Q&A with Nicola Kawana who will be performing in UPU, part of Taranaki’s Reimagine festival

Taranaki actor Nicola Kawana is one of the performers featured in UPU.

Some of Oceania’s most empowering and electrifying poetry will be taking centre stage in UPU this month as part of the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT)’s Reimagine festival. UPU, which means word in Samoan, is curated by Grace Iwashita-Taylor. Directed by Fastina Amosa, the 70-minute show features Māori and Pacifica poetry performed by actors. For one of those actors, Nicola Kawana, it’s a case of coming home to her maunga, as she grew up in South Taranaki. Stratford Press editor Ilona Hanne caught up with Nicola to find out a bit more about the show and Nicola’s own career.

No hea koe? - Where are you from and where did you grow up?

Kei te uri ahau o Ngāruahine, Ngāti Ruanui, Rangitane, Ngāti Kahungungu o Wairarapa hoki. I was born and raised in Hāwera, South Taranaki. I went to Turuturu Primary School, Hāwera Intermediate and Hāwera High School and then went to drama school in Wellington at Toi Whakaari. I have now lived in Tamaki Makaurau/ Auckland for the past 26 years.

To many television fans, you are probably best known for playing Huia Samuels in Shortland Street - but that’s not the only show you have been in on television / film. What else have you been in?

I’ve been working as an actress now for over three decades so have quite a body of work, I can’t even remember half the gigs I’ve done. I got my first big telly job on Jacksons Wharf. I worked opposite Martin Clunes in The Man Who Lost His Head, and with Temuera Morrison in Fresh Meat. Other screen jobs include The Tender Trap, One Lane Bridge, My Life Is Murder, Legend Of The Seeker, Maui’s Hook, and Eruption.

UPU isn’t television though, it’s live theatre - what is special about live theatre versus television or film?

Stage and telly are completely different mediums. With theatre, you will never see the same performance twice and it is more of a communion between the performers and audience.

If you had to pick one or the other - what would it be and why, live theatre or television?

Probably TV, it’s easier and I enjoy the intimacy of screen work.

What is UPU - describe it - is it a play, a series of poems ... what is it?

UPU is a retrospective of Māori and Pacifica poetry performed by an excellent cast of Māori and Pasifica talent.

What drew you to UPU?

The poems and the people.

Language is such an important part of our lives, especially in a lot of theatre - but also in our sense of identity - what does language mean to you?

Language is a worldview. It represents the way we experience the world.

For a long time Māori wasn’t spoken as much, it wasn’t encouraged perhaps in schools, etc - that seems to be changing now - is that good? Is it happening fast enough? Should we all speak te reo Māori, regardless of our ethnicity, if we live in Aotearoa?

My nana and granddad were native speakers of te reo as was my aunt. The purpose of colonisation is to supplant an indigenous language and culture. Fifty-one years ago a petition was presented at Parliament to have te reo recognised as an official language. As we collectively learn more about the history of this nation we will come to understand that te reo Māori was always meant to be a language for all of us who live here. If we lived in France we would speak France regardless of our ethnicity. Language gives us an understanding of culture and I love that we are now hearing and using te reo Māori in daily life reo.

Who should come and see UPU?

It’s a delicious collection of words and ideas. It opens us up to a plethora of experience and what it means to take our place in the world from the here, Te Moana nui a kiwa.

What do you want people to take away from UPU? What words or ideas?

We can’t be the boss of how people experience art. They will take what they need.

When not acting, what do you do - for work, but also for relaxation?

I write, I am a voice artist and a gardener. I cook and garden to chill.

The Details

What: UPU, presented by Taranaki Arts Festival and PANNZ

When: Thursday, October 12, 7.30pm

Where: Theatre Royal, TSB Showplace, New Plymouth

WIN:

The wonderful team at TAFT have given the Stratford Press a double pass to see UPU to one lucky reader. To be in to win, simply email editor@stratfordpress.co.nz with UPU in the subject line. Please include your name and contact phone number in the body of the email. The competition closes at noon, Tuesday, October 10 and the winner will be contacted that afternoon.