Te Rēhia Theatre (Aotearoa New Zealand) in partnership with The Dust Palace (Aotearoa New Zealand), Commissioned by Urban Ink and The Cultch This documentary is a look inside the development of Te Tangi ā te Tūī, a fantastical and allegorical tale of loss of te reo Māori and its reclamation. Tūī soaks up the world around it & responds in song. Though beautiful, his tune now is a faint echo of what it once was when Aotearoa was blanketed in the ngāhere, flutes of patupaiarehe filled the trees & Māori alone walked gently upon their mother. This new work brings together Kaupapa Māori theatre & cirque theatre to create an evocative narrative of love & loss between Māori, Patupairehe & the natural world in the face of colonial impact. Our story speaks in parallel to te reo Māori, the voice of the tangata whenua & grave significance of kaitiakitanga of Aotearoa around climate change & the world-wide loss of biodiversity.

World Premiere at The Cultch, Vancouver, October 19-29, 2023