For three nights only, a new play is coming to the Bluestone Church Arts Space to celebrate the the Māori creation story of Aotearoa.
The performance is called ‘Te Pō: The Mean As Māori Show’ and is described as a mix of martial arts and theatre performance by lead artist Irihipeti Waretini.
Irihipeti said the performance is a fundraiser to keep their martial arts school running.
“Te Ara Hononga is a Māori Martial Art school based in Victoria, where we learn traditional Maori weaponry, and how to wield those weaponry,” she said.
“We are all students from the school and many of them are writing material for these shows which are all different across the three nights.”
The theme of the shows are Te Po, which Irihipeti describes as the long dark perpetual night.
“It is a broad concept, part of our learning as students is that we are going into the completely unknown, learning a form of traditional crafts by navigating this world.
“A lot of our students were born and raised here, and some of us who migrated here who have either little to no understanding of Maori culture.
“We are learning to know who we are by sharing those stories of navigating this world and reconnecting to our culture.
“We are hoping to get a deeper understanding of our culture and who we are by using the same techniques that we learn to use to do martial arts, and then share it in a entertaining, fun and gentler way than fighting.”
The show is supported by Maribyrnong council which has helped fund the project run by volunteers.
The show will run from Friday, October 6 until Sunday, October 8.
Jennifer Pittorino
