Playmarket Brown Ink Sessions

PLAYMARKET MEDIA RELEASE 05/08/2011

Playmarket Brown Ink Sessions

Playreading Tour - E Ono Tamai Pato

"I wrote this play to give voice to many women who have had to survive their childhood…”

When Papakura Playwright Maureen Fepulea'i attended Creative Communities South project - Banana Boat Newbie Writers' workshop in June 2010, little did she know that this was her first step to becoming an award-winning playwright.

Twelve months on and Fepulea'i's first play E Ono Tamai Pato was not only selected for PLAYMARKET development via the Brown Ink Sessions 2010, but went on to win the Best New Play by a Pasifika Playwright in the Adam New Zeaand Play Award 2011.

Her play is now being toured as part of a pilot project - Playmarket Brown Ink Playreading Tour - to four venues: Goodman Fielder Room, Aotea Centre; Papakura Art Gallery, South Auckland; Corban Arts Estate, Waitakere; and Te Papa Museum, Wellington.

Fepulea'is powerful play centres on a group of women – survivors of abuse. "I wrote this play to give voice to many women who have had to survive their childhood with the abusers still free to come and go as they wished. Many do not have a voice at the time, and as adults still suffer in silence.”

The response from family, friends and strangers who attended the reading in 2010 was one of thanks, for finally giving voice to survivors.

Directed by Margaret-Mary Hollins, starring celebrated Pasifika actresses - Mary Pahi (Shortland St, 53i PI announcer), Oliva Muliaumasealii (Think of a Garden, Lena), Stephanie Tuavehi (Shortland St, Russian Snark), Suivai Autagavaia (Where We Once Belonged - PIPA, Exchange).

Bringing her play home to Papakura during this tour, and being able share it with her community was vital to her.

"It was where I first started to write and it only seems fitting to bring the reading back to South Auckland. I hope to have the play produced for South Auckland audiences. The readings are all part of the development"

Jenni Heka, PLAYMARKET Maori and Pasifika Advisor says "The Playmarket Brown Ink Playreading Tour is the next step in development for writers like Maureen. The playreading tour introduces new writers to new audiences and is an opportunity for PLAYMARKET to showcase emerging and talented writers and our development programmes. You never know who might attend and decide that, like Maureen, they have a story to tell."

The readings are open to the public for koha entry

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