He Pūranga | Past Projects
The Battalion
29 April - 4 May 2019
Featuring Students from St Mary’s College, St Patrick’s Colleges (Town and Silverstream), Taita College and St Catherine’s College
Theatre Marae in schools
In 2019 Te Rākau applied its Theatre Marae technique to the story of New Zealand’s 28th Māori Battalion, presenting playwright Helen Pearse-Otene’s The Battalion.
Students from St Mary's College, St Patrick’s Colleges (Town and Silverstream), Taita College and Saint Catherine's College performed at St Mary's College Hall in Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington), New Zealand.
Following the school's production of The Battalion, we worked with professional cinematographers to capture a digital theatre recording of the play.
The Battalion is a moving story about friendship, loyalty, madness and redemption – seen through the eyes of water veteran Paora Matene, and relayed to his wayward charges Rimini and George.
The Theatre Marae environment challenges students to develop skills in a variety of areas, including: lateral thinking, spatial awareness and coordination, text analysis, self awareness and presentation, resilience, time management, and inter-personal communication.
The outcome is a high quality school production and enriching experience for audience members, performers, and their families. Students may also achieve NCEA credits.
Resources
The Battalion was presented with these students as a Theatre Marae in-school production. You can find out more about hosting your own in-school production below, or find out more about a soon-to-be-released education resource.