Te Ohu Whakaari was a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

theatre cooperative formed by Rangimoana Taylor in the early 1980s that created and performed plays across

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

About

Rangimoana Taylor was inspired to form Te Ohu Whakaari by his experiences in an Auckland-based theatre company called Statement Theatre alongside

Nathaniel Lees Nathaniel Lees is a New Zealand theatre actor and director and film actor of Samoan descent, best known for film roles in ''The Matrix Reloaded'', '' The Matrix Revolutions'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and for starring in '' Y ...

, and provoked into action through an opportunity from artist Darcy Nicholas who was running the Wellington Arts Centre that was funded at the time by the Department of Labour. The Depot Theatre (that became Taki Rua) nurtured a philosophy to foster New Zealand work which also influenced Te Ohu Whakaari. Te Ohu Whakaari has lasting influence in New Zealand. Their theatrical practice combined western theatre traditions and Māori customs with story telling and movement in a unique style. Much of their work was cooperatively devised and has not been published. Te Ohu Whakaari had a theatre-in-education programme which toured New Zealand. One of the Te Ohu Whakaari posters from 1986 is held in the collection of

Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

and promotes a national tour (poster designed by Chris McBride). The poster says: "New Zealand Students Arts Council presents Te Ohu Whakaari, Young Maoris in Performance, National Tour 1986, Aotearoa – Te Waipounamu, With the Assistance of, Post Office Savings Bank QEII, Arts Council". Members of Te Ohu Whakaari included Maringikura Campbell, Himiona Grace, Michael Grace, Apirana Taylor,

Riwia Brown Riwia Brown (née Taylor; born 1957) is a New Zealand playwright. She is the screenwriter of the popular and award-winning New Zealand movie '' Once Were Warriors'' (1994). The ''Once Were Warriors'' screenplay, adapted from the book of the ...

, Donna McLeod and

Briar Grace-Smith Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays ''Don't Ca ...

. Briar Grace-Smith joined To Ohu Whakaari when she was seventeen and says this about Te Ohu Whakaari: "We did explore a lot of issues that were affecting us as young people and we were able to see a result of that when we presented these stories to, in particular, a Māori audience because at that point they had never seen anything like it so their reactions were strong."

Selected works

*''Kohanga (1986)'' by Apirana Taylor. ''Kohanga'' is a play about the Kohanga Reo movement in the 1980s.'''' *''Te Whanau a Tainui Jones'' (date unknown) by Apirana Taylor. *''Roimata (1988)'' by Riwia Brown. *''Te Hokina'' (date unknown) by Riwia Brown. *''Nga Wahine'' (date unknown) by Riwia Brown. *''Iwitaia'' (date unknown) by Haina Stewart.

References

External links

*Background about Māori theatre at Te Ara – the New Zealand Encyclopedia *https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-theatre-te-whare-tapere-hou/page-2 {{authority control Māori Theatre companies in New Zealand 1980s establishments in New Zealand