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The Star Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Thursday March 16 2017 41
Theatre/Arts
Actress lands role in mythical love story
• By Georgia O’Connor-Harding
TAKING ON a leading role in
a full Te Reo Maori play has
helped Kim Garrett to discover
her own cultural roots.
Raised by her Pakeha mother,
it has only been in the last few
years that Garrett, 37, decided to
embrace her ancestry and learn
more about her iwi Ngāi Tūhoe.
“We were taken away from all
things Maori, also I had really
negative experiences with my
father so I didn’t want to know
that side,” Garrett, of Linwood
said.
But she said the more she has
grown, the more she has realised
she was losing a major influence
and, after re-connecting with her
half-sister, she hopes to visit her
marae this year.
As part of embracing her
culture, she will be playing two
roles – Waitaiki and Hine in a
play showcasing the love and
tragedy behind the legend of
pounamu, or greenstone.
The Court Theatre will host
the play He Kura E Huna Ana by
writer Hōhepa Waitoa.
It tells the story of Poutini
the taniwha who falls in love
with Waitaiki, a woman from
the northern seas of the Bay of
Plenty who he takes captive.
CULTURE: Kim Garrett will play the leading role in a show based on the legend of pounamu.
Pursued by Waitaiki’s husband
Tamaahua, Poutini realises the
only way to keep Waitaiki forever
is to turn her into his essence
– pounamu.
Garrett said legend has it if
you find pounamu, it is Poutini
allowing you to take one of his
hidden treasures as a gift.
A modern element to feature
in the show will be Garrett playing
the role of Hine, a young
girl dealing with the loss of
her family, who returns to her
Maori heritage at the Arahura
River and learns the stories of
pounamu.
The show, commissioned
by Taki Rua, will tour around
the South Island, with the first
performance beginning at the
Tūhuru Arahura Marae on the
West Coast, where the legend
originates.
“It is terrifying I am so scared
. . . there is such a beauty to it,”
Garrett said.
Having performed for more
than 30 years, Garrett has taken
the same approach to learning
the Maori language as she
would to learning Shakespearian
theatre.
She said the team behind the
show are working to make quality
Maori theatre more accessible
and “normal” to New Zealanders.
“These are good times to
challenge people, the status quo
and our cultural development,”
Garrett said.
In her role of teaching at the
National Academy of Singing
and Dramatic Art and the
Hagley Theatre Company,
Garrett always encouraged
students to take on the Maori
language.
But she said it was only now
that she has “walked her own
talk” and is proving the language
can be learnt.
•He Kura E Huna Ana will
be performed at The Court
Theatre on March 27. For
more information, call 963
0870
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