Actor Maiava Nathaniel Lees will perform in UPU, part of Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival.
Actor Maiava Nathaniel Lees will perform in UPU, part of Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival.
Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival kicks off at the end of September with stage production UPU coming to the War Memorial Theatre on October 6 and 7.
The world of Oceania is not small. From the energetic volcanoes of O’ahu to the southern reaches of Aotearoa, she is borderless, vast andgrowing bigger by the day.
After decades of dismissal and disconnection, her children are closer than ever. It’s time for a reunion.
UPU means word. UPU gives the stage to some of Oceania’s most electrifying poets — writers like Maualaivao Albert Wendt, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Briar Grace-Smith, Karlo Mila, Hone Tuwhare, Sia Figiel, Ben Brown — they all have a home here.
In UPU, borders disappear and the theatre becomes a sea of islands.
Be transported across an ocean to hear the voices dealing with colonisation, family, climate change, love, sex, religion, power and tourists.
UPU is performed by a stellar cast of some of the best Tagata Moana actors in Aotearoa NZ including Maiava Nathaniel Lees, Mia Blake, Ana Corbett, Shadon Meredith, James Maeva, Nicola Kawana and Nora Aati.
