Mahanga is ready to hit the stage at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Photo: Jodi Bryant
Running barefoot along remote gravel roads is a world away from the bright lights of London, but that's where one talented Far North teenage actor is headed in July to showcase te reo Māori on a global stage.
Māhanga Mitchell grew up as the youngest of nine siblings in the far-flung Hokianga, where te reo was his first written and spoken language, and kapa haka an adored everyday activity.
"It was quiet. The only neighbours really are cows," he laughs. "You've got to jump on the quad to get down to Nan's house to go see the cousins. It's all gravel roads and bare feet and we'd go play in the bush. That's what it was like growing up in the Hokianga – it's raw."
It was a move to Whangārei Boys' High School (WBHS), where he boarded at Carruth House, that opened his eyes to the world of acting. He began taking drama and discovered he had a flair for acting.
In Year 13, drama teacher Fiona Churcher asked a group of students if they wanted to take part in the Tai Tokerau Regional Shakespeare Festival, and the response was less than enthusiastic.
"We were all like, 'Nah, hell no, we're not doing Shakespeare'," recalls the former deputy head boy, who admits he knew "absolutely stuff-all" about the topic.
"And she was like, 'If you guys win, you get to go to Wellington', and we were like, 'Oh, nah, we'll be keen then!' So we spent the next month rehearsing a 15-minute scene from Shakespeare's production Macbeth."
The festival was held in April 2021 and involved 59 Whangārei students from five high schools performing different scenes from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. The categories were won by both Whangārei Boys' High and Tauraroa Area Schools.
The WBHS class performed a fresh and dark take on a scene from Macbeth with Māhanga playing a chilling version of Banquo's ghost, leading to impressed judge and veteran actor Stuart Devenie saying he'd never seen anything like it in the 40 years he had been working with Shakespeare.
The winners represented Northland at the National Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival finals in Wellington, where opportunities abound.
Recalls Mitchell: "Watching our competitors perform was an incredible experience but, after every group, we were losing hope in our scene and were second-guessing ourselves whether we were going to make the cut.
"We had to remind ourselves that we went to Wellington with one goal, and that was to perform to the best of our ability. If we performed well, then we had done our job, and that's exactly what we did. What came next was unexpected for our entire group, as we were absolutely shocked to be given eight awards at prize-giving - breaking the record for the most awards ever won by a single school."
From there, he was chosen for the National Shakespeare School Production (NSSP), where they were split into three groups and each given a 30-page script to learn in five days. Allowed to put their own spin on the script, Mitchell took a cultural approach, translating his character's lines from Welsh into English and again into te reo Māori, paraphrasing all references to Welsh mythology to fit a Māori mythological context.
It was a hit, and he was subsequently selected to represent Aoteroa as part of Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand (SGCNZ) for the Young Shakespeare Company bound for the Globe Theatre in London.
Shakespeare's Globe is a world-renowned theatre and cultural landmark located on the bank of the River Thames. It is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. The original theatre was built in 1599, destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt in 1614, and then demolished in 1644. The modern Globe Theatre is an academic approximation based on available evidence of the 1599 and 1614 buildings. It is considered realistic, though modern safety requirements mean that it accommodates only 1400 spectators compared to the original theatre's 3000.
But the 18-year-old Victoria University student, who has never left the North Island, remains undaunted. In fact, it's a culmination of his stepping stones to the big smoke – from Hokianga-Whangārei-Wellington-London.
"I just keep finding bigger smoke," he laughs.
And despite the fact he has no idea what he will be performing, he's not feeling any nerves.
"I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. They release the information once we're over there. They put the pressure on us to see who works best under the gun."
The 22-day experience will involve time off university, where he is studying a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and Māori studies, with the end goal of working in film and television. He had a brief taste in front of the tv cameras last year when interviewed by John Campbell on TVNZ's Breakfast show.
To help his 'Road to the Globe', a Givealittle page was set up with the goal of raising $9,500, which it has already surpassed, currently totalling $16,150. The remainder will go toward his tertiary education.
"Seeing so many different people from different backgrounds rally behind my cause has been such a humbling experience," says Mitchell, who works a part-time job around university hours.
One donator is local real estate agent Gabe Schoonderwoerd, who recognised Mitchell's journey from a similar one he carried out a decade earlier.
The former WBHS student went through the same process before being selected to represent Aotearoa at the Globe.
"It was a very moving moment in my life and one I still hold immense value in, which is why I felt so strongly about ensuring Māhanga got there."
He recalls his own fundraising was carried out the classic way - sausage sizzles, car washes, helping neighbours and a part-time job around school hours.
"I had a smaller timeframe to get funding organised in as I was also saving to be able to go to Switzerland for a year as part of the Rotary International Youth Exchange program, which meant I left New Zealand in January of 2013. Mid-year I travelled from there to London and reunited with my fellow selectees who made their journey from New Zealand for our performance at the Globe. We performed 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', where I played one of the leads, Lysander.
"We then travelled in Shakespeare's footsteps for a couple weeks, whilst marvelling in his modernised works throughout many of the theatres in London and surrounds, after which I travelled back to Switzerland before eventually returning home to New Zealand."
Schoonderwoerd acquired a taste for travel and acting as a New Zealand ambassador, subsequently joining Air New Zealand and transitioning over the years to the position of inflight manager on a 300-plus passenger 787-900 Dreamliner.
He was offered the chance to continue his love of acting through involvement in Air New Zealand advertising.
"Who knows what may have continued to happen if we never had an event that changed the course of history. Covid came and many job losses followed, which ended the career that saw more than eight million kilometres of travel around the globe and many fond memories and opportunities cease for me."
Schoonderwoerd returned to his hometown, purchased a doer-upper home and rediscovered his love of building and home design, before merging his passions into a new career.
"Now, here I am at Bayleys in Whangārei where I am living one of my dreams, being able to get in front of the camera, and loving being local."
When Schoonderwoerd saw Mitchell's story, he was impressed by a fellow WBHS student following his passion and wanted to support his journey, knowing first-hand the costs involved and the life-changing experience gained.
"So I was determined to help him get there and continue to grow in his field, to share the knowledge I have with him and ensure that the creative spark of his continues to shine. Māhanga is on a journey to achieving truly incredible things."
Whilst Mitchell was in Northland during recent school holidays, the pair met and bonded over their shared love of acting, amid many laughs.
"He was saying to just take it all in, and showing me a bit of guidance," says Mitchell, who lapped up all the advice.
Mitchell is one of 24 other Kiwis to travel to the Globe, along with actors chosen from the previous two years who had been unable to travel due to Covid restrictions. Joining him is fellow multi-talented Northlander Darius Martin-Baker from Tauraroa Area School – "but I'm the only fulla from the wops," he laughs.
He said, given the opportunity, he will try to showcase te reo on the London stage.
"Me being a proud Ngāpuhi boy from Hokianga, this is the biggest opportunity for me to establish myself in the acting community and develop my passion and dream of becoming a professional actor. I am so excited to represent, not only my family, but this community that has supported me and blessed me with this amazing opportunity, and I can't wait to share Māori culture to a wider audience on the Globe stage."
As for his initial Macbeth reluctance, it's fair to say he's had a change of heart.
"Shakespeare's real interesting," he enthuses. "The underlying themes and plots for Shakespeare's plays are the standards for a lot of performance material these days. I can see the influence from Shakespeare in modern-day performance and I'm learning the foundation of theatre. That's the gold standard – Shakespeare."
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