Ngā Pou Wahinereturns for Tour During Matariki

Watershed Play Ngā Pou Wahinereturns for Tour During Matariki 2015

It’s been 20 years since Taki Rua Productions first presented Ngā Pou Wahine in what was a watershed moment in the career of prolific Māori writer Briar Grace-Smith.

Taki Rua Productions brings Ngā Pou Wahine back to the stage for strictly limited seasons in Wellington, Auckland, Whangarei and Kaitaia in June and July as part of Matariki 2015.

Ngā Pou Wahine opens at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand on Wednesday 24 June, then at the Herald Theatre in Auckland from 26 June to 1 July, before heading north to The Old Library in Whangarei from 5-7 July, and closing the tour in Kaitaia at Te Ahu Centre on the Thursday 9 and Friday 10 July.

Ngā Pou Wahine premiered in 1995, winning Grace-Smith the Bruce Mason Playwrights Award and the Peter Harcourt Award for Best Short Play at the Chapmann Tripp Awards.

Directed by Miriama McDowell for 2015, Ngā Pou Wahine brings to life the journey of a young wahine, Te Atakura, as she discovers her true spirit through the fabulous stories of her whānau and the dramatic history of her ancestor, Waiora.

Well-known performer Kura Forrester performs the one-woman show, playing six characters that interweave stories of past and present as Te Atakura discovers the truth about her family and the strength of her ancestors.

Grace-Smith said the inspiration for the play came from a story told to her by her father. “When I was a child, I remember being taken out fishing with my father in Whangaruru Harbour. While we were out there, he told me the story of a great tupuna with long red hair. She was captured, and while being taken out to sea, she cut her hair and threw it into the waves, so giving back her mana to her people.”

Ngā Pou Wahine is at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand in Wellington on the Wednesday 24 June; Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland from the 26 June to 1 July, at The Old Library in Whangarei from 5-7 July and at Te Ahu Centre in Kaitaia on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 July. For details visit www.takirua.co.nz

ENDS

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