April 14, 2010

The PLAYMARKET METRO PLAYREADING SERIES   
kicks off on April 15th with a reading of Awhi Tapu
written by celebrated playwright Albert Belz and
directed by Rawiri Paratene (Whale Rider)
with Rob Mokaraka, Jarod Rawiri, Josephine Stewart Te Whiu and Tarun Mohanbhai – followed by an open forum.
Thursday April 15 6.30pm -9pm, METRO THEATRE (MANGERE EAST)


PLAYMARKET, with the support of CREATIVE COMMUNITIES MANUKAU, TOI O MANUKAU and MANUKAU CITY COUNCIL is pleased to launch the
PLAYMARKET METRO THEATRE PLAYREADING SERIES.

This series of Playreadings, held at the Metro Theatre, celebrates the enormous talent of Maori and Pacific writers, actors and practitioners’ that hail from and work in Manukau City.
Established and emerging playwrights share their work with Manukau audiences, recognising the high quality and incredible talent coming out of Manukau City and encouraging new voices to step centre stage.

Ahwi Tapu is a powerful play set at the foot of the Urewera Ranges, a desolate forestry village. With the forestry industry closed down, the people of Awhi Tapu have left. Wendyl, Sonny, Casper and Girl Girl have only each other to rely on. Awhi Tapu is a story of loss and belonging but most of all, friendship.

For Albert Belz, Awhi Tapu was the work that put him on the map hailing his arrival as a force to be reckoned with as a playwright in the New Zealand Theatre scene. It was first produced in 2003 by Taki Rua Productions and nominated for Best New New Zealand play at New Zealand’s premiere theatre awards The Chapman Tripp’s. It has toured throughout New Zealand and been published by The Play Press.

Belz had this to say about the PLAYREADING SERIES
“As a writer who has spent most of his life living in Manukau I am well aware of the huge amount of artistic endeavour and potential that brims within the region in all forms of the art…. I know from my own experience that I had to hunt for opportunities outside of Manukau city in order to launch my career as a professional writer. I’m certain that encouraging local writers to develop and produce their works within Manukau City can only be a very good thing for all theatre practitioners of the Auckland art scene.”

The PLAYMARKET METRO PLAYREADING SERIES begins
Thursday April 15 6.30pm -9pm
METRO THEATRE (MANGERE EAST)
Awhi Tapu
By Albert Belz
Directed by Rawiri Paratene