Hyperspace :: Education Pack

HYPERSPACE

BY ALBERT BELZ

EDUCATION PACK

He pou atua, he pou whenua, he pou tangata.

Ko Waitematā te moana

Ko Waikōkota te whenua.

Ko Te Pou Whakamaharatanga mō Māui

Tikitiki a Taranga te tohu o te kaha, o te kōrero, o te whakapapa o tēnei wāhi, o tēnei whare.

Nau mai e te tī, e te tā ki te whare kōrero, ki te whare whakaari o ASB ki te tahatika o te moana.

Mauri tau, mauri ora!

The symbols of support, of strength and of guardianship stand fast and proud.

The waters of Waitematā ebb and flow against the shores here at Waikōkota, the land upon which we stand.

The pou of remembrance to Māui Tikitiki a Taranga stands tall as a beacon of courage, of stories passed down and of the history that connects us all to this place and to this space.

We welcome you all from near and far to this house of stories, to the ASB Waterfront Theatre.

Mauri tau, mauri ora!

Pouwhakamaumāharatanga mō Māui Tikitiki a Tāranga

The Memorial Post of Māui the Topknot of Taranga

Robert Jahnke ONZM (Ngāi Taharoa, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rākairo o Ngāti Porou) 2016

Laminated tōtara and Corten steel

Proudly commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company for ASB Waterfront Theatre

Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei.

Seek the treasure that you value most dearly; if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.

E ngā rau rangatira mā, nau mai piki mai, kake mai ki roto i te whare whakaari nei kia kawea tātou e te Rēhia.

Wonderful people, we welcome you all into the whare to be carried away by the atua of performance, arā ko Hine Te Rēhia.

He whakamaharatanga tēnei whakaari kia whai i o tātou wawata, ahakoa te aha.

This story encourages us to follow our dreams, no matter what.

Nā reira, kia manawa tītī, kia mate ururoa tātou katoa.

HYPERSPACE

BY ALBERT BELZ

CAST

Edward Clendon — Jason/Kapa

Josh Harriman — Kapa

Te Ao o Hinepehinga — Natalie Te Rehua

Pamela Sidhu — Crystal/Kapa

Kruze Tangira — Tāwhai Pātai

Anna-Maree Thomas — Jennifer/Kapa

Mele Toli — Hiona Mohi

Kauri Williams — Sonny Te Rehua

Te Ohorere Williams — Kapa

1990 Timotei, Miami Wine Cooler

Aerobics Championships presenters (on screen) — Lisa Chappell & Peter Elliott

CREATIVE

Playwright — Albert Belz

Director — Tainui Tukiwaho

Choreographer — Jack Gray

Production Design – Filament Eleven 11

— Rachel Marlow & Bradley Gledhill

Costume Design — Alison Reid

Sound Design – Crescendo Studio —

David Atai, James Zambucka, Ryan Fairweather

Medical Script Advisor —

Dr Renee Liang 梁文蔚 MNZM

Intimacy Director — Miriama McDowell

Education Pack Writers —

Anna Richardson and Acacia O’Connor

Education Pack Graphic Designer —

Wanda Tambrin

TIRA

Haami Aukuso Chen-Foung

Salmanzadeh

Myra-Mei Clarke

Paku Fernandez

Makanihi Tohu

Mia Van Oyen

PRODUCTION

Production Manager – Pilot Productions

— Jamie Blackburn, Khalid Parkar & Annah (AJ) Jacobs

Stage Manager — Matthew Kereama

Deputy Stage Manager — Chiara Niccolini

Assistant Stage Manager — Ariana Williams

Technical Operator — Peter Davison

Audio Mix Engineer — Chris Armitstead

Fly Mechanist — T.J. Haunui

Photographer — Andi Crown

Set Construction — Jarren Jackson, Division 22

Publicity — Michelle Lafferty, Elephant Publicity

Set & Costume Design Intern — Nicole Marsh

Costume Design Intern, Massey University

— Rae Lance

Teaching Artists — Acacia O’Connor, Hone Taukiri

Auckland Theatre Company and Te Pou Theatre present the world premiere of Hyperspace by Albert Belz. Winner of the 2023 Adam NZ Play Award, Hyperspace is a sequel to Albert Belz’s Astroman, presented in 2019 and directed by Tainui Tukiwaho. Hyperspace is the first production in Auckland Theatre Company’s 2024 season. It began previews on Wednesday 7 February and premiered on Friday 9 February at the ASB Waterfront Theatre.

Hyperspace is 2 hours and 15 minutes long, including interval. The production contains coarse language. Please switch off all noise-emitting devices.

PRINCIPAL

FUNDERS:

CORE FUNDER:

Haere Mai. Welcome.

OUR PARTNERSHIP

As part of a bicultural nation founded by the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a theatre company in Aotearoa must ensure that its work reflects the mutual commitments made by the two peoples who signed the Treaty. This production is theatre made by Māori in partnership with non-Māori. It is an example of the Treaty in action. Two worlds, two peoples, two tongues, two ways of thinking, working together: kotahitanga and mana motuhake in partnership and action.

In this collaboration, we hold each other. Each partner brings knowledge, skill, resource and capability that we invest. We respect who the other is and what we each bring. We have equity in the decision-making. We are different but we are compatible. We strive for a common goal. When one stumbles, the other catches so we never fall. Ultimately, we are enriched and uplifted by each other.

It is not scary or hard. It’s how we do it in Aotearoa. Together.

Te Pou Theatre & Auckland Theatre Company

February 2024

About Te Pou Theatre

Te Pou Theatre is a kaupapa Māori Performing Arts venue for all and a prolific presenter of Māori theatre in Auckland. We believe in the manaenhancing power of storytelling, the importance of community spaces where everyone can connect with te ao Māori and the importance of having Māori stories on our stages. We provide an accessible theatre venue for all, an annual programme of Māori theatre works and opportunities for development in the performing arts. We opened the doors to our newly renovated venue in January 2023 and have been home to a great number of diverse shows, festivals and developments.

Next up in 2024, we will be presenting the te reo Māori circus show Te Tangi ā Te Tūī in partnership with The Dust Palace, as part of Auckland Arts Festival. We will also be sharing an exciting new show, The Handlers, by Poata Alvie McKree, set in the Handle Room of Crown Lynn in 1974 and our tenth annual Kōanga Festival in September, celebrating new Māori stories for the stage.

Nau mai, haere mai ki Te Pou Theatre. tepoutheatre.nz

KAITIAKI | TE POU THEATRE TRUST BOARD

Kate Cherrington

Ngāti Hine, Te Kapotai, Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Pākehā Chairperson

Sarah Exeter

Ngāti Hei, Ngāti Tukorehe Secretary, Board Member

Maia Ratana

Ngāti Raukawa, Te Arawa Treasurer, Board Member

Ascia Maybury

Ngai Pākeha Board Member

Tainui Tukiwaho

Tūhoe, Te Arawa Board Member

Max Pirini

Te Rarawa Board Member

Rachael Watene

Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi Board Member

Tuakoi Ohia

Ngāti Hine, Mataatua, Tainui, Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa Rangatahi Board Member

KAIMAHI

Tainui Tukiwaho

Tūhoe, Te Arawa

Poutoko Wairua

Amber Curreen

Ngāpuhi

Poutoko Whānau

Amanda Rees

Ngai Pākeha

Poutoko Hinengaro

Chloe Weavers

Ngā Puhi

Kaiwhakahaere Whakaari

Maioha Allen

Ngāti Apakura, Waikato Maniapoto

Kaiwhakahaere Whakaari

Māhia Te Kore

Ngā Puhi

Poutoko Tīnana – Ō Muri | Venue Technician

Katrina Chandra

Ngāti Paoa

Ticketing Manager

Eden Webster

Ngā Puhi | Te Rarawa | Niue –Fineone Hakupu Atua

Kaihāpai – He kai kei aku ringa

Nancy Wijohn

Te Rarawa, Tūhoe, Ngāti Tahu – Ngāti Whaoa Kaihāpai

Jalieca Whaikawa

Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi

Te Pou Venue Bookings

Mariece Irwin

Kaitautoko Hinengaro

Note from Auckland Theatre Company

It is our pleasure to welcome you back to the theatre for 2024 after a wonderful year of shows during our 30th anniversary year.

We are thrilled to be joining again with the rōpū from Te Pou Theatre after a memorable collaboration between our companies with part one of this trilogy, Astroman, in the 2019 Auckland Arts Festival.

Te Pou is a home for Māori theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau. At its helm are two extraordinary leaders, Tainui Tukiwaho and Amber Curreen, who are artists, producers and rangatira of humbling generosity. I mihi to Amber and Tainui for the friendship and collaboration.

The world that playwright Albert Belz has created with this three-part story of growing up Māori in New Zealand is familiar to all of us. It is uniquely of this place: hilariously so. In Astroman, we were in the ’80s. Now, with Hyperspace, the presence of the iconoclastic Gloss, the muchmissed Miami Wine Coolers, MC Hammer and the singer who just won’t give it up, Rick Astley, signal

we are in the 1990s. The gentle fun, heartfelt nostalgia and pointed commentary are, for me, the hallmarks of Albert’s writing.

Together with Te Pou, we continue our commitment to offer opportunities, on and off stage, to theatre workers in training. This effort is made possible by the generosity of the Tindall family Next Gen fund.

Hyperspace has been made with an abundance of aroha, led by director Tainui Tukiwaho and choreographer Jack Gray, rehearsed at the home of Te Pou Theatre on the banks of Te Wai-ō-Panuku then performed at the home of Auckland Theatre Company on the shores of the Waitematā. I whakamihi to all the cast and crew, and their supportive whānau, who have worked so hard to bring to the stage this world premiere.

Mauri Ora.

Jonathan Bielski Artistic Director & CEO Auckland Theatre Company

Note from Te Pou Theatre

There are some stories that sneak up on you and grab your heart; Hyperspace is one of those. I first read the script on a flight to Pōneke and ended up being that weird person laughing and sobbing on an otherwise quiet plane. Albert Belz has a knack for writing straight into the heart and we have been besotted with the Rehua whānau since Astroman in 2019. In both of these stories, Albert takes us back in time, just far enough to tickle the nostalgia and hold a mirror up to reflect on how much has changed and what is stubbornly still the same in Aotearoa. Right now, it is more important than ever to have models of working together in partnership between Māori and tangata tiriti to achieve a shared vision. We have been able to bring this radically

joyful whakaari to the stage through this kind of partnership where rangatiratanga is respected and taonga are protected. We commend the vision of Auckland Theatre Company to be a representative platform for the stories of Tāmaki Makaurau through these kinds of partnership. Te Pou Theatre is about sharing mana-enhancing stories and arts experiences for all, either at our own whare or in our friends’ whare. This whole journey and the show itself have filled our hearts and uplifted the wairua – we hope you catch some of that good stuff in your Hyperspace experience.

Nāku Noa

Amber Curreen

Poutoko Whānau

Te Pou Theatre

Introduction

Hyperspace is the much-anticipated sequel to Astroman, which premiered in Auckland in 2019. The kaupapa of these plays is all about joy! Large casts, bright colours, Māori taking centre stage in big, bold, flashy and very sweaty ways. Hyperspace and Astroman are all about collaboration. Collaboration between the dance world and the theatre world, the young and the old and between Auckland Theatre Company and Te Pou Theatre.

Every creative on this show says that Hyperspace is pure joy. A show all about passion. Through this education pack we’ll hear from a lot of them as they share their individual passions and skills.

But as joyous as the style and the kaupapa are, be prepared for an emotional journey with Hyperspace. Some characters are fighting against homophobia, others are living with grief and chronic illnesses.

In spite of the tragedies, we hope audiences will come away filled with the joy we’ve felt making the show. We hope you come away inspired to follow your dreams, to hold your whanau close and to be unapologetically yourself!

Synopsis

It’s 1990 and modern dance-obsessed Natalie Te Rehua has been rejected by the New Zealand School of Dance. She’s furiously licking her wounds when she encounters larger-than-life Tawhai Pātai at her Aerobics gym.

He’s a kapa haka queen, but has recently been kicked out of his group due to his diva-like perfectionism.

At the gym, the NZ Aerobics champs are all the rage, Natalie and Tawhai are desperate to perform but are too late to join in the singles category. They hate each other’s guts but can’t deny the pure skill and flair dripping off the both of them so they form an uneasy, competitive, explosive alliance. But beating the Suzy-Aiken clones at their perfect jumping jacks proves to be tedious and tricky. Until during one of their more intense head-to-heads they discover their secret weapon – Haka-

fusion! A new, unique style of dance that only they could bring to the Aerobics champs.

Natalie and Tawhai give it their all until the truth comes out about why Natalie never made it into the NZ School of Dance. Her heart. Natalie has Hypotrophic Cardiomyopathy. A genetic heart condition that not only threatens her ability to dance, but her very existence.

Everyone who loves her, including Tawhai who is now her BFF, begs her not to do the Championships. But all Natalie has ever wanted to do is dance.

Hyperspace is a homage to all the dance movies ever made; it intends to bring Haka-fusion style Aerobics to stage, wrapped in a dramatic, sometimes hilarious narrative about true friendship and asks, would you die for what you love?

Pump up the jams!

Listen to the Hyperspace playlist, created by Albert Belz, on Spotify

Writing the Play

Hyperspace is the sequel to Astroman written by award-winning Māori playwright, Albert Belz.

Coming out of COVID, Albert wanted to write something ‘big, phat, theatre is back!’ He wanted a play to be a big celebration, a reason to come together and laugh after being isolated for so long. As the saying goes, ‘in moments of pain we write about happiness and in moments of happiness we write to remind ourselves of pain.’

Albert never intended for a sequel to Astroman but at a writing residency at Otago University he concocted the idea of a young woman doing stand-up comedy. The character stuck in his mind, but her passion for stand-up became a passion for dance. At first it was too vague until he saw some photos of Jack Gray, the fabulous choreographer on Hyperspace doing aerobics in the ’90s and thought ‘That! I want that!’ The idea made him chuckle and after some research he realised how big the Aerobics movement was in Aotearoa in the ’90s, and he started writing.

It didn’t take long to realise that his young lead was Natalie Te Rehua from Astroman and so the trilogy idea was born.

The play is about passion, identity and friendship. Hyperspace poses the question ‘what would you die for?’

Hyperspace forces us to embrace the boldest versions of ourselves.

It forced the actors to expand themselves. Aerobics is huge, the design is huge, the costumes are huge, if the actors didn’t step up, they could’ve easily been swallowed by any of those elements. Hyperspace asks us ‘do you love what you say you love?’ and then amplifies that.

‘Of course I do’

‘But how much?’ Hyperspace asks.

‘So much!’

‘But how much!?’

‘Like, I wanna do this every day!’

‘But how much?’

And as Natalie says in the play

‘I would fucking die for this!’

And when we love that strongly, we are the fullest version of ourselves and from that place, we can do anything. And if everyone’s living in that full expression of themselves, just imagine it! We can change the world.

And will there be a trilogy? We love the character Sonny and would love to see a story centred around him. Albert promises we’re just waiting for that next photo to pop up that’ll be the genesis of the idea for the third play!

About the Playwright

NOTE FROM THE WRITER

I wrote Hyperspace while on residency as the Robert Burns Fellow in '22 at Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou. I'd seen some ol' skool aerobics on Youtube, and it looked hilarious - and fun!

I didn't know the story at that point, nor did I realise it was going to feature two characters from one of my previous plays - Astroman. But I certainly knew the backdrop and the soundtrack of it.

Eventually the story revealed itself, and I got down to the writing of it. I also got to hang out with some super-funky cats while workshopping it, that was a buzz. Sometimes theatre feels too easy, this is one of those times. Hope you enjoy the experience as much as I enjoyed the process.

— Albert Belz

At the beginning of the rehearsal process, director Tainui Tukiwaho, inspired by the themes of the show, asked the company of Hyperspace how they identify themselves in the world.

In our current Pākehā-influenced society, one of the first questions

we’ll ask each other is ‘So, what do you do?’ From this perspective, Albert is a prolific playwright who has won multiple awards and written for stage and screen. But in te ao Māori, one of the first patai will be ‘No hea koe?’ Where are you from? This question includes ‘who are your ancestors? Your family?’

IN ALBERT’S WORDS:

Kia ora, ko Albert Belz toku ingoa. Ngāti Porou me Nga Puhi oku iwi, Ngāti Pōkai te hapū. On any given day I’m a different person. I came into this world as a Māori male, I’m a father, tomorrow I’ll be a teacher, when I get home I’m a brother.

My writing journey started when I was about six or seven. I wrote a poem that my mum thought was amazing that she sent it into the Whakatane Beacon. She was super proud and I really liked that feeling and wanted more of it.

The next time I started writing big time was at University. I was majoring in FIlm and Television and I ended up writing all the scripts for the films my mates were making.

After Uni, it seemed like no one wanted to make my films so I

thought maybe I should try writing a play. Some mates with their own theatre company approached me looking for something fresh and new. I showed them my play, they loved it, we got some funding for it, workshopped it and put it on at the Herald Theatre in 2001. That was Te Maunga, my first professional play.

Ever since I’ve been writing and writing and writing and loving it. Soon after Te Maunga, Shortland Street hired me. I did just over a year writing on Shorty while writing Awhi Tapu and some other plays.

I’ve mostly stuck to theatre in my career. I’m a bit stubborn and don’t wanna change anything in my writing and in theatre you can be like that.

These days I’m driven to entertain. I’m not as angry as I was as a young man. There was a lot of heavy stuff in the world and in my writing when I was younger. I’m not shying away from the heavy stuff but I’ll give you a fun rollercoaster ride rather than a one-way trip to hell.

I’m 51 now and I’ve realised that if you really wanna change people’s lives you have to make them laugh and give them a moment to breathe. Hopefully audiences can come to some understanding about it being ok to be shit sometimes, or to laugh at the pain of life.

I’m a teacher too and what I say to my students about becoming a writer is that if you want to be a writer, you’ll be a writer. You’ll find a way. If it’s your passion you’ll do it, you won’t be able to stop it. There are so many avenues now. Just write and keep writing.

— Albert Belz, in an interview with ATC Teaching Artist, Acacia O’Connor

Here’s a photo of Albert in the ’90s when he was starting out and wondering whether life would take him down the writing or acting path. Hence the glamorous headshot!

Education Activities

THE WRITER AND THE PLAY

“Theatre on my own terms,” telling Māori stories about Māori characters that encompass the whole spectrum of what it means to be human and a sense of optimism.

— Albert Belz

HAVING FUN!

Hyperspace is a joyful exploration of Natalie Te Rehua, her love of dance and how she was inspired by the fusion of aerobics and haka. Like Astroman, fun is infused throughout the writing of the play, the ’90s pop culture references and how it was brought to life by the Director.

When you are preparing for your live performance exam or report, you will need to think about the wider context of the play being staged, whether that is historical, political, social and/or geographical. Hyperspace draws from a rich wider context, its links to Astroman, the references to ’90s Pop Culture and Belz life experiences. While the exam is not about the way the play is written, when you explain and discuss moments depicted on stage, unpacking how those moments draw from the way the play is structured, the themes it identifies, and what inspired the story will enrich your answer. These activities will help you brainstorm and collate your ideas, as well as providing evidence or quotes to support your explanations and discussions around the exam questions.

As a whole class, brainstorm the ‘fun’ aspects of the performance, you could do this on the whiteboard or on large pieces of paper.

• Define what ‘fun aspects’ are to you as a class.

• Spend about 10 - 15 minutes adding to the brainstorm.

• Once you have lots of ideas on the page/board start to group them into headings - character/acting choices, design, directorial choices, choreography, as well as any other headings you think are appropriate.

• Divide up the headings and the words that fall under them. Create a mood board for your heading and add annotations identifying:

• the moment or scene these ideas link to

• what the purpose was in that moment

• why it was fun or bought the audience joy

• A quote from a character

Tira

CLOSE READING ACTIVITY:

Drama is a rich source of literacy and this activity is based around linking other sources to the performance you saw as an audience member.

• Choose one of the newspaper articles linked below

• Read the article through circling ideas that link to the performance and highlighting ideas that you think are interesting

• After you have read the article, answer the following questions:

• What is the article about?

• What do the headings tell you?

• What do the visuals communicate?

• How does this connect to the performance you saw?

• How could you use quotes or aspects of this article as wider context to enrich your exam answer or report?

HYPERSPACE IN THE PRESS

Pump up a 1990 jam with playwright Albert Belz | RNZ

How nostalgic pop and comic books inspire Albert Belz’s style | The Post

My Secret Auckland: Te Ohorere Williams on her favourite spots in the city | NZ Herald

Why Shorty star Te Ao owes her skyrocketing career to her mum Kruze Tangira | Actor, Reporter, and Former Captain of the NZ Mens Netball Team | Waatea News: Māori Radio Station

Auckland Theatre Company

Hyperspace star Kruze Tangira’s rise to the top | NZ Herald

Hyperspace brings 90s ‘bad decisions’ to stage with aerobics comedy | The Post

THE MUSIC THAT INSPIRED

ALBERT BELZ:

Albert Belz has created a playlist for those who attend a performance of Hyperspace. This playlist reflects the ’90s pop culture landscape of Hyperspace. You can access it via this link: Albert Belz Hyperspace Playlist

Individually: Listen to the entire playlist and make notes or sketch your thoughts and ideas about the narrative the playlist communicates or what themes, ideas or symbols arise as you listen.

Group activity: Have the teacher play snippets of each song to the class, as they are played, explore the movement style of the song. What happens to your body? What movement comes out? Which character in Hyperspace do you think that this song might represent and why? Physically explore and discuss.

Pair activity: Choose one song that speaks to you and find someone else in the class who feels the same way. Answer the following questions together (you could voice record your answer):

• What do you like about this song?

• What does it make you feel?

• What does it make you think about?

• How does it connect to a theme, idea, moment or character in the play?

• Why do you think Albert Belz put it on his playlist?

IDEAS WE COULD THINK ABOUT:

In an interview with the education writing team Belz identified the following ideas that might be useful to think about a little further.

• Choose one of the themes and create a Spider Diagram that links that theme to: technical choices, moments in the play that made you think, characters, quotes, directing choices and easter eggs (Belz said he has placed historical, social and political references throughout, encapsulated in small moments).

• Identity

• Seeing how far we have come

• Social attitudes and structures

Historical Context

For lots of the creatives of Hyperspace, the ’90s feel like yesterday while for some of them, they are ancient history. For some of the invited guests who got to see Hyperspace rehearsals it was super nostalgic while for the teens it’s almost a foreign world.

We asked some of the creatives who were there at the time what the ’90s felt like to them and obviously they were different for everyone but let us try to paint an emotional picture.

There were pros and cons to the ’90s, one of the things we’ve liked about looking back on the ’90s is realising how far we’ve come. During interviews for Astroman Tainui spoke of the racism that permeated those times. Controversially, the ‘N word’ was used in Astroman as a slur from the bully’s towards the lead Maōri characters. This came from reallife experience for both Tainui and Albert as they were often called that growing up. Aotearoa is far from free of racism but we have found it inspiring to reflect on how far we’ve come since then.

A more subtle indicator of the times is when Hiona mentions all the men working in her office at the Ministry of Women’s affairs, that says a lot without having to say

too much. New Zealand television was starting to address the need for Māori content and Māori stories but there were very few brown faces on TV in general. Maybe one or two in British shows but hardly any in American media. Hiona and Sonny’s favourite show, Gloss was huge in the ’90s and there was maybe one recurring Māori character. Shortland Street kicked off in 1993 and they had 100% more than Gloss because they had roughly two!

So it’s quite amazing to look at what Shorty and other shows are doing now and the amount of diversity we’re seeing on screens.

Though it wasn’t great by today’s standards, the ’90s felt to our creatives like a season of change. There were a lot of positive things happening in the world, the people were taking to the streets about all sorts of things and it felt like we were being listened to. The Berlin Wall had just fallen, there was a sense of hope and it was being felt. New Zealand elected our first female Prime Minister with Helen Clark, the new government pushed for a certain amount of New Zealand content to be shown on our screens and a certain amount of it had to be Māori.

Once Were Warriors came out, it showed a willingness within Māori to reflect on our background and the heavy things, but it also did really well internationally and was a source of pride for Māori.

There were new music styles coming through to Aotearoa, lots of the mainstream music was reflecting the hope in the

world. Pride parades and festivals began happening, Jack Gray, the choreographer recalls trying sushi for the first time. There are lines in the show about ‘expresso’ but coffee culture really was just kicking off in Ponsonby. It was a time of experiencing new things and starting to make shifts towards a more inclusive New Zealand.

Director's Vision

TAINUI TUKIWAHO

Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Whakatohea, Kai Tahu

My journey with Hyperspace began in 2019 when we first partnered with Auckland Theatre Company to bring to life Albert Belz’s prequel, Astroman.

In Astroman, we first met two of the lead characters from Hyperspace in their youth, Natalie and Sonny Te Rehua, who were negotiating life as Māori in the early ’80s while surviving in a small town in New Zealand.

Hyperspace picks up the lives of these two youths as young adults, chasing their dreams in the buzzing metropolis of Wellington in 1990.

It has been a pleasure for me to return to the Te Rehua family. It has been like re-meeting old friends: friends who have grown and changed without losing the essence that made you fall in love with them in the first place.

Albert has done an amazing job yet again, bringing lightness and

comedy to the stage only to flip it all on its head in the last minute.

This is typical of Albert’s work in general and can also be felt specifically through Māori and Polynesian writers. I find real comfort and joy in this style of writing; it is a structure that I grew up with and resonates with me as a storyteller.

Astroman and Hyperspace push that structure to a different place; the joy that is explored (in Astroman, it is video games and, in Hyperspace, it is aerobics) is an extreme, exaggerated version of the joy of the time. It’s an exaggeration of nostalgia for both Albert and me and fantasy for the young cast members. We remember and delight in the fashion, the music, the haircuts, the energy and the time itself in such a different way from what it actually was, in these shows. Perhaps it is delusion, perhaps it is optimism, but,

Otira, ki a koutou katoa nga kaimahi kua awhina

ia matou ki te whakatu, ki te whakatinanahia I tenei Whakaari Ka tuhohu tenei ki a koutou.

– Tainui Tukiwaho

DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY

whatever the reason, we love it and we hope you do too.

I am also fortunate enough to work with the same group of people I have worked with through my whole theatre career. It is with this rōpū that I have been able to bring Māori voices to the stage, to mix important kaupapa with fun, and how I have been able to be part of shaping the Māori theatre landscape. It has been because of the clever creations of Albert Belz and the tenacious production of Amber Curreen that we are here today and I would like to thank them both.

Alongside this steady group of trusted friends and practitioners, it is always my mission to bring young people into our world. Theatre is a community art form and it has taken a whole village to bring Hyperspace to life.

Tainui Tukiwaho identifies first and foremost as a father of seven. He has also blazed a trail in te ao whakaari for the past 20 years. After graduating from Unitec, Tainui observed a lack of Māori voices on our professional stages and gathered trusted and passionate Māori creatives to build a home for Māori theatre. Alongside and through this important kaupapa, Tainui adopted and implemented a distinctive style and perspective, representative of his cultural background. He continues to reach new horizons professionally, always with a solid team. He has won awards for writing, acting and directing across stage and screen. Some of his proudest works include Front Yard Festival, a travelling show that kept the community alive for our kaumatua during lockdowns, bringing professional, joyful theatre to their front yards. Hemo is Home is another lockdown project that was written with his children and starred his second youngest, 11-year-old Te Rongopai. As well as being good for the whānau and wairua, Hemo is Home won an Adam NZ Play Award in 2022. Kōpū, a powerful, conversationchanging, all-woman sketch comedy show, shook Auckland early last year. Tainui’s mahi is cutting-edge and often purposefully challenging to both audiences and creatives. His art and life are always kaupapa-driven, as he boldly leads the way and holds space for Māori creatives.

Exploring the director's concept and thinking about our own work

When you are revising for your live performance exam, you will want to unpack what you think the Director intended to communicate through their choices. In the case of Hyperspace and its journey to the stage it is important to consider the show's whakapapa - Albert Belz’ writing, how Astroman was brought to life on page and stage, as well as being the precursor to this play, Tainui Tukiwaho’s research and preparation as part of the director’s concept. These activities will help you brainstorm and collate your ideas, as well as providing evidence or quotes to support your explanations and discussions around the exam questions.

PRE-READING AND LISTENING:

• Read Tukiwaho’s director's note and his biography:

• Highlight ideas that interest you

• Circle quotes you think would enrich an answer in an exam

• Underline and annotate ideas that link to a specific moment in the performance.

• If you recorded the post show forum, find excerpts where Tukiwaho answered questions:

• Write down ideas that interest you

• Record quotes you think would enrich an answer in a your report or exam

• Record moments in the forum that surprised you or provided more context for something you saw on stage.

Extension:

You may want to access the education pack from Astroman and see what Tukiwaho’s approach and concept was for that play. Finding connections, identifying similarities or differences may enrich any writing you do about the wider context of the play; historical, geographical, social and political. Astroman Education Pack

EXPLORING WIDER CONTEXT THROUGH RESEARCH:

Divide into four groups, with a big bit of craft paper each. Each group will take a different prompt to use in conjunction with the “Historical Context” and “Additional Stories” sections of this pack. Discuss what you think Tukiwaho intended to communicate through his directing choices. You could also refer to anything you discussed in the previous activities as well, building on this whākaaro.

Prompts:

• Research material: Explore the research material provided. Think of examples where this is brought to life on stage through design, directing or acting choices.

• In the rehearsal room: what ideas do you think were explored in the rehearsal room and how does this connect to what you saw on stage.

• The big themes and intentions: identify the themes or intentions that Tukiwaho had for the piece or chose to highlight through design or directorial choices. Whose stories were being told and why was this important?

• Style and flair: can you identify a specific style or aesthetic in the way the performance was pulled together. What do you think Tukiwaho intended to communicate through these choices? Extension:

• How does this connect to the choices that were made in Astroman and how do the two connect? Sketch and annotate your notes.

You will have 10 minutes to discuss and annotate around the prompt you are given as a group. Then you will rotate around the different prompts, spending 5 minutes at each, discussing and adding your own ideas. Once you are back at your original brainstorm prompt collate the ideas into bullet points and share these back to the class for discussion. Make sure you take photos of all the evidence you produce during this activity to reference during your revision later in the year.

RESPONDING TO THE PERFORMANCE:

In small groups write a short response or create a short presentation as a group around either of the following questions. (Be creative with your presentation; it could be physical, in role, TED talk style or a seminar. Ensure that the whole group's responses are included.)

“What was your initial reaction to the performance of Hyperspace? How did it make you feel as a member of the audience? What have you been thinking about and feeling since?”

“What impact did the comedy and the tragedy of the performance have on you as an audience member? How did it make you feel in the moment? What have you been thinking about or feeling since?”

Choreographer

AEROBICS

Here is the photo that first caught Albert’s attention and inspired the creation of Hyperspace.

This is Jack Gray in 1998 during his routine set to Poi E by Patea Māori Club. This was right at the peak of Aerobics in New Zealand.

Jack won silver in the Open Male category at the Auckland regionals and the Hersheys National Championships. The competition was televised.

He had entered and won the novice male category the year before and after this photo was taken he ended up travelling to the world championships representing New Zealand.

Since then, Jack founded his own dance company, ‘Atamira’ and has led the life of a successful dance practitioner for over 20 years.

VIDEO LINKS TO EPIC HAKA FUSION & AEROBICS

• The 1988 Crystal Light National Aerobics Championship Opening

• NZ National Aerobics Championship 1990

• Fight the Power Rosie Perez

• J Geek Haka Fusion

• Fred Astaire/ Ginger Rogers

• One Handed Chair Flare

Jack Gray

JACK GRAY

Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa

Kia ora ko Jack Gray toku ingoa. I am the choreographer of Hyperspace.

I identify as Māori. My father comes from Tokomaru Bay in the east coast. Ngāti Porou me Ngati Kahungunu and my mother comes from up North and she is te Rarawa me Nga Puhi. I was born in Te Atatu Peninsula, West Auckland.

I am the youngest of seven children and I fostered a really fertile imagination. I would read a lot and would draw a lot and play and those are the things that were my early influences in storytelling.

My other interests included singing, playing musical instruments and I eventually found dance through kapa haka.

I was very fortunate that Rutherford highschool was the very first school in the country to have dance as a subject.

On a lot of levels I was quite shy but I found it really interesting to see how people would react and respond emotionally when I would perform and so I started to understand that there was this incredible energy between the performer and the audience. It’s been one of my lifelong ways of understanding my way in the world.

Aerobics came along in my finals years of highschool so I did that and Uniec offered it’s very first year of the dance degree so I went there. Since then, I founded my own dance company and have held lots of different roles and have been very fortunate to have travelled a lot.

Dance is pure expression. It’s a way in which your feelings and emotions can manifest themselves in a physical form.

As a Māori person I think about the ways in which our values connect into the idea of dance. For me Tino Rangatiratanga or sovereignty is how we share the fundamental aspects of who we are through our whakapapa through our politics, through our beliefs, through our

values and so whenever I’m creating movement and dance it always comes from the inner aspect of who I am it’s what I know, it’s my lived experiences but it’s also my aspirations, it’s the things that I’m hoping to become and be and the things that I reach for. So there’s always this feeling of striving in dance that makes me feel hopeful and excited to create new ways that we can exist in the world. Also redefining what we think about our culture and who we are as people from Aotearoa.

My feelings as choreographer on Hyperspace is a sense of pure excitement that audiences will witness this super physical performance and see a diverse cast of very relatable human beings from young to older from a spectrum of cultural backgrounds sweat it out together. There are tall people, short people, people with skills in opera and dance and sports etc and we’ve melded the best of their movement abilities to create this ensemble series of choreography that I think is really dynamic and is a real adrenaline rush!

WHAT IS HAKA FUSION?

Haka fusion wasn’t a coined term in the ’90 but if anyone was doing it, it was Jack with his Poi E routine. Albert’s inspiration for Haka Fusion actually came from a 2016 dance show by Māori TV called The Stage: Haka Fusion the idea was to combine kapa haka with hip-hop and ballet.

The Cast and Characters

The net was cast wide to find the cast of Hyperspace with Tainui meeting and auditioning actors from all over the country.

When actors audition they’ll usually get given a synopsis, one scene from the play and a short character description. They’ll take a few days to a week and make a solid stab at their version of the character. Decisions are hard to make and are often based on company vibes and chemistry, availability and natural energy fitting the energy of the character.

We’ve attached the initial character descriptions the cast were given as well as some great chats with most of them, snuck in between sweaty rehearsals.

KRUZE TANGIRA

Tāwhai Pātai

Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui

Auckland Theatre Company’s new Podcast, Backstage Pass, includes an interview with Actor Kruze Tangira, who plays Tāwhai Pātāi in Hyperspace.

TE AO O HINEPEHINGA

Natalie Te Rehua

Ngati Kahungunu and Ngai

Tamanuhiri

The stars of the show, Te Ao o Hinepehinga and Kruze Tangira have beautifully different journey’s to the stage. Kruze is a reporter for Te Karere and Te Ao has had a wild journey of international success as an actor over the past few years. Natalie and Tawhai’s friendship is the glue of the show and these two have become inseparable across the rehearsal period and wanted to do their interview together. Who could say no?

Who are you?

Kruze: Who am I? A proud Māori man that has been through struggles but is standing on his own two feet and is moving forward.

Te Ao: I am a wildling, descended from the wildest of women.

What’s been your journey to Hyperspace?

Kruze: Acting has been a dream of mine since I was 11. I was very

inspired by The Whale Rider when that came out. I went to Drama School in 2016, graduated 2018 and to be honest, I’ve only done three proper acting jobs and they’ve all been commercials so this is my first solid, meaty piece of work as a lead in anything and it’s been a journey. There were definitely times I wanted to give up, definitely times I wanted to call my agent and throw in the towel. I’ve been let down by agents, I’ve been dropped from books and had to find another agent to represent me so my journey has definitely had its lows but its highs as well and now we’re here, at Hyperspace and I couldn’t be happier. And I get to act next to this beautiful wahine.

Te Ao: My journey to Hyperspace has been very serendipitous. I discovered acting at a time of desperation to seek my identity only to end up travelling and exploring different mediums in music and dance. Only to end up in the very industry I was scared of which is TV and Film. Hyperspace is a rediscovery of the things that made me fall in love with acting in the first place. I’ve been able to draw from the things

that made me love storytelling, Māori stories and dance ‘cause my mother was a dancer in the ‘90s era of freedom and passion. So yeah, Hyperspace is very serendipitous.

And did you know each other before this?

Kruze: No. A funny story is that Te Ao and I shot the promo shots for this show before even auditioning. We had so much fun and one of the women on the shoot was like ‘did you guys know each other before this because your bond is like super special.’ And then from that, we both auditioned and the rest is history.

Te Ao: Let’s be honest, it was love at first sight.

What feels important to you about Hyperspace?

Te Ao: I keep saying this but what I think is quite amazing about Hyperspace is that it tells a Māori story through a different lens. I think we have so much amazing theatre out there that tells the Māori perspective through a Māori lens but what I think we have with Hyperspace is this beautiful symbiotic relationship between te ao Māori and te ao Pākehā and I think it reminds us that though we are of different descents we all connect through art and through music. Music isn’t bound by language or experience, it's something that can be explored by all. Which I think is a magical thing.

And what’s been challenging about Hyperspace?

Te Ao: Aerobics.

Kruze: Yeah, aerobics definitely but also something that Tawhai and I both share is our identity as queer people and the journey’s that we’ve both been on. That’s been a bit of a challenge for me, accepting that and the trauma that we both share and getting over that in order to give mana to this play and also to this character.

Kruze: And just to add to that, the show previews the day after Waitangi and Waitangi is about celebrating who you are and I think at the crux of it, this show is about celebrating who you are as a person.

Te Ao: Especially in these times it’s good to remember that we’re both Māori and Pākehā, we live within two worlds and we can exist in this beautiful relationship.

CHARACTER BIOGRAPHIES

How have you made peace with Natalie choosing to die?

Te Ao: I think it’s really understandable. I think once we find who we are we would die not to lose that. And she is dance. That’s who she is. That is her wairua.

What advice would you give a 16-year-old you?

Kruze: I think for me, it’s that everything is possible. You know, it’s taken five years to get to this point and there were moments I thought it would never come true and now it’s come true so if I was sitting in the audience and watching this, I’d want to know that you can do this too. With all that you are, with everything that comes from you. Don’t ever put a limit on your dreams, anything is possible.

Te Ao: I’d tell her that failure isn’t failure it’s an opportunity to learn and to get better. Every fall, every mistake, every missed opportunity can be turned into an opportunity to learn and move closer to be the person you want to be in the world.

Natalie Te Rehua (early-mid 20’s, Māori) – Natalie’s got a fire in her belly and dance in her soul. She grew up in Whakatane with her twin brothers Sonny and Jimmy. She has a lifethreatening heart condition that she tries to keep secret.

From the writer: Natalie is driven by time and passion. She’s on a clock and she knows it. As passionate as she is, she’s driven by a great fear that time is gonna steal her potential. She is determined to be all she can be in the time that she has. I love that about her, her absolute drive. And I think that’s something any actor will love to play. I love her fire. I love that she doesn’t hate herself too much. She makes some really dumb decisions and sometimes she doesn’t acknowledge them because who cares? And other times she’ll acknowledge it. That appeals a lot to me.

Tawhai Patai (early-mid 20’s, Māori) –Something of a Diva. He’s passionate about everything he does. Tawhai loves aerobics and dance, ballet being his first love. Tawhai works at the gym and also of course at the club as a bouncer.

From the writer: Tawahi is driven. He’s a beautiful queen who is just, he’s been punched in the face and kicked in the nuts by life but he gets up every time, dusts himself off and does it again. He’s an Elton John song I’m Still Standing he’s a Queen song We Are The Champions He’s fucking fire. It’s really beautiful how Kruze identifies with his journey so much.

MELE TOLI

Hiona Mohi

Niuafo’ou, Eua, Aitutaki, Itri, Ngāi Tuhoe Kia ora, my name is Mele. A few years ago, I was looking to go to drama school and wanted a change from Hawaii, looked elsewhere and got into The Actor’s Program here in Auckland. So that’s what I did last year, and now I’m doing this!

What’s your process been like?

It’s been a great process and a great, collaborative environment to work in.

I feel like my process changes project to project. I always like to read the script first, to get a sense for the character. I like working with music, I create playlists for my character. Sometimes I’ll go out and pretend I’m her for a day.

For this one, it’s been a bit slower and ensemble focused. Instead of discovering the character by myself and bringing her to the rehearsal room, it’s like we’re getting to know the whole story together, we’re building relationships in real time in a way that feels natural to the character.

Something that has been quite different for me has been the way emotions are held in the space. Tainui has helped create a space where a closed-off person like me

feels comfortable sharing is quite incredible. Being able to share 100 percent helps the work. It’s almost like I’m meeting myself.

Who is Hiona?

I feel like I’m bringing a lot of myself to Hiona but also parts of myself that I never use but I know are part of me. For example, she gets super fired up and so do I but in real life I don’t do anything about it. Hiona immediately acts on and deals with her emotions which I really enjoy.

CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY

Hiona Wāhitapu (early-mid 20’s, Māori) – She grew up in Whakatane with Natalie and is her best friend. She works for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and has given up on her dreams of dance to make the world a better place for other women. She loves Sonny.

Hiona is a rock. She is solid earth. Unwavering, unflappable, she will swallow you if you mess with her. I say unflappable but of course everyone is flappable and she has her best friend and her boyfriend to steam off. I think she feels a great responsibility for her best friend and her boyfriend. I think she sees herself as able to change him a little bit. Maybe she can clean him up and he won’t have to work in construction.

KAURI WILLIAMS

Sonny Te Rehua

He Kahungunu, He Tūwharetoa he Hamoa, he Fiti, he Pākehā anō hoki. Kia ora, ko Kauri tēnei. He uri ahau nō Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu

Chur, my name’s Kauri Williams I’m from Tūwharetoa, Kahungunu, I’m Fijian and Samoan. I studied at drama school and have been lucky enough to be working ever since then, kaupapa to kaupapa, hanging around like-minded people. I enjoy the freedom of diving into different kinds of people and discovering different versions of myself.

What’s your process?

I have some clear processes getting in and out of character. Checking in with my fellow actors and checking out. Jumping in the shower or the pool.

Who is Sonny to you?

When I first auditioned, I had an idea of Sonny, he’s quite close to how I was raised. I wasn’t quite a Sonny but there were some Sonny’s in my class. So he’s drawn from some of my good mates at school. He’s quite innocent but aware and he just gives a lot but doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Any advice?

At highschool I wasn’t gonna do acting but if I was into acting I’d probably want to hear from an actor that you don’t have to be so serious. Chill out, have fun, you don’t have to take yourself too seriously. Just be yourself.

CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY

Sonny Te Rehua (early 20’s) –Natalie’s younger brother. He has a younger twin brother Jimmy. He keeps good contact with his mum in Auckland. He works in construction. He’s deeply in love with Hiona and hopes to marry her soon. He worries about the pounds he’s putting on recently.

From the writer: I love Sonny because he takes this idea of toxic masculinity and turns it on its head. In my head anyway, he’s this big, muscular Māori boy and if you saw him on the street, you’d just make way. You know? But at heart he’s this big teddy bear who will cry during a soap opera and defend his sister and his loved ones til the death. Another thing I like about him is that it wouldn’t have occurred to him that his closeness with Jen could be a problem, he’s just dancing with her. There’s a charming naivety about him.

ANNA-MAREE THOMAS Jennifer/Kapa

I’m Anna-Marie Thomas, I grew up in Christchurch, moved to Auckland when I was 17. I went to Unitec, three years at Drama school and I’ve lived here ever since, working in our wonderful industry. I used to work for Auckland Theatre Company in the box office while at Drama School. I was one of the first employees when the ASB Waterfront Theatre was built and I learnt a lot about the theatre. I used to take groups on tours through the theatre and through the greenroom and the cast dressing rooms and onto the stage and backstage. That was a seed that was planted that I wanted to work as an actor in that space.

How has it been?

It’s been amazing so far. Super collaborative, very creative. Tainui sets a tone of being very open to offers and seeing where things go. It’s gone in ways that have completely surprised me. If you would have asked me what my character was like before this process and what I sort of came in with, they’re completely different now.

How do you prepare?

The first thing I prepare is learning my lines. I like to come into the room off-book, it makes me much more open to offers and other actors. I feel like if I’m still on script I’m literally just trying to remember my lines. Then I’ll also read the script three to four times, jot down images and ideas. You can get a lot from the initial read about how it’s supposed to sound and the world and then find the nuances in that later. For this one I made a ’90 playlist that gets me in the feeling of what the character is feeling.

Who is Jen?

At first Jen read as a sassy, preppy, pick-me girl but we started discussing her and we realised for the fabric of the show, we don’t need anymore sass. We’ve given her this whole backstory about how she’s completely heartbroken. There’s this one reference in the script to a character called Derek and we have completely fleshed him out. She’s driven to become so good at aerobics because of Derek and she goes through this like, complete glow-up journey. I think initially she was written as quite a confident character. But now she starts out as unconfident and a bit dorky but completely transforms.

Any advice?

If you want to become an actor, the more you can develop yourself and express yourself as a person the better actor and the happier and healthier actor you’ll become. In the beginning I felt this extreme pressure to learn acting and to somehow get it ‘right’ and I didn’t quite realise that it comes from within myself and that the unique parts of me make me a much much better actor.

CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY

Jennifer (Late 20’s-early 30’s) – Efficient and helpful to those around her. Still, she doesn’t take shit from anyone. She loves aerobics and loves her job.

I see Jen as a young woman who loved her job and was at the right time in history to do something that she really really loved.

Tira

Giving rangatahi a space to learn and grow is a major kaupapa for Te Pou Theatre. We’ve taken this opportunity to chat to a few of the young Māori in the show about what it’s been like for them working with them.

MAKANIHI TOHU

Ngāti Hine o Tai Tokerau and Ngāti Haupoto o Taranaki

Kia ora! I’m Makanihi Tohu, I’m 17 years old, I’ll be going into my second year of working with Te Pou Theatre. I got involved with Hyperspace because I was performing in a show called Limited Time Only by Hone Taukiri and I was dancing. Tainui Tukiwaho saw me and asked me to be a part of Hyperspace. It’s awesome but challenging because I’m so unfit!

We made up our own characters during the rehearsal process. I’m in a duo with Myra-Mei. Who has stuck beside me to help her build confidence as it’s her first professional gig. And yeah, we’re just called ‘Those Bitches!’

There are a lot of opportunities here at Te Pou for rangatahi māori. If you’re wanting to get involved, my advice is to be yourself, be open and try anything and everything.

MIA VAN OYEN

Ngāpuhi, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou

Kia ora my name is Mia Van Oyen, I’m 18 turning 19 soonish. I’ve done a couple of gigs with Te Pou now. I’ve done Te Tangi a te Tui and a school play in Whakatane.

I consider myself more of a story teller rather than a dancer or actor just cause I’m really passionate about both worlds and I think they mesh really beautifully.

Hyperspace has been so much fun! It’s such a whanau. It’s a really comfortable space to be coming into everyday. There are challenges too, the dancing is really challenging. It’s a lot of cardio. The characterisation has been a bit difficult too, cause obviously as chorus it’s not like you’re necessarily a specific character.

So far, my character is a pro bodybuilder (who started two weeks ago.) She’s good friends with Hiona and is kinda scoping out her mate's boyfriend, seeing what he’s up to. She’ll develop and get a name over the next few weeks of rehearsals I’m sure.

Education Activities

THE ACTORS CHOICES

When you are thinking about an actor's performance to write about in an exam or report setting you will want to build a comprehensive profile of how they used their body, voice, movement and use of space. Details about motivation, ideas or symbols they highlighted and moments of subtext that pointed to themes or relationship dynamics. You will want to link these details to specific moments in the performance, describing what was happening on stage and linking to big ideas and wider context.

These activities will enable you to build a kētē of information about characters you found compelling or who were integral to the narrative:

Each character within Hyperspace has their own narrative arc, relationships and tensions. It is important to understand why the character is behaving the way they are, what has happened for them prior to the play beginning that makes them who they are and what they are communicating to the audience.

EXPLORING THE ACTORS INTERVIEWS:

• Choose an interview to read

• Circle or highlight ideas that interest you or provide insight

• Get into pairs or small groups and share what you have circled or highlighted and explain why. Make notes or a brainstorm to record your ideas

• Choose a scene that highlights a character and connects to ideas you have identified. As a group brainstorm how you might talk about the scene, describing what was physically happening on stage for that character. You could present this to the rest of the class as a: (make sure you save a copy of whatever form you complete this task in)

• Fleshed out brainstorm

• A verbal presentation with written prompts

• A written response

• Acting out a scene and explaining what you are doing.

LITERACY ACTIVITIES:

The following resources are drawn from the NCEA Literacy resources that your teacher will already have access to. While this is a character activity, it will also contribute to literacy skills within this subject. Once the following activities are completed, save a digital copy somewhere where the whole class can access it for revision or report compilation.

SUMMARISING THE NARRATIVE OF A CHARACTER:

For each character, or choose a couple of characters that you found particularly compelling, fill out the summarising narratives chart. Once you have filled it out individually, find someone else in the class who chose the same character as you, share and discuss what you have both written. Add details to your chart that you might have been missing. You could also add quotes from the performance, to enrich this for revision later in the year.

• Summarising (narratives)

CREATING A CHARACTER CHART:

Using the same character as the last activity and working with the person you are already paired up with, complete the following character chart for that character:

Super Objective Objectives Actions Obstacles

A superobjective, focuses on the entire play as a whole. A super-objective can direct and connect an actor’s choice of objectives from scene to scene. The superobjective serves as the final goal that a character wishes to achieve within the script.

The objective is a goal that a character wants to achieve. This is often worded in a question form as “What do I want?”

An objective should be action-oriented, as opposed to an internal goal, in order to encourage character interaction onstage. The objective does not necessarily have to be achieved by the character and can be as simple as the script permits.

Actions are referred to as how the character is going to say or do something. Actions are how a character is going to achieve their objective.

Obstacles are things that are stopping the character from achieving their objectives or super objectives.

REFERENCES:

Literacy resources sourced from the Drama Literacy Pedagogy Guide written by the Ministry of Education: NCEA Drama Literacy Pedagogy Guide

For further Literacy and Numeracy resources: NCEA Literacy Planning Resources

Production Design

Costume Design

ALISON REID Costume Design

Teaching artist, Acacia O’Connor, spent some time with the Costume Design team during “production week” for Hyperspace. Here’s a running record of what happened:

It’ll be hard to say whether the stage, the music or the costumes are the most outrageous and memorable for Hyperspace, but the costumes are especially fun.

We snuck backstage during production week to talk to Alison Reid but she was racing around the city picking up final costumes.

But we were stoked to talk to her assistant, Rae Lance. We helped her move boxes of costumes, sunglasses, belts, legwarmers, sparkly bags, a clock that was turned into a necklace, she spoke to us while adjusting chains on chorus member’s pants, sharing the laughs she has with Alison and the wonderfully ‘hideous’ ’90s outfits.

Actor Te Ohorere Williams joined us to brag about her costume, inspired by the ’90s band Public Enemy. She’s got a huge XL jacket, jeans, terminators and chains and she loves that she’ll be doing the splits and ballet in this outfit. ‘It’s crack-up!’ She laughs.

Edward, who plays Jase, joined us, dressed in striped tights like Milli Vanilli. He absolutely adores his outfit (but would never wear it out on the street). Throughout the play these two get to wear multiple awesome outfits as their multiple different characters. Aerobics

footage from the ’80s and early ’90s, checking out Jack Gray of course!

Ray describes the outfits in Hyperspace as loud, fighting for attention, shiny, bright and colourful. Most of the outfits were sourced from America or thrifted from K Road or Alison’s shop ‘Search and Destroy’

“It’s amazing, the people are amazing and it’s just so much fun! Everyone’s having so much fun!”

gear, nightclub dress, dorky gym characters. The two of them are jittering with excitement for prod week. All the hard mahi from the past five weeks come together.

We found Ray again in the large shared changing room which the Tira share. They were all dressed in leather, sparkles and fishnet tights.

Over some belt adjustments, Ray told us about the inspiration from bands and pop-culture moments for the outfits. From Pretty Women to Public Enemy and Madonna. They watched Gloss and competition

With the tight-timing, Alison found an epic specialist to make the competition leotards, Vicky Slow, who has done an incredible job.

Ray has found her calling. She did theatre in highschool and it’s been a wonderful experience realising she can do this and have this much fun as a job.

Sound Design

DAVID ATAI Sound Design Crescendo Studio

My name is Dave or David formally. I am a music producer, audio engineer and musician. I’ve been involved in different areas of music for around 20 years. I work for a Music Production Company called Crescendo.

We’re a music mentoring programme, we design programs to help aspiring musicians navigate a pathway into the music industry whether it be through singing or engineering. Basically, any knowledge that us mentors have gathered over the years of our career. A mate of mine started Crescendo 12 years ago, I joined a year in and we’ve been growing it ever since.

My role in Hyperspace is Sound Design. Together with two apprentices who have been working alongside me, we’ve been tasked with handling all the sound and music for the show. We got given a list of songs and we had to rearrange them for whatever the show required.

There’s a lot of aerobics in there so some of the songs needed to be sped up and shortened, cut up and shifted around so they made sense for an aerobics routine.

Some plays require the music prior to the play being rehearsed. So they’ll send you a script and you have to imagine how it might sound and look. Then when rehearsals start you have to refine. Lengthen, shorten, scrap entire parts of music. It’s a really nice way to unlock your creativity. Like, imagine creating music for a movie you haven’t seen yet.

For Hyperspace we did a little bit of composition but we mostly worked off our list. We would communicate with director Tainui and choreographer Jack and make sure we got the right vibe and the music suited the scene as they’re picturing it.

The most fun I had during this process was creating the music for the scene where the main character dies. There’s an iconic song called ‘Show Me Heaven’ that they wanted an orchestral version of. So I had to recreate the song in an orchestral manner. I quite enjoy creating that type of music.

Does that take time?

It really depends on whether you know your gear or your instrument. It can take me a couple hours or a day but without that knowledge it’ll take a lot longer.

Any advice?

If you’re looking for a career in music, I’d say, be as diverse as possible. For example, when I first started music I wanted to be a music producer which was based off of an ignorance that there would be a line of musicians out the door and if they’re not there what are you gonna do with your time and skillsets?

So you need to broaden your skillsets so that you can still be involved in music in some kind of way but it may not be what you intended when you first started but it’s still in terms of your skillsets which is music.

Education Activities

Exploring design choices, how they communicate ideas to us or elicit a response

When we are thinking about the design or technological elements of a show, we need to explore how this supports the story being told, heightens atmosphere and tension or creates mood. Hyperspace tells a story of identity, perseverance and the obstacles of life, therefore, the design and set need to be multifunctional and play an integral part in communicating the narrative. Albert Belz created a vivid world for Tainui Tukiwaho and the designers to work from, this section will support you to explore the design choices made and what they communicate to the audience. Whether you are doing Level One or Levels Two/Three, you are encouraged to complete the activities in this section.

PRE-READING ACTIVITY:

• Read the interviews

• Circle or highlight ideas that interest you or provide insight

• Note down the different sources that inspired that designer (e.g movies, songs, pictures)

• Link to moments in the play where these references are highlighted by design

• Support with quotes from the designer

• Jot down ideas about what you felt or thought at the time or have been thinking about since.

Explore the the following ideas and how they have been reflected in the design choices:

• ’90s Pop Culture

• Haka Fusion

• Aerobics

• Television Culture

SKETCHING AND ANNOTATION

Sketching and annotation are an important part of your exam responses, often they can add information or allow you to expand on your ideas in your written answers. Use the following prompts to create a bank of detailed sketches and annotations. Using one of the ideas above as a focus and choose one of the following

prompts:

Prompts:

• A moment where the set was used by the actors to create impact. What other technologies were at play?

• A moment where technology was used to create mood or atmosphere.

• A moment where a character was isolated. How did the use of technology impact this moment?

• A moment where use of technology revealed new information.

• A moment where the ensemble was on stage. What impact did the technology have on the tension of the scene?

TELLING STORIES THROUGH DESIGN

Make notes about the following design/ technology choices, using the questions as prompts to think further. Focus on the way the technology helped tell the story of Hyperspace. You could do this in pairs or small groups:

Set: What did it look like? What material was it made out of? What did it represent? What function or purpose did it play in telling the story? How did it create intimate family settings and the landscape of the hospital?

Lighting: Describe in detail lighting effects that highlighted important moments in the story. How did lighting build mood, tension or create atmosphere? How did lighting interact with the set? How did it create different environments?

Sound: Describe how sound impacted the way the story was told. Choose moments from the performance where sound drove the narrative forward or highlighted an important idea or character. How did lighting and sound interact to create mood, tension or atmosphere.

Costume: Describe the materials and colours used for each character's costumes. What place and time did the costumes point to? What did the costumes tell you about the character, their history, their function within the performance and their connection to one another?

Props: Describe the props used within the performance. How were they connected to the story the play was telling? Did certain characters use specific props to support their function within the play.

Stage Managing

MATTHEW KEREAMA

Ngāti Manomano

Rehearsals for Hyperspace started off with a bang on the 3rd of January after weeks of careful planning. The cast have spent six mornings a week since then with Jack learning to dance. Big, bold, joyous and cheesy, there is no room for half-measures in Hyperspace!

As is always the way with Te Pou theatre, the first thing of the day is doing good ‘humaning.’ Checking in, how are you really? Is there anything you need from us before we get rigorous?

Te Pou Theatre works with the belief that once people feel seen and respected, they can give their all to the mahi.

The rehearsals are held together and recorded by the multi-talented Matthew Kereama. This is his first

time in this role but he’s highly capable and has two rangatahi stage-managers who he is guiding through the process too.

The most enjoyable part of stage managing Hyperspace is how close the stage managers are to the action. They get to see everything being built. A lot of decisions get passed through stage management and they get to action a lot of things. They hear the seed of the idea and get to be a part of watering that seed and watching it grow.

Stage management is a real people game. A lot of the job is looking after the people in the room and outside of the room. It takes a lot of care which can be tiring. It’s important to stay engaged and aware or things start to fall over.

When asked what advice he’d give to young people wanting to get into this line of work, Matthew says it’s all about putting your hand up. He started in community theatres in the box office, quickly moving in to helping out moving lights and building sets and props. ‘If you’re good and you’re basically a good person you’ll get more work.’ Matthew now shifts fluidly between lots of work for Auckland Theatre Company from running the Youth Company through to directing.

Education Activities

Theatre’s ability to heal, educate, entertain and transform

Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua – Drama is influenced by whakapapa and is a way to respond to and share identity, culture, and perspectives

An aspect of the significant learning done at Level One of NCEA is to “contribute to theatre Aotearoa and understand that drama is a way to explore and reflect on whakapapa.”

You may be doing this through exploring plays written by Aotearoa playwrights in class, performing scenes from those plays, discussing the function of each play and how they connect with an audience. Whether you are a Year 11 student or in a younger or older year level, this section of the pack aims to extend your understanding of theatre and its function. It will also prompt you to think about how what you see at the theatre can connect with work you are doing in class. The activities below will directly support students exploring Achievement Standard 1.1 - Explore the function of theatre Aotearoa.

Hyperspace is the second play in a trilogy about the Te Ruhea whānau, Astroman being the first play in the series. These plays give breath and life to Māori characters, telling their own stories. They are entrenched in ’90s pop culture, nostalgia and human stories providing the audience with new perspectives to other plays in the theatre Aotearoa canon.

FUNCTION IN THIS SECTION REFERS TO:

the plays ability to heal, educate, entertain or transform an audience. In small groups or in pairs, brainstorm, research and record responses to the following questions. (A mode of recording has been suggested for each question in order to enrich your literacy skills):

THE FUNCTION OF HYPERSPACE:

Brainstorm with pen and paper. Ensure you explore and debate the four words encompassed in the function and then construct a written response that focuses on a specific scene.

• What ideas, themes or messages are being communicated to the audience?

• What impact is that having on the audience?

• How are these ideas healing, educating, entertaining or transforming the audience?

• Can you connect this to a specific scene or moment from the performance?

CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE:

Record a verbal discussion where you discuss the following questions. You could brainstorm the questions first, but it is important you don’t script your response.

• Who do you think the intended audience is and why? Who do you think Albert Belz wrote this for and why?

• What draws you into the story? The actors, the design, the writing, the themes and ideas? Discuss why.

• What were you feeling throughout the performance?

• What have you thought about since?

https://www.readwritethink.org/ sites/default/files/resources/ lesson_images/lesson948/purposeaudience.pdf

COMMUNICATING FUNCTION THROUGH DRAMA TECHNIQUES:

these activities are based around building the skill of sketching and annotation. You can cover one, some or all of the activities.

• Characters whakapapa: Choose a character and explore their whakapapa. Use these questions and the information in the front of this pack to guide you. Create a diagram that represents their whakapapa - if culturally appropriate you could create a pēpehā or mihimihi as part of this exercise.

• What do you know about the character - ethnicity, where they are from, their whānau, their upbringing

• What are their dreams and aspirations?

• What is motivating or driving them? Why do you think they behave the way they do?

• What are key quotes that capture the personality, beliefs and aspirations of the character?

• What are their relationships like and what does this say about the way they act?

• Role on the Wall: Choose a character you found compelling or impactful. In a Role on the Wall explore how the actor used techniques to support the function of the play. Narrow this down to a single moment. Role on the Wall instructions:

• Draw the outline of your character - could be a gingerbread man shape, stick figure, etc.

• On the outside you will note the external drama techniques you see the actor using in a specific moment, that communicate the function. Use of body, voice, movement and space

• On the inside you will think about or imagine what might be driving these choices; emotions, motivations, subtext

• Mindmapping: Looking at the drama elements, choose one that you felt was highlighted in a moment in the performance that communicated the function. Create an extensive mind map which details how that element was brought to life through the script, the characters, directorial and design choices.

• For example; what does setting the performance in the ’90s communicate to the audience?

• Storyboarding: Choose a moment where a specific drama convention highlights the function. Map out on a short storyboard with captions, how the convention was used, detailing what you saw on stage and what it communicated to the audience.

• Sketching and annotating: Choose a moment where technology was used to highlight the function. Sketch how this looked on stage and annotate comprehensively.

BRINGING IDEAS TO LIFE THROUGH PLAY:

these ideas could contribute towards or become provocations/stimulus for devised drama.

• Choose a line from Hyperspace that you found compelling or impactful. Discuss why as a group.

• Break down the line, think about what it means and what it represents in the play, how it might heal, educate, entertain or transform. What does it make you think about and feel? Does it call you to action?

• Develop a short scene that explores what you have discussed using conventions and elements.

• Prior to performance explain how your short scene connects to the line you have chosen and how it heals, educates, entertains or transforms

• Make sure that you choose conventions and elements that will communicate your ideas in a coherent way

• Choose a moment in the performance where you could add more information about a character or an event. This could be prior to the play beginning, during the narrative or what happened next.

• Develop a short scene using conventions and elements

• Discuss together how this scene extends on ideas in the play

• Prior to performance explain how your short scene heals, educates, entertains or transforms the audience. Discuss how you have used conventions and elements to communicate this.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY: CONNECTING TO ASTROMAN

Albert Belz has written Hyperspace as the second play in a trilogy about the Te Ruhea whānau. For this activity you will want access to the play text and may want to reference to the: Astroman Education Pack

MAKE CONNECTIONS:

• Create a character map linking the characters in Astroman and the characters in Hyperspace. (If you google character map, examples will come up to inspire you)

• Using post it notes and a large piece of paper write down all the themes and ideas evident in both plays. Around the themes/ideas annotate and make notes about how these connect to characters and are highlighted by directorial and design choices

• Choose an excerpt from Astroman and choose a scene from Hyperspace. Discuss Albert Belz writing style. Use the questions as a guide and construct written notes:

• What is Albert Belz trying to say with these plays?

• Identify and describe common factors in both plays

• What makes Belz writing unique?

• Why do you think he is choosing to tell stories about these characters?

• Discuss the cultural, historical and social references in both plays. Why are they important? What do they highlight to the audience?

• Create a mood board of all the references in the set, costumes, props, lighting, makeup and sound

• Annotate comprehensively

PERFORM A SCENE:

(If you have access to the full script from either play)

• Choose a scene that you felt highlighted the function of the play

• Block and rehearse the scene for an audience

• As you rehearse make choices about your techniques as an actor that will communicate the function of the scene to your audience

• Think about how elements can be enhanced and what conventions could be used in the blocking

• If you could use technology, what would it be? If you have access to it, have a play. If you don’t then express a few ideas to the audience prior to performing

• Perform your scene for your peers and gain feedback.

• Justify your choices to the audience and explain what you intended to communicate

• Discuss whether your intention for the performance was communicated and understood. Gain feedback and advice

• If you have time you could implement any feedback given to enhance how you communicated the function.

REFERENCES

Drama | NCEA

Explore the function of theatre Aotearoa | NCEA

Hyperspace and Level One NCEA

“Drama transforms the tangible into the intangible.”

This section of the education pack is designed to support Level One drama students navigate the new Level One external Achievement Standard 91943 - Respond to a drama performance. Unlike like the Level Two and Three external standards, which are an exam, you will be constructing a report, over a period of time in class and it will be based around three key aspects;

• Key message of the performance, the use of drama components and your own personal response to the performance, capturing the wairua (spirit) of what you watched.

This report can either be verbal or written, or a mixture of boththe main question you should ask yourself as a student is; how do I communicate my ideas, thoughts, and feelings about what I saw, the best? With that in mind, you are encouraged to collect your thoughts, discussions and do your research in a range of formats. Such as; voice notes, sketches and annotations, brainstorms, moodboards, recorded physical responses and writing.

Below are three activities to support you to expand your ideas and support you during the teaching and learning phase of unpacking the performance.

KEY MESSAGE

In pairs, small groups or as a whole class, discuss and brainstorm the following prompts:

• What do you think the playwright was trying to say? Why this story? Why these characters? Why this period of time?

• What do you think the director was trying to communicate through the choices they made? How does this connect with what the playwright has written?

• What do the characters in the performance represent and what do they communicate to the audience?

• What do you think the designers are trying to communicate through their choices? How does this bring the playwright's ideas to life?

Once you have brainstormed around these questions, you could journal, voice note or record thoughts around the following questions:

• How do you identify the key message of a performance?

• Can there be multiple key messages?

• Think about your interpretation of the performance - what was the key message to you?

• What physical evidence from the performance connects to the key message? This could be a scene, a moment between characters, dialogue, a moment where the use of technology highlighted an idea.

• Describe these examples and sketch them in specific detail.

USE OF DRAMA COMPONENTS:

Drama components are techniques, elements, conventions and technologies. Make sure you have explored this language and terminology with your teacher.

Now that you have fleshed out what the key message might be, you need to connect it with the choices that the director, designer and actors have made and how they have used the drama components in combination.

Brainstorm in small groups, or in pairs:

• How an actor used drama techniques in a moment that communicated the key message

• How elements created a sense of mood, atmosphere or tension

• How conventions were used throughout the performance

• How technology enhanced the story being told

WAIRUA OF PERFORMANCE AND PERSONAL RESPONSE:

In the unpacking on the NCEA website for this standard, this aspect of the assessment is unpacked in detail. Your teacher will support you in understanding this and guide you to explore, research and develop your ideas.

“The wairua of the performance is experienced as the intangible energetic and emotive qualities that carry the spirit and intention of the play. How the wairua is expressed by the performers provokes a response from the audience and allows them to reflect on the ideas and themes of the play based on their own life experiences and perspectives.”

• What thoughts, ideas and feelings did the performers provoke in you?

• What have you reflected upon since watching the performance?

• What have you been thinking about (head) and feeling (heart) since?

• What did your gut/sense of intuition communicate to you as you watched the performance?

• What life experiences or perspectives do you bring? What connections did you make?

REFERENCES

Drama | NCEA

Level One External Specifications

Level Two and Three Revision Questions

If you are a Year 12 and 13 student who attended the production of Hyperspace you will likely have had your Live Performance exam in mind as you watched the performance. You are encouraged to look at the questions written for Year 11/ Level One students in the previous section and the activities connected to Theatre Aotearoa. Having discussions around theatre’s ability to heal, educate, entertain and/ or transform can deepen or widen your point of view. With this in mind, the questions below will support you to revise for your exam at the end of the year but will also enrich your thoughts, feelings and ideas about the performance of Hyperspaceand may expand your own work that you develop in the classroom. You are encouraged to explore the questions both individually and with your peers.

Note: When answering the following question you will want to find and provide physical examples from the production. A physical example is when you describe, with specificity, what is happening on stage at the time. Get down to specific detail, for example, explaining how the actor/

performer is standing or moving, how far away from the audience they are, what is happening with technology, where exactly they are in space, etc. The more detail, the better!

DRAMA TECHNIQUES: BODY, VOICE, MOVEMENT AND SPACE:

• Describe how an actor who you found interesting or compelling used drama techniques in a specific moment in the performance.

• Describe how two actors used proximity during a moment of tension.

• Discuss how an actor uses drama techniques during a solo moment on stage. What were they aiming to communicate? What did you understand at that moment?

• Explain another actor’s use of drama techniques and how they created a sense of authenticity within the performance.

• Choose specific moments where you felt the actor used their body, voice, movement, and space in combination to create impact, focus, or to support an important idea.

• Discuss why you think authenticity is important in a contemporary New Zealand performance

• Thinking about the actors who played

• How did they use techniques to create a sense of time and place?

• How did they use techniques to communicate their history?

• How did an actor use drama techniques to communicate subtext in their performance? Use a specific moment and example to discuss this use of subtext.

• Discuss what you found compelling about an actor’s use of drama techniques in the performance. Choose a specific moment to focus on.

CHARACTER:

• Discuss what character communicated to the audience; how did the actor portray them? Plot their character arc and describe how he uses techniques to communicate this.

• Discuss the purpose of the characters:

• What impact do they have on the narrative, as well as the audience and actors' relationship?

• How does the actor's use of techniques communicate their purpose in the performance?

• What was the purpose of aerobics in the play? Why is the style of movement and the sport associated with it, integral in this particular story and what do they make you think about?

• How was Te Ao Haka incorporated into this style of movement and why was this important to the story being told?

• Explore the ensemble: what purpose do they serve in the narrative?

DIRECTOR/DESIGNER CONCEPT:

• Discuss how technology or design was used during a climatic moment in the performance? What do you think was at stake within the scene?

• Discuss the purpose of the performance and how the themes or ideas link to what is happening in the world; socially, politically or historically. Link your ideas to specific moments or examples from the performance.

• How did the way the performance was realised impact the style of delivery of the narrative/story?

• How does the content of the play challenge and serve the audience?

• Discuss how the director brought the story to life using Drama Components - Elements, Conventions, Techniques and Technologies.

• What do you think Tukiwaho is asking you to think about in the way he has directed Hyperspace?

• How did the acting and staging choices affect you as an audience member?

• What was the impact of the way the design, directorial, and acting choices worked together? Choose a moment that surprised, shocked, or excited you to talk about.

• Discuss why the use of sound and lighting design was integral to this performance? Focus on the mood created by sound choices, use of colour and the shapes created by the angles or composition of lighting.

DRAMA CONVENTIONSSTRATEGIES ESTABLISHED TO MAKE MEANING AND CONNECT TO WIDER CONTEXT:

(NB - make sure you are familiar with what the established Drama Conventions are by discussing this with your teacher)

• Identify a moment in the performance where Drama Conventions were used to create focus, mood or atmosphere:

• Explain how the convention or combination of conventions were used in the performance

• Discuss the impact of the use of the convention or combination of conventions in this moment

• Discuss how meaning was created for you, as an audience member, in this moment

• Discuss how the use of a convention or combination of conventions in a specific moment helped you think about the big ideas and themes of the play.

• What was the wider context (socially, historically, politically or geographically) that this moment linked to?

DRAMA ELEMENTS AND HOW THEY DRAW OUR ATTENTION TO THEMES, MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS:

• What were the main themes, questions and ideas evident in the performance? Link these themes, questions and ideas to specific moments or examples from the performance.

• How were design and directorial elements (props, setting, AV, costuming, audience positioning and interaction) and the Drama Elements used to build the performance? How did this make you feel as a member of the audience?

• Identify recurring symbols or motifs throughout the performance. Explain why they were important in helping you understand ideas being communicated in Hyperspace?

• How do these themes, symbols or ideas link to the wider world of the play and what impact does this have on the audience?

• Were there moments where the content was confronting or forced you to think about something in a new light? What impact does this have on the audience and you as a member of the audience?

• Reference the wider reading around Cardiomyopathy and think about the impact this condition has on the lives and arcs of the characters in the play.

TECHNOLOGY:

link your ideas to specific moments or examples in the performance. Think about lighting, set, sound, props, costumes, make-up and how this helped bring you into the world of the play.

• How was technology used to create the atmosphere in the performance?

• How was technology used to highlight important ideas, themes and symbols in the performance?

• How was contrast and/or focus created or built through technology and why was this important?

• How did the use of technology help you gain a deeper understanding of the themes of Hyperspace?

• How did technology highlight Natalie Te Rehua within the performance?

• Discuss why this was impactful, exciting or challenged your expectations.

• How were costumes used to communicate the characters' purpose in the performance?

IMPORTANT NOTE:

When you are writing about Set or Costume, you need to be specific about the following details and also sketch what you see. Imagine the person you are writing for has not seen the production and create a vivid image in their mind of what you saw:

• For example: Set/Props

• The size, shape and dimensions of any set pieces or props used

• The materials used, their textures and the colours

We have a new podcast!

We’re giving you a backstage pass!

We’re talking to directors, actors, creatives and designers to learn more about the hard mahi that goes on behind the curtain. Come intrigued, leave inspired.

Listen now on all good podcast apps.

In episode one, Maxene London talks to Hyperspace actor Kruze Tangira about connecting with his character, Tāwhai, on a deeper level. He shares his five-year audition process for the role and his empathy for the bullying his character Tāwhai goes through.

Listen now on Spotify (search "Auckland Theatre Company") or tap here for more: https://bit.ly/4b7na0a

The Last Word

Sometimes artists feel that their work needs to be heavy or that theatre needs to change the world to be valid. But Albert, Tainui and the team who created Hyperspace challenge us to remember that actually, we’re here on this planet for a short period of time and yes, it’s complex and hard at times but there’s also a lot to celebrate and it’s supposed to be fun.

We’re supposed to connect with others, move our bodies, be a little embarrassing, laugh, and to leave the world a little brighter than we found it.

If art is a reflection of life, how wonderfully important that we have silly, bright, fun art! And if it helps us make sense of ourselves and the people around us, what more could we ask for?

We hope you enjoyed Hyperspace as much as we did. There is art in the space between the audience and the show and everyone will have their own experience. We are always eager to hear from rangatahi about our shows and your experiences at Auckland Theatre Company.

The doors of both Auckland Theatre Company and Te Pou are always open, if you feel inspired to get involved in any way, please reach out. The industry is made up of people like you and people like Natalie Te Rehua who just want to make art.

– Teaching Artist, Acacia O’Connor