Māori theatre a tonic for NZ’s ‘historical amnesia’
- TE RĀKAU
- Jan 24, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: May 9, 2024
Massey University | 25 January 2017
Countering "cultural amnesia" with provocative, entertaining theatre that exposes multiple truths of Aotearoa's turbulent history.
Countering “cultural amnesia” with provocative, entertaining theatre that exposes multiple truths of Aotearoa's turbulent history is how Te Rākau Theatre artistic director Jim Moriarty describes the work of The Undertow – a four-play epic currently being performed in Wellington.
He says theatre fans, and those who have never seen live theatre, have been blown away by the power and passion of the performances currently being performed at Te Papa Museum’s Soundings Theatre.
He hopes more will take the chance to participate in the final days of the current season, which is supported by Massey University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The Undertow tackles major historical moments in our collective stories: from the settlement of Port Nicholson and the Owhiro Coast, to the battle of Passchendaele and the Vietnam war, to current day urban development.
It is comprised of four funny, moving and deeply powerful plays about Wellington and Aotearoa’s bicultural history performed by a cast and crew of 50, directed by Mr Moriarty and written by Massey psychology graduate Helen Pearse-Otene for Te Rākau Theatre, New Zealand’s longest-running Māori theatre company.
Nearing the end of its successful Wellington season, the first two plays will be performed this Wednesday and Friday, with the third and fourth plays on Thursday and Saturday nights. Sunday offers a unique opportunity to see all four plays in one day as a theatre marathon, starting at 1pm.
Psychology thesis transformed into theatre
Helen Pearse-Otene wrote all four plays and the final one, The Land-Eaters, as part of her Master of Psychology thesis at Massey University. Parts of the play are based on extensive interviews she did with Vietnam War veterans, which she drew on for her academic research within a psychology framework to address creativity and narrative as therapeutic tools.
The first of the plays, The Ragged is set in Wellington’s Port Nicholson in 1840 and explores the early relationships between settlers, the New Zealand Company, and tangata whenua as the settlers try to find their own place to call home.
The second, Dog & Bone, takes place in during the Taranaki Land Wars in 1869. In writing it Ms Pearse-Otene conducted extensive research using settlers’ and Armed Constabulary diaries, newspaper articles, and ngā kupu tuku iho (oral histories) of local Iwi to maintain the integrity of the play’s cultural background.
In Public Works she examines how the Public Works Act in 1917 stripped the rights and land of Māori soldiers while they are in Europe fighting for King and Country, and delves into the psyche of soldiers and nurses in WWI.
In The Land-Eaters the scene is 2017 and focuses on how one man’s quest to develop land on Wellington’s south coast clashes with the fate of an ancient tree and a the former land-owner – and mana whenua (territorial rights) – who has taken up residence there.
University support for expressive arts that challenges us
Mr Moriarty says Massey’s support exemplifies the vital role of a university in championing creative ways to explore critical issues that help the wider community – Pākehā, Māori and new migrants – to understand their society. With the increase in migrants settling in this country, it is important that our collective cultural stories are widely shared, and theatre is a key vehicle for this, he adds.
He hopes to be able to tour the production in New Zealand as well as internationally, as the stories express universal truths about humanity, and he is keen to connect with sponsors.
Tickets are available from Ticketek here. More information on Te Rakau’s production of The Undertow.
This article was originally published on Massey University's website. See the website below.
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