Australian Premiere
OPERA
THEATRE
Taki Rua (New Zealand)
Michael
James Manaia
By John Broughton
Presented by fortyfivedownstairs
in association with Melbourne Festival
and confronting glimpse into the all-toorecognisable darkness of cultural dislocation.
New Zealand’s national Māori
theatre company revives the
powerful story of a man returning
from war to find he is at odds with
his country, his actions and himself.
Warning Contains sexual references,
coarse language, nudity, sudden loud noises
Michael James Manaia fights a war – first with
his father, then in Vietnam – from which he
returns to a society made unrecognisable by
the horrors he has seen. This is his story, raw,
humorous and unsentimental, one that has
become the voice of a lost generation.
Event Information
In 1991, playwright John Broughton’s fearless
reckoning with the bitter complexities of his
country’s past turned this one-man play into
an undisputed classic of New Zealand theatre.
Now, twenty years after it first stunned audiences
around the world, New Zealand’s premiere Māori
theatre company, Taki Rua, brings Michael James
Manaia roaring back to the international stage.
Fresh from a critically acclaimed season at the
New Zealand International Arts Festival, this
staging of Michael James Manaia packs the
explosive punch of a cluster bomb. Led by a
powerhouse performance from Te Kohe Tuhaka
and directed by the award-winning Nathaniel
Lees, Michael James Manaia is a heart-wrenching
Directed by Nathaniel Lees
Performed by Te Kohe Tuhaka
fortyfivedownstairs
45 Flinders Lane
Fri 12, Tue 16 – Fri 19 Oct at 7.30pm
Tue 23 – Fri 26 Oct at 7.30pm
Sat 13, Sat 20 & Sat 27 Oct at 4pm, 8pm
Sun 14, Sun 21 & Sun 28 Oct at 5pm
2hr 10min including interval
$45 / $37.50 / Grp $40 / Student $25
Transaction & booking fees may apply
fortyfivedownstairs (03) 9662 9966
fortyfivedownstairs.com
Ticketmaster 136 100
melbournefestival.com.au
Photo Philip Merry
The production has been supported by Creative New Zealand,
Sunraysia Foundation and fortyfivedownstairs private donor
program. Original production co-produced by the New Zealand
International Arts Festival 2012.
WORLD PREMIERE
OPERA
Theatre
Orlando (Australia)
By THE RABBLE
after Virginia Woolf
Presented by THE RABBLE and Malthouse
Theatre in association with Melbourne Festival
Theatrical mavericks THE RABBLE
bring us a h