Written by: Hariata Moriarty and Tamati Moriarty Directed by: Jim Moriarty and Regan Taylor Toi Aro Arts Centre, 20th Jun 2026 Reviewed by: Tanya Piejus The black-box performance space at the new Toi Aro Arts Centre on Market Lane is an appropriately dark and claustrophobic space for staging Waenga, a large part of which is set in the cramped confines of a police station holding cell. Even before we go in, directors Jim Moriarty and Regan Taylor are barking orders at us to fo

Review by John Smythe 22nd Jun 2026 In May 2025 Hurō Productions premiered a two-hander version of Waenga at the late-lamented Te Auaha Tapere Iti, then took it to Dunedin in March this year. Now Te Rākau Hua o Te Wao Tapu in partnership with Hurō Productions are presenting a developed production with nine performers – for a short season at Toi Aro Art Centre, 3 Market Lane, Wellington (replacing Toi Poneke in Abel Smith St) then a tour of 21 venues across multiple venues wit

From Culture 101, 2:40 pm on 21 June 2026 Siblings Hariata and Tamati Moriarty developed Waenga through workshops with senior Maori students at Wellington high schools, building the play around the recurring theme of young people wanting to understand a political world that often feels deliberately confusing. The show played to sold-out audiences at last year's Kia Mau Festival and has since grown into a theatre marae production directed by their father, Jim Moriarty. They've