HUI

MITCH TAWHI THOMAS (AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND)

Directed by Rachel House

Saturday 16 March - Saturday 23 March, 2013

Q Theatre, Auckland

WORLD PREMIERE

Fresh from one of New Zealand's hottest playwrights, Mitch Tawhi Thomas, comes Hui, a story about whānau, secrets, lies and the challenge of resisting Māori tradition. Under the direction of 2012 Arts Foundation Laureate Award Winner, Rachel House, Hui is a powerful and poignant new New Zealand work premiering as part of Auckland Arts Festival 2013's diverse theatre programme.

After 20 years, four estranged brothers reunite following the death of their father. One stormy night, as the tangi and onslaught of the whānau loom, insults, invective and sparks fly as the bros grapple with their loss and love and how, for their family, the two have come to define each other. Written with devastating clarity and courage, Hui is urban Māori storytelling at its most visceral.

Hui brings to the table some of New Zealand's very best talent. The formidable cast includes Stephen Butterworth (Nothing Trivial, The Italian Girl in Algiers, The Boys in the Band), Xavier Horan (The Māori Troilus and Cressida, No. 2, Shortland St), Tola Newbery (Tū, Awhi Tapu, Ngā Reo Hau), Maaka Pepene (Te Houhi, Ngai Tahu 32, Maui - One Man Against the Gods) and one of the country's emerging theatre stars, Vinnie Bennett.

Writer, Mitch Tawhi Thomas, said, "A small, disparate whanau reunite and clash. Love defined by loss, they realize there is only one place left to go… home. I have had this play cooking on my stove for years, after being inspired by a huge family reunion at the turn of the millennium. What it has boiled down to is now ready to be seen. It's time to grow up, like it or not."

Before it has even hit the stage, Hui took out this year's Adam NZ Play Award. Mitch Tawhi Thomas also received the Bruce Mason Playwrighting Award in 2002. His play Have Car Will Travel won Outstanding New Zealand Play and Best Director in the 2001 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.

Have Car Will Travel also won Best Director in the New Zealand Listener Awards for highly accomplished performer and director, Rachel House. House also took out the Chapman Tripp Most Promising Female Newcomer of the Year Award (Ngā Pou Wāhine, 1995), Most Outstanding Performance (Woman Far Walking, 2002) and Best Supporting Actress (Enemy of the People, 2003). She performed in award winning films Whale Rider, Eagle versus Shark and Boy, in which she also trained all the young actors. In 2012 Rachel directed the highly successful Te Reo Māori version of Shakespeare's historical masterpiece, Troilus and Cressida at London's Globe Theatre as part of this year's Cultural Olympiad.

www.aaf.co.nz

Rachel House not only succeeds in illuminating the themes of the play but offers a startling new perspective on Māori culture. - NZ Herald (The Māori Troilus and Cressida)

A potent, swaggering production that looks entirely at home on this stage. The Globe has always been a space that rewards large performances, and few have been as outsize as this, which begins with a bulging-eyed, tongue-waggling, foot-stamping haka-style war dance and rarely loses its energy thereafter. - The Guardian (The Māori Troilus and Cressida)

Writer/director Mitch Tawhi Thomas has an almost holistic grasp of just how to poke and prod and provoke an audience. - Salient

SEASON DETAILS

Show Hui

Where Rangatira, Q Theatre, Auckland

When Saturday 16 March - Tuesday 19 March, 6.30pm

Thursday 21 March - Saturday 23 March, 7.30pm

Duration 1hr 30 min no interval

Open rehearsal At the Mangere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku on Friday 8 March, 6.30pm

1hr 30min no interval

Koha at the door

Post-show talk Thursday 21 March

Price A Res $55 / Friend/Conc/Group $49

B Res $45 / Friend/Conc/Group $39

Bookings Book at THE EDGE: www.buytickets.co.nz / 09 357 3355 / 0800 289 842

Group bookings: groups@the-edge.co.nz / 09 357 3354

Book at Q Theatre: www.qtheatre.co.nz / 09 309 9771

Information www.aaf.co.nz

Social Media Facebook: 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: Mitch Tawhi Thomas

Director: Rachel House

Set: Sean Coyle

Lighting: Jennifer Lal

Cast: Vinnie Bennett, Stephen Butterworth, Xavier Horan, Tola Newbery, Maaka Repene

An Auckland Arts Festival production, produced in association with Silo

With support from Creative New Zealand