Creative Team
Date & Times
27th June - 21st August 2011
The annual Te Reo schools tour travels to Wellington, Wairarapa, Kapiti, Horowhenua, Manawatu, Taranaki, Tuwharetoa, Maniapoto, Waikato, Coromandel, Rotorua, Auckland, Northland, Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Hawkes Bay and the South Island.
Karapinepine
Celebrating our 16th year of touring total immersion Māori theatre to audiences throughout Aotearoa, Taki Rua Productions proudly presents the 2011 Te Reo Māori Season. Karapinepine draws on the life of a prophet from our past in order to look at the way we live today. It asks “Is there a prophet in each of us? What forces shape the path we follow in this life?”
From the Director, Ngapaki Emery
“Karapinepine is the action of gathering or drawing in close. The seeds for this work began with me drawing in on my curiosity around prophecy, superheroes and faith. Karapinepine was devised and is therefore made by the company. After selecting the three actors from auditions in Auckland and Wellington, we held our first workshop in Manutuke. Here we explored the purpose of the Te Reo Māori Season and the actors presented their research & making tasks for Karapinepine. From this week long gathering the actors left and as a company we continued to build the content, style, and costume design for the show. A month later we regrouped in Wellington and began the five week rehearsal period, it was during this time after ongoing collection of material that the structure and form of the show emerged.”
Reviews
“…The performers had good energy that was engaging. The performance had humour, song and a fast pace that the kids found engaging… any type of performance in te reo Māori benefits our students…we would like to see more shows per year…” - TKKM o Whakawatea
The community enjoyed the performer’s flexibility, enthusiasm and the story line… We all enjoyed their energy and the storyline even though most of the students do not speak Māori… I enjoyed their energy and enthusiasm mostly… those that don’t understand appreciated the language more and for those who speak Māori learnt alot about Tino Rangatiratanga… we need to ensure that we are all doing our bit to speak Māori… Ka rawe a koutou nei mahi, piki mihi tenei ki a koutou katoa!” - Te Waha o Rerekohu Area School
“…the tamariki enjoyed the acting…it’s important to expose our tamariki to quality performing and language”
- TKKM o Ngā Taonga Tuturu ki Tokomaru
“…the kids and parents and teachers all loved it and the feedback has been 100% positive. The actors were high energy, enthusiastic and clever… Despite not speaking te reo Māori, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and seeing the responses of the audience. I was amazed at the level of performance… Our kura and wharekura really appreciate the performances as it is very difficult to find practitioners that speak the reo to send in to inspire and teach the tamariki… I would love to see the actors follow up with small workshops and for there to be marae performances in the evenings during the tour. If we had more time to organise this, it would be awesome.” - Janie Stevenson, East Bay REAP
“…it's a show in te reo Māori that our tamariki can enjoy and see the opportunities that te reo Māori has for them and what they can aspire to…the students enjoyed being involved in the show… it was enjoyable and entertaining for both adults and children. it also gives ideas on themes and kaupapa to elaborate on in the classroom… it reinforces the reo we have in the classroom and as previously mentioned how te reo Māori can be used beyond school and the marae… we believe it is great in the way that you promote te reo Māori through performing arts.” - Emerald Hakiaha, Bethlehem School
“… we were fortunate enough to host a Taki Rua Productions play here …as the only Māori organisation in this community and with Māori being a minority language in this area, it was indeed an opportunity to showcase our language, our talent and Māori Performing Arts to a community that would not normally have access to such a quality production. The majority of the attendees were not of Māori decent and although unfamiliar with the language thoroughly enjoyed the theatrics as well as the interactive drama workshop that ensued. It is our full intention to see them perform again in our community in the near future. Taki Rua is uniquely Aotearoa and epitomises our own aspirations for Māori language within this community – Kereama Nathan,
Te Herenga Waka o Orewa
