Taki Rua Archives
2024 Production
Written and Directed by Tānemahuta Gray. A story of survival and love between the young Te Arawa warrior Hatupatu and the unique bird woman that is Kurungaituku.
2023 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Willy Craig Fransen
Tamatea runs away from the family farm, headed for the bright lights of the city. He is knocked unconscious, and awakes to find the city ruled by a dreaded taniwha that forbids the use of te reo Māori. Can Tamatea and his new city friends defeat the taniwha?
2022 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Jeffrey Addison
Join Pourakahua, a cross between human and bird, on a journey of self-discovery as they fly across the stunning landscapes of Aotearoa to find their true home, their kāika tūturu. They meet interesting friends along the way, coming to their aid while also evading the dangerous bird hunters.
2023 Tawhio Te Reo Tātārakihi
Nā Jamie McCaskill
The show is based on the children’s book by Patricia Grace and illustrated by Robyn Kahukiwa. Performed completely in te reo Māori, Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere is the untold story of the Kuia and her relationship with Pūpai the spider.
Te Ahu Taiohi
2022 Production
Nā Jim Moriarty, Helen Pearse Otene
After five weeks of deep creative exploration of self, culture and identity, our rangitahi taiohi share with you their ideas, dreams and experiences in a large-scale, electrifying performance of movement and storytelling that will leave you reflective and inspired.
2022 Tawhio Te Reo Tātārakihi
Nā Jamie McCaskill
The show is based on the children’s book by Patricia Grace and illustrated by Robyn Kahukiwa. Performed completely in te reo Māori, Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere is the untold story of the Kuia and her relationship with Pūpai the spider.
2021 Production
Nā Alex Lodge
Two worlds collide when mild-mannered optometrist Ata and fierce sea maiden Whetū fall in love. The result: a child of both land and sea, with Ata and Whetū navigating challenges of cross-cultural relationships,
the loss of Ata’s friend and differing ideas of parenthood.
Pōhutu
2020 Production
Nā Bianca Hyslop, Rowan Pierce
Pōhutu is an impressionistic work that manifests the ephemeral, fragmented nature of identity and one’s connection to memory, time, place and loss. The collaboration between the dance/movement and the
scenographic elements from conception has resulted in the work being very unique in it’s image based storytelling. A highly visceral experience where the design is also an integral performer.
Cellfish
2019 Production
Nā Jason Te Kare, Rob Mokaraka, Miriama McDowell
Offset with wicked humour, Cellfish gives agency to the voiceless: Characters whose lives are framed by incarceration and challenged by our punitive penal system.
Starting a conversation that can't be ignored, this provocative and hilarious new work focuses on a fiercely determined woman who enters a prison to teach inmates Shakespeare.
He Kura E Huna Ana
2018 Production
Nā Hōhepa Waitoa
Drawn from traditional Ngāti Waewae kōrero, He Kura E Huna Ana tells of the origins of pounamu in
Arahura Valley. Set in two distinct time periods - one ancestral, and one contemporary. He Kura E Huna
Ana shows that the two are inseparable, and losing sight of our origins can be dangerous.
When Tauranga Moana ancestor Waitaiki is abducted by Poutini, the jealous taniwha, her lover Tamaahua pursues them to the depths of the Arahura River
Hine Kihāwai
2018 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Hone Hurihanganui
Hine Kihāwai may have left the world of the living, but she lives on in the memories of her children, Tama and Te Āniwa. Against all odds, her tamariki fight to hold on to her teachings, her wisdom, her songs - everything they knew and loved about her. Only through retaining all that she gave them can they truly face the challenges of their turbulent world.
Hinepau
2017 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Gavin Bishop
A te reo Māori adaptation of the classic children's story of the same name by Gavin Bishop.
Hinepau doesn't seem to fit in with her hapū. Her hair is bright red, her eyes are deep green, and all her weaving is inside out and back to front. Though she tries to hide her differences, her tribe decide Hinepau must be a witch, and send her to live alone in the forest. But when disaster strikes the village, Hinepau may just be the only one who can save them.
Whakaahuatia Mai
2016 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Kahu Hotere
A restaged classic from 2004, the story follows a little boy called Miharo learning the importance of whakapapa and tikanga when his kuia passes away on his birthday. This show reached out to our communities nationwide and to international audiences via our first ever live streamed show, with over 1,500 viewers.
Not in Our Neighbourhood
2016 Season
Nā Jamie McCaskill
Tikapa Productions in partnership with Taki Rua, The Court and Fortune Theatre
The lives of three very different people living together at a Women's Refuge safe house. Maisey Mata, a film maker, has been invited to raise awareness by looking behind the mask of domestic violence—the despair and the hope.
A one-woman show with a surprise appearance at the end.
Waiora/Wairua
2015 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Puti Lancaster, Teina Moetara
An ambitious undertaking, Waiora/Wairua is one cast delivering two separate te reo Māori productions aimed at two audiences – primary and secondary school children.
Wairua - Amongst the branches on the edge of the river Pekapeka is trying to
not be mesmerize by the memory of home. Pekapeka has to force his
whānau to stop doing as they have always done and trust that where
they could be going will ensure their history is not fragile
Waiora - Over time and through colonization our sensibilities to each other and taiao have
deteriorated. WAIORA unapologetically shows our outer and inner worlds that have lead to our disconnection. It then offers hope and encourages our innate ability to re-‐build and heal from where we are
All Our Sons
2015 Season
Nā Witi Ihimaera
The Great War abounds not only in Europe but here at home in Mataira Mountain. Two generations go to war while a third fights a battle to keep their whānau at home.
All Our Sons reflects on the Native Māori Contingent as New Zealand commemorates 100 years since World War I
Pūtōrino Hill
2014 Season
Nā Chris Molloy
Putorino Hill is a historic New Zealand drama about a gifted taonga puoro (traditional instruments)
expert and the boyhood encounters with the supernatural world that altered his life forever.
A curious journalist becomes our eyes into his world and the more she uncovers, the more she
realizes that their meeting is not by chance…
Behind this charismatic old man and his wondrous stories of ancient battles, adventures with
patupaiarehe (fairies) and Māori Goddesses… amazing people such as his koro, the powerful healing
evangelist, and the supernatural visions, prophecies and miracle healings… lies a darker, sinister side,
that has far reaching and horrific ramifications.
Putorino Hill – an adventure into the supernatural, a love story spanning the generations.
Pourakahua
2021 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Jeffrey Addison
Join Pourakahua, a cross between human and bird, on a journey of self-discovery as they fly across the stunning landscapes of Aotearoa to find their true home, their kāika tūturu. They meet interesting friends along the way, coming to their aid while also evading the dangerous bird hunters.
2020 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Apiranga Taylor
Ramai and Takimana are two troublesome yet talented junior high school students
struggling with rules and authority. They find the support they need from two
ancestral poupou, Te Ao and Waimiria, who are able to return disguised as students to
guide their descendants.
Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere
2019 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Jamie McCaskill
The show is based on the children’s book by Patricia Grace and illustrated by Robyn Kahukiwa. Performed completely in te reo Māori, Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere is the untold story of the Kuia and her relationship with Pūpai the spider.
Friday's Flock
2018 Production
Nā Reihana Haronga
Friday’s Flock is a ‘bittersweet nod to our agricultural heart’ (Pantograph
Punch, 2017). A one man show starring well-known performer Craig Geenty, Friday’s
Flock follows the lives of the locals at ‘Saleyards Café’, a real-life café next door to an agricultural sale yard in Feilding.
The touching comedy was written in 2016 by Feilding locals Reihana and Karla
Haronga after visiting the Saleyards Café. Surrounded by farmers and stock agents,
they recognised some real personalities within the decades-old establishment
Tiki Taane Mahuta
2017 Production
Nā Tānemahuta Gray, Tiki Taane
In 1996, Karen and Eraia are deeply in love. Their friendship with Marie and Paul, who are also a couple, as well as members of Eraia's touring band, is strained. Marie is Eraia's ex-lover, something she hasn't let go of.
Live music, theatre, aerial performance, contemporary dance, kapa haka, mau rākau and hip hop unite in Tiki Taane Mahuta, one of New Zealand's largest nationally-devised productions ever.
He Kura E Huna Ana
2017 Production
Nā Hōhepa Waitoa
The first te reo Māori work by Taki Rua for adult audiences. Toured throughout Te Waipounamu.
Drawn from traditional Ngāti Waewae kōrero, He Kura E Huna Ana tells of the origins of pounamu in
Arahura Valley. Set in two distinct time periods - one ancestral, and one contemporary. He Kura E Huna
Ana shows that the two are inseparable, and losing sight of our origins can be dangerous.
When Tauranga Moana ancestor Waitaiki is abducted by Poutini, the jealous taniwha, her lover Tamaahua pursues them to the depths of the Arahura River
Dog & Bone
2016 Season
Nā Helen Pearse-Otene
Produced by Te Rākau in association with Taki Rua Productions
Set on Wellington's South Coast and in Taranaki in 1869, telling the story of the Maori Land Wars, through the eyes of Maori sons fighting on opposing sides: Taiki is married to a Pakeha woman, and he chooses to fight for the Armed Constabulary, while his brother, Kuritea, is battling with Ngati Ruanui in the second Taranaki Land Wars campaign.
Ngunguru I Te Ao I Te Pō
2015 Season, Capital E Festival
Nā Noa Campbell
Ngunguru I Te Ao I Te Po is a story about the children of Tangaroa. The waves roll in, the tides ebb and flow moving to the rhythms of the Moon.
When the creatures are threatened by the silken slick spewing from the belly of a
shipwreck on a reef, only Tangaroa with the currents from the tides, and Kai Whare
the taniwha can help them.
Ngā Pou Wahine
2015 Season
Nā Briar Grace-Smith
Ngā Pou Wahine was a an instant classic and a watershed moment in the career of prolific Māori writer Briar Grace-Smith. First written in 1995, Taki Rua celebrated the piece for its 20th anniversary with a four city tour.
The one woman play follows a young, working class whaine as she discovers her true spirit through the favulous stories of her whānau and the dramatic history of her ancestors.
The season was the directorial debut of Miriama McDowell, who received a Wellington Theatre Award as Best Emerging Director, and solo debut of Kura Forrester in the production’s starring role.
Ngunguru I Te Ao I Te Po
2014 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Noa Campbell
Ngunguru I Te Ao I Te Po is a story about the children of Tangaroa. The waves roll in, the tides ebb and flow moving to the rhythms of the Moon.
When the creatures are threatened by the silken slick spewing from the belly of a
shipwreck on a reef, only Tangaroa with the currents from the tides, and Kai Whare
the taniwha can help them.
Te Tira Puha
2013 Te Reo Māori Season
Nā Chris Molloy
The story of Te Tira Puha follows the journey of three fearless tamariki as they haerenga from their
sleepy hometown to the city lights and sounds of Tamaki Makaurau and finally on to Cape Reinga.
Performed in te reo Māori and using a combination of live DJ’ing, traditional performance, dance,
song and physical theatre our four performers take audiences on a journey of friendship, love and
loyalty. Filled with heart and humour and steeped in tikanga our whakaari explores valuable
questions about the part we all play in the future of Te Ao Māori
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Sydney Bridge Upside Down
2013 Season
Nā James Ashcroft
There was a simple country boy who lived on the edge of the world, and his name was Harry Baird. That is not the whole story...
Adapted from the David Ballantyne Novel of the same name, this poignant work taps into the tragedy, boldness and beauty of this lesser know piece of NZ literature.
The events of this story take place at an abandoned meat-works in Calliope Bay, a forbidden and dangerous place, a place where Harry Baird finds himself drawn, a place where accidents happen. A place where people die...
