KA MUA, KA MURI ISSUE N–o 55 Ka mua, ka muri is a whakataukī meaning ‘walking backwards into the future’ – a conception of looking to the past to inform the future. This whakataukī comes to mind reading the rich collection of articles in this New Zealand theatre annual. Articles that record personal responses to living in a Covid-19 enforced lockdown and consider future prospects; that reflect on writing in a country other than our own; record our queer theatre writing; provide lessons learnt shifting between performing comedy and theatre writing, and creating in new ways during a lockdown. It discusses new regionally driven festival programming; reflects on the genesis of past writing; and provides thoughts on the legacy of a playwriting elder who has recently passed, Dean Parker. All this with round-ups in images and words of what’s been on our stages in the twelve months since June 2019. At the time of writing we are facing the challenges of community transmission of Covid-19 after coming out of an initial lockdown that had seen theatres black since late March. This period has given us all impetus to assess what theatre might look like in the future. The challenges to sustain a theatre career have escalated (the livelihoods of independent practitioners, in particular, have all but vanished). The way of the world is in the dock, facing important questioning. Age-old festering is exploding in the streets.
There were so many challenges that were with us long before the year began – pictured is a scene from The Court Theatre production of Tavita Nielsen-Mamea’s Au Ko Tuvalu, which takes us into the future, to the Pacific homeland of the world’s first climate change refugees. Making change is much discussed in this Annual; some has already taken place. Exploration of digital works has informed hybrid presentation modes. Structures are being challenged. It will be fascinating to contemplate all of this in a year’s time. Mark Amery has once again edited the Annual in his inimitable fashion and I am especially grateful for his guidance in the commissioning of exactly what we need to read right now. Murray Lynch Director, Playmarket
