Waiora to Wellie!

WAIORA TO WELLINGTON – Help us get there!

A small rōpū of 12 teenagers from Te Tai Tokerau have been given the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Wellington and stage the opening act for the Kia Mau Festival. The festival which began in 2015 celebrates indigenous drama and dance, which for this small rōpū could be a beginning of something truly amazing. The rōpū are all past and present students of Whangarei Girls’ and Boys’ High Schools and last year put on a drama spectacular Waiora: The Homeland which opened to rave reviews and sold out performances.

Early in 2017 in Whangarei Girls’ High School drama theatre a group of year 13 students were giving the performances of their young lives to achieve NCEA credits. The show was attended by the Mayor Sheryl Mai and MP’s Kelvin Davis and Willow Jean Prime. The students wowed audiences with Waiora: The Homeland by Hone Kouka. There were few bookings before it opened but immediately after Opening Night, word of the show spread like wildfire and the rest of the season sold out.

After the shows initial season ended, the school and cast were lobbied to do a repeat season. The last week of the school year was provided with school permission for them to fulfil the opportunity. The initial success of the first season gave the students a chance to take advantage of a business enterprise Achievement Standard to mount a second season and look at establishing a theatre company for graduates to use in years to come. For some of them, hopefully, it will be a tangible pathway from secondary school performing arts into the theatre industry. It was here that Wahine Works was born.

For these students, who originally gave time and their all for credits for NCEA credits in Drama, a new very close kaupapa arose. Based in 1960s the play looks at the spiritual and emotional consequences of the loss of a Māori family moving away from their homeland to build a better life for their children. and specifically, the effects of the loss of the Māori language. The cast and crew wanted to connect the play with an underlying problem stemming from urbanisation of Māori and how the loss of language and culture can be associated with depression and suicide.

The second season was more explosive than the first with the cast and crew finding themselves receiving monumental support from local iwi and hapū and some for the first time in their lives were heard on the radio, on television and in the paper. Through this media attention debate ensued which the eventual attendance of the former leader of the National Party, Don Brash, made the drive from Auckland to Whangarei to attend the performance. They also gained the attention of Hone Kouka himself and the Māori production company Taki Rua, who presented them with the opportunity to present themselves as Wahine Works performing the opening show Waiora in Wellington for Kia Mau Festival.

For all these students this presents an opportunity to showcase themselves in their preferred career path of drama and creative arts while also enabling them a platform to bring light on a community issue that Aotearoa faces together of Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention.

“Wahine Works are to be congratulated on their outstanding production of Waiora. The entire production was excellent from the technical aspects of the set design and costuming to the actors’ performances. As an audience member I was moved to both laughter and tears and was greatly impressed by the acting talent on display.” - Whangarei Mayor SHERLY MAI

Details of season and booking:

Waiora opens at the Hannah Playhouse in Wellington on June 1st and plays until the 9th of June.

To Book:

Phone or text 0212651393

or email waahineworks@gmail.com