Theatre Royal Nelson, 78 Rutherford Street, Nelson 7010
“Visually stunning, well crafted, and epic in dimension and voice, this play is a clarion call for our nation to wake up to a history that is all too often ignored or suppressed.” — Andrew Whiteside An extraordinary mapping of Aotearoa through the eyes of Te Tiriti o Waitangi Mahana. Her story, our history. Creator of the acclaimed The Haka Party Incident, Katie Wolfe (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama) directs this epic tale of Tiri Mahana, a 186-year-old matriarch, from her birth at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi to present-day Aotearoa. This bi-lingual retelling written by Witi Ihimaera (Te Whānau a Kai, Ngāti Porou), Katie Wolfe and Maioha Allen (Ngāti Apakura, Kahungunu Whanui, Ngāti Hauaroa, Whakaue, Ngāti Porou) is drawn from the original play Woman Far Walking by Witi Ihimaera, writer of the BAFTA and NZ Film Award winning film The Whale Rider. With award-winning actors Miriama McDowell (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi) and Nī Dekkers-Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou), audiences are invited to a play for the whole whānau where Tiri wants us all to remember that the good things, the right things in life, are worth fighting for. Woven into a deeply emotional tapestry celebrating wāhine Māori and the emergent rangatahi who will take Aotearoa forward, this astonishing new production: a national treasure that continues to resonate across time and place. Kua whatua ki te takapau o aroha, ka piata anō mai tēnei whakaari whakahirahira a Witi Ihimaera i tēnei whakaaturanga mīharo tuatahi, he tāonga puiaki o te motu e pāoro tonu nei ā haere ake nei. ARTIST TALK OPENING NIGHT ONLY Join us post-performance for a very special kōrero with Katie Wolfe, Witi Ihimaera Smiler, Miriama McDowell and Nī Dekkers-Reihana to hear about the creative evolution of this kaupapa.
