I, GEORGE NEPIA

TAWATA PRODUCTIONS (AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND)

Fri 8 March

Mahurangi College, Warkworth

Wed 13 - Mon 18 March

Loft, Q theatre

Thurs 21 - Sat 23 March

Mangere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku

Leading Māori playwright Hone Kouka's award-winning play I, George Nepia, premiered during the 2011 Rugby World Cup at Q theatre to packed-out theatres. Now, the heart-warming story of the talented and unassuming New Zealand rugby legend and Invincible is coming to Auckland Arts Festival 2013, playing at multiple venues so it can be enjoyed by the widest possible audience.

Tawata Productions' eloquent story provides an enchanting and poetic glimpse into the life, heart and mind of a young East Coast lad from humble beginnings who invented the spiral punt, crafted the crash tackle and was thrust into rugby superstardom. The one-man show stars the graceful and mesmerising Jarod Rawiri (The Arrival) as Nepia, and a multitude of other characters, who takes the audience on a journey into the spirit of our nation through the eyes of an extraordinary, kind and multi-talented man.

I, George Nepia has been described as "theatrical taonga" (Theatreview) and has won numerous awards. These include four 2011 Chapman Tripp Awards for Production, Director and Actor of the Year as well as Most Promising Director for Jason Te Kare in his directorial debut.

Auckland Arts Festival Artistic Director, Carla van Zon, said, "We have a wealth of theatrical talent in this country and Auckland Arts Festival celebrates that by giving extraordinary shows like this and The Factory another chance to enthral new and potentially returning audiences. And Hone Kouka is one of this country's most celebrated and performed playwrights. His work tells stories of this country's heart, and always moves audiences."

Jarod Rawiri is a prolific New Zealand actor, and theatre and screen chameleon. As well as his acclaimed role in The Arrival, which opened at Auckland Arts Festival 2009 and went on to worldwide success, Rawiri has played everyone from a Māori Battalion soldier in Tama Tū, to Hone Heke in Waitangi: What Really Happened - for which he was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in the 2011 Aotearoa Film and Television Awards, to the sensitive nice guy in his 2007 debut movie, Jinx Sister.

Hone Kouka is an acclaimed New Zealand playwright. He has written 13 plays that have been staged in New Zealand and worldwide, and won multiple awards. In September 2009, Kouka was honoured with the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to contemporary Māori theatre.

Tawata Productions is a Māori production house established in 2001 by Hone Kouka and Miria George that specialises in the development and production of new work, by diverse emerging and established writers from around Aotearoa. As well as I, George Nepia, Tawata's other productions include The Mourning After by Ahi Karunaharan, Tū by Hone Kouka and He Reo Aroha by Jamie McCaskill and Miria George.

www.aaf.co.nz

Rawiri is an incredible Nepia: warm, complex and with a wonderful physicality. His eyes are intense, and I really do feel like I'm seeing what he sees - the never ending expanse of water as they make the slow voyage to Europe, the crowds in the stand. I'm transfixed as he melts between the old and young Nepia, taking then letting go age and experience, and it's as if there are two different actors in the room. He employs many of the tools of the solo performance - direct address and connection with the audience, embodying characters (then having conversations with them), and he does this with ease, skill that must have taken much work in the rehearsal room with director Jason Te Kare. - Theatrescenes

SEASON DETAILS

Show I, George Nepia

Venue details

Mahurangi College, Warkworth

Fri 8 Mar, 7.30pm

TICKETS: GA $35 / Friend/Conc/Group $29

BOOK AT: Warkworth Information Centre, 1 Baxter Street

THE EDGE: buytickets.co.nz, 09 357 3355 or 0800 289 842

Loft, Q Theatre

Wed 13 - Fri 15 Mar, 7.30pm; Sat 16 - Sun 17 Mar, 5pm; Mon 18 Mar, 6.30pm

TICKETS: GA $45 / Friend/ Conc/Group $41

BOOK AT: qtheatre.co.nz or 09 309 9771; THE EDGE: buytickets.co.nz; 09 357 3355 or 0800 289 842

Mangere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku

Thurs 21 - Fri 22 March, 7pm; Sat 23 March, 1.30pm and 7pm

TICKETS: GA $35 /Friend/Conc/Group $29

BOOK AT: Mangere Arts Centre Box Office, or THE EDGE - buytickets.co.nz, 09 357 3355 or 0800 289 842

Duration 1hr 15min no interval

Information www.aaf.co.nz

Social Media Facebook: www.facebook.com/Aklfestival

Twitter: @Aklfestival

Media enquiries Siobhan Waterhouse, Publicist. P: +64 (0)9 374 0317 | M: +64 (0) 22 126  4149 | E: siobhan.waterhouse@aucklandfestival.co.nz

CREATIVE CREDITS

Writer: Hone Kouka

Director: Jason Te Kare

Producers: Tawata Productions

Actor: Jarod Rawiri

AV and Lighting Design: Rob Larson

Original compositions: Miriama Ketu-McKenzie

Costume Design: Cara Louise

Sound design: Karnan Saba