Waiora Te Ūkaipō - The Homeland is a 1996 play by New Zealand playwright Hone Kouka. The play describes the social dislocation that happens to Māori who leave their tribal lands. It is the first part of a trilogy with Homefires (1998) and The Prophet (2004), and the teenagers of The Prophet are the children of Waiora's Amiria, Rongo and Boyboy.
History The play was commissioned by the Wellington International Festival of the Arts. Kouka has described the play as about immigrants, writing "unfortunately the immigrants in the play are Māori, displaced in their own country." The play was published by Huia Publishers in 2007 and then by Playmarket in 2019. Kouka says of the play that it is big in scope and 'naturalistic and impressionistic'.
Characters The Whanau (family)
John/Hone - the father, late thirties, has always worked outside Sue/Wai Te Atatu - the mother, had her children in her teens Amiria - 19, eldest daughter, a beauty, thinks of herself as Pākehā Rongo - 18, daddy's girl, sings like a tūī, but not since leaving Waiora Boyboy - 16, whāngai (adopted), sporty, loves the outdoors
The Guests
Steve Campbell - Hone's boss, Pākehā, late 30s or early 40s. Louise Stones - a secondary school teacher, twenties, Pākehā, outspoken, liberal and not a local The Tīpuna (ancestors) - a group of four ancestors, whose focus is Rongo. A metaphor for what has been left behind. The Stranger: one of the tīpuna
Synopsis The play is set on a beach, on the east coast of the South Island in late summer, March, in the year 1965. The Waiora of the title is a fictional place on the East Coast of the North Island. Hone has recently moved his family to the South Island for work in a timber mill. The whanau have gathered on the beach to celebrate Rongo's 18th birthday, and have invited Louise, as Wai's friend and Boyboy's teacher, and Steve as guest of honour. The whanau are expecting Steve to promote Hone (who Steve calls John) to foreman at the mill.
The play opens with the tīpuna walking on the beach, singing of their sadness at leaving their original homeland with the waiata "Taukuri e". Now the place is prepared, the whanau arrive to set up for their celebration. Boyboy is proud to be putting down his first hangi, but in his desperation to please Hone, leaves the fire unattended to collect mussels, and the fire gets out of control.
Louise presses Steve to tell Hone about the promotion, but Steve tells her he has a bonus for Hone, not a promotion. Boyboy overhears, and reveals to the whanau that Steve isn't going to promote Hone because he is Māori and it wouldn't be accepted. Amiria admits that she is going to marry her Pākeha boyfriend and move to Auckland. Rongo retreats and withdraws from the conflict and is later found unresponsive in the water. Through karakia and haka she is brought back from the tīpuna.
Productions
+ProductionDateCrewCastRefHannah Playhouse, Wellington, part of the NZ International Festival of the Arts15–24 March 1996Director: Murray Lynch Musical director: Laughton Pattrick
Stage manager: Anthony Hodgkin
Producer: Fenn Gordon
Lighting design: Ivan Morundi
Set design: John Parker
Costume design: John Parker
Script advisor: Philippa Campbell
Haka & Waiata: Hone Hurihanganui
Kaumatua: Bob WikiHone/John: Rawiri Paratene Wai/Sue: Tina Cook
Amiria: Rachel House
Rongo: Nancy Brunning
Boyboy: Jason Te Kare
Steve Campbell: Mick Rose
Louise Stones: Nicola Murphy
Tīpuna: Antonio Te Maioha, Grace Hoet, Karl Kite Rangi, Toni HuataReturn season to Downstage Theatre, Wellington and a tour to Whakatāne and Auckland21 April 1997 – 30 April 1997Helen Pearse-Otene replaced Toni Huata Brighton Festival, UK1997Hawai'i, four islands, final performance at Kamehameha School on Oahu1998Regent on Broadway, Palmerston North10 August 1998 – 15 August 1998Court Theatre, Christchurch25 August 1998 – 5 September 1998Director: Murray LynchCourt Theatre, Christchurch13 August – 3 September 2016Writer, director, Sound director: Hone Kouka Stage manager: Jo Bunce
Lighting design: Giles Tanner
Set design: Mark McEntyre
Costume design: Mark McEntyre
Sound facilitator/operator: Sean Hawkins
Properties Coordinator: Christy LassenHone/John: Taungaroa Emile Wai/Sue: Kim Garrett
Amiria: Maia Diamond
Rongo: Te Awhina Kaiwai-Wanikau
Boyboy: Tola Newbery
Steve Campbell: Phil Grieve
Louise Stones: Hannah Spedding
Tīpuna: Sheree Waitoa, Wiremu Waretini, Jared Hiakita, Tania Gilchrist Center for Performing Arts, Illinois State University30 September – 9 October 2016Director: Kim Pereira Cultural coaching: Jack Gray and Dakota Alcantara-Camacho
Lighting designer: Ethan Hollinger
Sound designer: Aaron Paolucci
Scene designer: Bridgid Burge
Music director: Kristin MaroniHone/John: Thomas Russell Wai/Sue: Brandi Jones
Amiria: Emilia Dvorak
Rongo: Hannah Spohnholtz
Boyboy: Alex Levy
Steve Campbell: Mac Byrd
Louise Stones: Emma Harmon
Tīpuna: William Brown, Anastasia Ferguson,
Cayla Jones, Chloe Szot
The Stranger: Anthony HardenPresented by Wahine Works Hannah Playhouse, Wellington, part of the 2018 Kia Mau FestivalFriday 1 June to Saturday 9 June 2018Director: William Walker Set Design/Construction: Cedric Ruawhare
Sound Operator: Aaliyah Nordstrand
Technical Stage Manager: Karina
Lighting Technician: Tim Bell
Lighting Technician: Aaliyah Nordstrand
General Manager: Kathy Watson
Front of House Administrator: Ruby Harrison Rongo: Phoenix Karaitiana Hone: Leihana Shelford
Wai: Kayah Thompson
Amiria: Zahra Cherrington-Irving
Boy Boy: Hana Gilbert
Steve Campbell: Meg Robinson
Louise Stones: Mollie Jacobson
Tipuna:
Jerome Tamihana Hau-Northcroft as Stranger
Tracey Kingi as Nanny
Kasey Harder Cortland Pairama
Paea Slade
Ngarimu WyattPresented at the Opera House, Wellington in partnership with the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Te Ahurei Toi o Tamaki Auckland Arts Festival, Auckland Theatre Company and Tawata Productions.27 February – 1 March 2026Writer & Director: Hone Kouka, Tawata Productions
Composer: Hone Hurihanganui
Assistant Director: Hōhepa Waitoa
Set Designer: Mark McEntyre
Lighting Designer: Natasha James
Costume Designer: Cara Louise Waretini
Stage Manager: Lauren Fergusson
Waiora Production Manager: James Kearney
Tawata Productions' Production Manager: Natasha James
Producer: Mīria George John/Hone: Regan Taylor
Sue/Wai Te Atatu: Erina Daniels
Amiria: Rongopai Tickell
Rongo: Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne
Boyboy: Te Mihi Potae
Steve Campbell: Ben Ashby
Louise Stones: Mycah Keall
Tīpuna: Anatonio Te Maioha, Awerangi Thompson, Mathieu Boynton-Rata, Huia Rawiri
Critical reception
Nancy Brunning remembered a variety of responses to the first productions of Waiora: "The response to the '96 première of Waiora ranged from standing ovations to heated debates. It brought many Māori together and it angered many Pākehā who were turned off by the portrayal of Pākehā/Māori relationships. Some audiences, Pākehā and Māori alike, took offence at a Māori play daring to say Māori were being treated like immigrants in their own country."Sears, Rachel. Waiora Education Pack , The Court Theatre.Critic Murray Edmond says "Waiora was the play which gave Hone Kouka a significant presence in New Zealand theatre as a Māori playwright." David O'Donnell considers that the success of plays such as Waiora and Briar Grace-Smith's Purapurawhetū "is partly due to their dynamic fusion of traditional Māori performance traditions with the dramatic structures inherited from European playwriting." The productions at the Brighton Festival and the tour in Hawaii were considered "a great success". Kouka said "Its uniqueness became a highlighted point. Previously we had been in the shadows of New Zealand theatre. From a world viewpoint, it's the other way round." At the Whakatāne performance, the audience replied to the haka with their own.
Sonia Yee, the first Chinese woman graduate of Toi Whakaari, credits Waiora as one of the drama pieces which made her want to go to drama school. Rajeev Verma, part of "Those Indian Guys" in Auckland, also considers Waiora as formative: "I saw this story that was truthful, and it was about people that were relevant to this country. And it had a very clear purpose for our New Zealand community."
References