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POWERFUL TRIBUTE TO WĀHINE TOA WHO INSPIRED WITI IHIMAERA WILL OPEN INAUGURAL TE TAIRĀWHITI ARTS FESTIVAL
Mere Boynton, Roimata Fox, Ani-Piki Tuari and Ngapaki Moetara will star in a theatrical celebration of some of the most formidable and inspirational female characters to have graced the pages of New Zealand fiction - the world premiere of Nancy Brunning’s Witi’s Wāhine
The new New Zealand play headlining the inaugural Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival in October has been written by Brunning, a highly regarded actor, director and playwright, and is based on excerpts from Witi Ihimaera stories, including Parihaka Woman, Medicine Woman and Waituhi.
Guided by their sharpness of wit, keen powers of observation and an ability the bend the elements, Witi’s Wāhine pays tribute to the true stars of Ihimaera’s novels - the powerful and poignant wāhine Māori characters.
“Witi has always acknowledged the women in his life are the reason he had stories to tell,” says Brunning.
But, she says, the usual treatment of wāhine Māori, particularly on screen, is to make them secondary characters. This powerful new play offers a wero to other playwrights, storytellers and filmmakers.
“Wāhine Māori are often dumbed down for the screen, and many have their stories altered or diminished in order to bring the male characters into the spotlight. They are portrayed as leaders by default rather than by design. They are the love interest not the hero; the support role not the lead; the victim not the instigator; the destroyer not the nurturer; or are so sacred they are inaccessible,” she says.
“Our young women need honest role models and support in navigating the complex, raw and real messages they have been given about our wahine Māori. This play is about bringing forward wahine and offering a chance for young women to come face to face with wahine Maori performers presenting a wahine Māori worldview,” Brunning says.
Witi’s wāhine are charismatic heroes of Māoridom who understood the necessity of balancing life and death, tapu and noa, destruction and protection, law and lore. They maintained whānau ties honoured whakapapa, and education was paramount. Fighting for land, and identity, was key to their survival.
In the play, they present as a group of women who come from te Tairāwhiti, but with unique characteristics and qualities. They step in and out of the written world while making real-time commentary on the context of each of the written characters, and their real life inspiration.
Produced by Hāpai Productions with the blessing, support and guidance of Witi Ihimaera and his whānau, the play will be a jewel in the crown of New Zealand’s newest arts festival, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival.
Festival Director Tama Waipara says, “This is a world premiere which honours a son of Te Tairāwhiti and the women whose lives and stories he has brought to life in award-winning books, plays and films.”
Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival is the Gisborne region’s new major festival and flagship contemporary arts and cultural event, taking place for the first time in October this year. The event celebrates what it means to be of Tairāwhiti and of Aotearoa.
From 4-20 October 2019, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival will deliver more than 70 exceptional live performance events by over 400 performers, from both New Zealand and all over the world.
It is a rich, diverse and thoughtful arts festival which reflects and celebrates the people of Tairāwhiti, and further affirms the region’s strong position in the creative landscape of Aotearoa.
With a programme packed full of paid and free events taking places across the region, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival will premiere film, theatre, music, kapa haka, dance, story-telling, experiences and fun-for-all-the-whānau festivities.
SHOW INFO
Witi’s Wāhine
Hāpai Productions
DATES
8pm, Saturday 5 October
2pm and 5pm, Sunday 6 October
CREATIVES
Written by Nancy Brunning
CAST
Mere Boynton
Roimata Fox
Ngapaki Moetara
Ani-Piki Tuari
TICKETS
A Res $35
B Res $25
LOCATION
Lawson Field Theatre
Fitzherbert St, Whataupoko, Gisborne
MEDIA CONTACT
Siobhan Waterhouse | Mr. Fahrenheit Publicity | Ph: +64 22 126 4149 |
E: siobhan@mrfahrenheit.nz
“Our creativity as a region provides connection for all New Zealanders.”
– Tama Waipara, Festival Director
Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival
From 4-20 October 2019, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival will put a spotlight on the Gisborne region with more than 70 exceptional live performance events by over 400 performers, from both New Zealand and all over the world.
The region’s new flagship arts and culture event is a rich, diverse and thoughtful contemporary arts festival which reflects and celebrates the people of Tairāwhiti. Multi-artform, region-wide, and a mixture of paid and free events, shows and arts events, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival’s kaupapa embraces the richness of the Gisborne region, celebrates the abundance of artistic excellence connected to Tairāwhiti, and recognises the region’s place in the creative landscape of Aotearoa.
The festival celebrates the remote nature of its location and uplifts the unique community spirit and geographic identity which defines not only the Tairāwhiti region, but also Aotearoa.