March 31, 2008

PAKIWAITARA – a stirring promenade performance 

Drama School Students Take Over the Museum of Wellington

In a new collaboration between Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and the Museum of Wellington, hidden treasures are rediscovered in a new stirring promenade performance by the students of Toi Whakaari.

The audience is taken on an intimate and in turns humourous journey through four areas of the museum, including the Helen Hitchings exhibition and the Wahine disaster room, enticed by figures and scenes of our collective past, devised from student’s research and personal points of curiosity.

When Māori gather inside the ancestral house and speak, they draw living stories from the walls, giving meaning to their life today through this relationship with the past.  

Toi Whakaari second year acting, design and entertainment technology students collaborate to explore what the histories and stories housed within the walls of the Museum of Wellington mean for them as young practitioners living in New Zealand today.

Exploring stories of the Wahine disaster, Helen Hitching’s life and legacy, immigration and discovery the students, as a younger generation, have discovered ways of interpreting and relating to these stories that underpin the fabric of New Zealand.

Through this project, the students have discovered some very personal connections making this production all the more relevant to them.  Melissa Reeve a second year acting student has discovered that she is directly related to Helen Hitchings.

The performances coincide with the Museum’s commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the maritime tragedy, the Wahine disaster (Thursday 10 April). The Museum is offering a significant programme of events and a private room will be available for survivors, rescuers and their families throughout the day.

Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is forging the future of theatre and film in Aoteroa.  Come and have a look.
WHERE: Museum of Wellington, Queens Wharf
WHEN: Tue 8 – Sat 12 April
TIMES: 6.30pm and 8.30pm daily
TICKETS: $15/$10 (audience limited to 30 per show)
BOOK: 04 381 9253 (automated line)