The Details

Kei te uri ahau o Nga¯ ruahine, Nga¯ ti Ruanui, Rangitane, Nga¯ti Kahungungu o Wairarapa hoki. I was born and raised in Ha¯wera, South Taranaki. I went to Turuturu Primary School, Ha¯wera Intermediate and Ha¯wera High School and then went to drama school in Wellington at Toi Whakaari. I have now lived in Tamaki Makaurau/ Auckland for the past 26 years.

To many television fans, you are probably best known for playing Huia Samuels in Shortland Street — but that’s not the only show you have been in on television / film. What else have you been in?

I’ve been working as an actress now for over three decades so have quite a body of work, I can’t even remember half the gigs I’ve done. I got my first big telly job on Jacksons Wharf. I worked opposite Martin Clunes in The Man Who Lost His Head, and with Temuera Morrison in Fresh Meat. Other screen jobs include The Tender Trap, One Lane Bridge, My Life Is Murder, Legend Of The Seeker, Maui’s Hook, and Eruption.

UPU isn’t television though, it’s live theatre — what is special about live theatre versus television or film?

Stage and telly are completely different mediums. With theatre, you will never see the same performance twice and it is more of a communion between the performers and audience.

If you had to pick one or the

● What: UPU, presented by Taranaki Arts Festival and PANNZ

● When: Thursday, October 12, 7.30pm

● Where: Theatre Royal, TSB Showplace, New Plymouth

other — what would it be and why, live theatre or television?

Probably TV, it’s easier and I enjoy the intimacy of screen work.

What is UPU — is it a play, a series of poems . . . what is it?

UPU is a retrospective of Ma¯ ori and Pacifica poetry performed by an excellent cast of Ma¯ori and Pasifica talent.

What drew you to UPU?

The poems and the people.

Language is such an important part of our lives, especially in a lot of theatre — but also in our sense of identity — what does language mean to you?

Language is a worldview. It represents the way we experience the world.

For a long time Ma¯ori wasn’t spoken as much, it wasn’t encouraged perhaps in schools, etc — that seems to be changing now — is that good? Is it happening fast enough? Should we all speak te reo Ma¯ori, regardless of our ethnicity, if we live in Aotearoa?

My nana and granddad were native speakers of te reo as was my aunt. The purpose of colonisation is to supplant an indigenous language and culture. Fifty-one years ago a petition was presented at Parliament to have te reo recognised as an official

language. As we collectively learn more about the history of this nation we will come to understand that te reo Ma¯ori was always meant to be a language for all of us who live here. If we lived in France we would speak French regardless of our ethnicity. Language gives us an understanding of culture and I love that we are now hearing and using te reo Ma¯ori in daily life reo.

Who should come and see UPU?

It’s a delicious collection of words and ideas. It opens us up to a plethora of experience and what it means to take our place in the world from the here, Te Moana nui a kiwa.

What do you want people to take away from UPU? What words or ideas?

We can’t be the boss of how people experience art. They will take what they need.

When not acting, what do you do — for work, for relaxation?

I write, I am a voice artist and a gardener. I cook and garden to chill.