Historical Overview of Theatre in Aotearoa/New Zealand

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Historical Overview of Theatre in Aotearoa/New
Zealand
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Polynesian Exploration

• ancestors of the Maori arrived in Aotearoa from
  East Polynesia c.800 CE
• Aotearoa Land of the Long White Cloud
• established tribal kin groups
• remained undisturbed until first European
  explorers arrived in 17C

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European ExplorationAbel Tasman, 1642

• From Holland
• employee of the Dutch East Indies Company
• Searching for Terra Australis Incognita, the
  legendary, rich southern land
• Encountered Aotearoa, called it Nieuw Zeeland
  after the Dutch province

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James Cook, 1769

• British sailor and navigator
• also sent to search for southern land, but proved
  it didnt exist
• circumnavigated Aotearoa/New Zealand
• interaction and trade with local Maori
• first complete map

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Cooks Map of New Zealand
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• Navigation --gt
• Trade --gt
• Industry commerce --gt
• Missionaries --gt
• Christian settlement --gt
• Immigrants --gt
• Systematic colonization

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European Immigration 19C

• European settlement from 1830s
• Britain of the South
• classless society
• opportunity to start new lives
• evangelical influence humane colonization

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The Treaty of Waitangi, 1840(Te Tiriti o
Waitangi)
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Two Peoples, One Nation?
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Drama in Aotearoa/New Zealand

• Three general periods
• 19C Colonial drama
• 1900-1945 Amateur period
• Post-1945 Postcolonial dramatic consciousness

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19C Drama of Colonization

• 1850-1900 was a period in which the dramatic text
  was not particularly valued as literature
• early theatrical activity was a showcase for Old
  World fashion
• developing cities military camps goldfields
• farces, melodramas, Shakespeare festivals,
  variety performances, musicals, local satirical
  dramas
• scenic spectaculars (1870s-1890s)
• end of 19C first sense of emergent local
  identity

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Amateur Movement, 1900-1945

• rapid increase in amateur theatre
• Repertory Theatres in most cities
• British Drama League
• University drama societies
• realism national identity
• Mulgan, Three Plays of New Zealand (1920)
• The Workers Theatre (late 1930s)

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Early Postcolonial Period

• After WWII, cultural dictates of parent culture
  begin to be questioned more complex probing of
  cultural identity
• distinct signs of change in theatrical
  environment
• writers in other genres exploring possibilities
  of the stage
• mid-1960s Community Theatres established,
  encouraged new generation of professional
  dramatists

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Late Postcolonial Period

• 1975 International Womens Year Maori Land
  March
• time of social change Maori Renaissance
• post-1975 a new era in NZ literature. Flourishing
  of women, Maori, gay and lesbian writers writing
  by other ethnic groups, such as Chinese, Pacific
  Island.
• drama becomes increasingly diverse minority
  voices and marginalized groups acknowledged new
  issues explored new modes of theatrical
  experimentation introduced

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Maori Dramatic Literature

• oral traditions until European settlement (inc.
  performance)
• 1815 Maori orthography
• writing and print profound social change
• emphasis on English
• by 1970s, fears that spoken Maori might be dying
  out
• revival programs literacy for pedagogical
  purposes

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Four Stages of Maori Drama

• 1. (1960s/1970s) Assimilation, conforming to
  Pakeha models. Works mostly in English.
• 2. (late 1970s) Questioning of cultural
  constructs, elements of resistance.
• 3. (1980s) Resistance/revolt. Works that address
  loss of cultural heritage, openly condemning
  Pakeha intervention. Confrontational use of
  Maori language.
• 4. (1990s - present) New generation of dramatists
  taking different position in relation to
  polycultural society asking new questions Maori
  language used as tool for articulating new
  perspectives.