What I’m Reading: Regan Taylor
- TE RĀKAU
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
by Regan Taylor, Sunday Stay Times, June 21, 2026
Regan Taylor (Ko Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pikiao ōku iwi Tēna Tātou) is an actor, director, tutor and theatremaker. He stars in Te Rakau’s upcoming production Waenga, on in 19 venues across the Lower North Island from June 20-August 12.
Kia ora, I’m Regan. I’m 46 years old, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to theatre in all its forms, the making of it, the chaos of it, the community of it. I was born in Dannevirke, a small town with an outsized Viking identity. The name itself comes from an old Danish word meaning “the work of the Danes” or “the Danes’ fortification,” borrowed from a famous Viking defensive wall in Denmark. Scandinavian settlers founded the town in 1872 and clearly committed to the bit, massive Viking billboards still stand at either end of town, greeting travellers with either “Welcome” or “Farvel”, depending on which direction you’re heading.
After high school, instead of stepping neatly into adulthood, I disappeared onto the road. At 18, I hitch-hiked and walked the length of Aotearoa, partly chasing independence and partly avoiding the institutional life that seemed to loom ahead of me. Joining the Navy had been floated as an option, but the idea didn’t hold water. So instead, I picked fruit, slept in a tent, and drifted between towns, occasionally crashing in university dormitories with old school friends who seemed far more organised than I was.
Eventually, theatre found me properly. In 1999, I trained as an actor at The UCOL Theatre School in Palmerston North. I technically graduated in 2000, though that remains debatable, as unpaid library fines apparently stood between me and the actual diploma. Still, paper or not, the work began there. Over the past two decades, I’ve thrown myself into theatre-making from every angle possible: actor, director, writer, producer, designer, mentor – all of it. If there’s a job to be done in a rehearsal room or backstage, chances are I’ve done it.
This year, I’m studying toward a Master’s in Creative Processes at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School while also serving on the creative Paepae for Te Rākau Hua o te Wao Tapu touring production of Waenga. It feels like a continuation of the same journey I started decades ago – still searching, still learning, still trying to understand how stories can shape people and communities.
As part of that study, I’ve been reading Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai Smith. There are genuine bangers in that book – ideas that hit hard and linger long after you’ve put it down. The kind of thinking that quietly reshapes the way you approach creative mahi and relationships with people.
For a while, I was also mildly addicted to short affirmations. Tiny phrases I could carry around in my head like survival tools: Lead with kindness. Rest is productive. Take up space. You are allowed to begin again. They weren’t life-changing revelations, but they made me feel grounded, and sometimes that’s enough. I’d often find myself pulling one out at the end of a conversation or rehearsal, depending on the kaupapa at hand.
For balance, and maybe escape, I read fantasy. Anything by Raymond E. Feist tends to pull me in. I’m not entirely sure whether it’s the magic, the dragons, or the adventure that keeps me there, but what I really love is the sense of whakapapa woven through his worlds. Legacy, genealogy, ancestral connection, entire histories carried forward through people and story. Maybe that’s the thing theatre and fantasy have in common after all: both are trying to remind us where we come from, and what we might leave behind.
Waenga, on in 19 venues across the Lower North Island from June 20-August 12. Tickets available at: www.terakau.org/mahi/waenga2026
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