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  • Writer's pictureTE RĀKAU

Theatre explores Wellington's violent past

Caitlin Salter for Dominion Post | 19 January 2016


It's a tale as old as time - people fighting for their right to own land.

 

A bearded man in a shirt staands with his arms behind his back. In the background, a young woman reaches her hand out towards him
Actors Hariata Moriarty and Louis Tait rehearse Te Rakau Theatre's latest play Dog & Bone.

It's a tale as old as time - people fighting for their right to own land.


Wellington in 1869 was a bitter place where lives were cheap and hopeful settlers were disembarking from ships to find themselves in a war zone.


Māori theatre company Te Rākau Theatre is unlocking Wellington's violent past in its latest play Dog & Bone.


Director and company founder Jim Moriarty said the play could travel anywhere in the world and audiences would recognise the themes.


"We devised these stories based on the south coast of Wellington as a metaphor for events that happen everywhere," he said.


"The dynamics of people colonising each other are still as relevant now as it was in 1869."


Te Rākau works in schools, prisons, marae and youth justice residences throughout the country to fuse Māori values with theatre productions.


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