ONO - Six stories from Māori and Pasifika playwrights

We need your help to get ONO to the Circa Theatre stage this September!

TAHI has commissioned six monologues by Māori and Pasifika writers on the theme of aroha/alofa. When we have curated the festival and produced our own work for TAHI Festival in the past, we have found a shortage of Māori and Pasifika voices. This lack of representation is multi-faceted with this project being a way to provide a platform for those voices, and address this inequity. 

The six playwrights working to create ONO with us are: 

Jthan Morgan (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata, Sapapāli'i, Magiagi, Lotofaga)

Michaella Steel (Tainui, Rarotonga)

Vela Manusaute (Niue / Samoa / South Auckland)

Isaac Martyn (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa)

Poata Alvie McKree (Ngapuhi / Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa, St Vincent, Barbados)

Tainui Tukiwaho (Tūhoe / Te Arawa).

We had our first workshop session earlier this month where our writers worked closely with dramaturg Maraea Rakuraku (Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa) and directors Nicola Hyland (Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārangi and Ngāti Hauiti) and Sally Richards. This was a hugely successful first workshop with all parties coming away inspired and eager to continue drafting, rewriting, formulating, and mulling over their monologues. While the team keep busy creating, we need your help!

We are delighted to have Taki Rua Productions as our Executive Co-Presenting Partner and the support of Playmarket. However, to get this work realised on stage at Circa Theatre in September 2023, we need some help to cover a funding shortfall. We need to raise $3,000 to cover the cost of rehearsal period, to directly support the living wage for the three actors who will bring ONO to life. 

We would love for you to support ONO and help bring these underrepresented stories to life. Any support, little or large, you can offer for this mahi is hugely appreciated. 

Ngā mihi nui, Sally and TAHI Festival 💚