Actress wins award day after death

The day after she died, Nancy Brunning won New Zealand’s top playwriting award.

Brunning, best known for her performance as nurse Jaki Manu on Shortland Street, won the Bruce Mason Award posthumously at the 2019 Playmarket Accolades, held at the Hannah Playhouse in Wellington yesterday afternoon. The prize recognises the professional success of a playwright.

Playmarket director Murray Lynch said Brunning wrote with a personal and sharp-witted view of the world, ‘‘working to make visible the kinds of Ma¯ori women seldom seen on our stages and screens’’.

Her death was announced by family friend Stacey Morrison on Facebook yesterday morning.

‘‘With a heavy heart, I post this message on behalf of Nancy’s wha¯nau . . . our ma¯ma¯, our sister, our aunty, our friend, she has followed the call of her t¯ıpuna.’’

The last play Brunning worked on was Witi’s Wa¯hine, an original play she wrote and directed about author Witi Ihimaera.

In July, while Brunning was working on the play, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to raise money for nonfunded medication so she would be strong enough to complete the project. She was able to see the play to its completion, after it premiered at the inaugural Te Taira¯whiti Arts Festival.

Ihimaera said Brunning had continued to work, despite needing a wheelchair by the time the play premiered last month.

‘‘All she could talk about was the future. She had wonderful ideas. She was sharp as ever, and strong as ever.’’

Ihimaera said Brunning was facing developed cancer. She had been open about her diagnosis with cancer, which she had been dealing with for almost nine years.

Brunning, who grew up in Taupo¯ before attending Toi Whakaari and graduating in 1991, lived in Wellington most of her life.

Ihimaera recalled the reaction she had entering the Wellington theatre scene. ‘‘Soon, she was everywhere. There she was, on television, in film.’’

He said her work fostering indigenous art and New Zealand theatre and working with talented women would leave a lasting impact on the arts.

Brunning, of Nga¯ti Raukawa and Nga¯i Tu¯hoe descent, had won awards for her work, including Best Actress at the New Zealand Film Awards for her role in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, the sequel to Once Were Warriors.

Morrison said Brunning’s passion had been to ‘‘bring unheard stories to the light’’.

A spokesperson for the wha¯nau, Morrison requested that people respect the privacy of Brunning’s wha¯nau and friends while they made their final farewells. ‘‘We wish to express our deep gratitude and mihi to everyone who has supported Nancy and our wha¯nau.’’

Brunning’s tangi is being held at Raukawa Marae at O¯ taki.