te Rākau Hua o Te Wao Tapu is Aotearoa New Zealand’s longest surviving independent Māori theatre company. Guided by Te Tiriti o Waitangi the organisation have worked in schools, prisons, Marae, urban and rural communities, and youth justice residencies across Aotearoa, using Theatre Marae as a tool for change. Te Rākau is a registered Charitable Trust, with a small team of kaimahi who work all year based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
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