Uplifting New Play Gives Voice To Prisoner’s Perspective On The Treaty

A new play - ration the Queen’s Veges - about how an abseiling activist who painted over a Treaty of Waitangi exhibition inspired prison inmates to reveal personal insights into their lives, will debut in March at Te Pou Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau as part of Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival.

The uplifting one-man play portrays the different realities of prison life by allowing those removed from society to have their say on the Treaty while also opening up about their personal stories.

Award winning theatre maker, Tainui Tukiwaho, will direct. He will also co-write with Te Wehi Ratana, whose real life experience was the inspiration for the play. Stage and TV actor Ngahiriwa Rauhina has been cast in the play.

“ration the Queen’s Veges will allow us to gain an understanding of the day-to-day grind of being in prison,” says Te Wehi. “It shows the potential of all of the people who are behind bars in Aotearoa.”

In December 2023, as part of the group Te Waka Hourua, Te Wehi abseiled from the roof of Te Papa and painted over the Treaty of Waitangi exhibition to read: “no. Her Majesty the Queen of England is the alien. ration the Queen s v eges.” This incident provoked strong opinions across Aotearoa. Some sang the group’s praises while others called for blood. Although others from the group were charged, Te Wehi was the only member to receive prison time.

Sentenced to 48 hours in Rimutaka Prison, Te Wehi was given a month’s worth of nicotine gum even though he didn’t smoke. Learning from his cellmate Brian that the gum was valuable currency, they decided to offer pieces of gum to inmates in exchange for letters expressing how the men felt about Te Wehi painting over the Treaty.

What came next, no one could predict. The inmates saw this as a platform to express themselves. Many of the letters written by the inmates became intimate testimonies about their inner thoughts, feelings, personal desires, and hopes and dreams for the future.

Te Wehi says the letters provided a unique insight into prison life in Aotearoa and it inspired him, and the creatives at Te Pou Theatre and Ko.Ko.Ko Productions, to create this new work.

“When you are on the outside, you’re not exposed to this experience. But when you’re in there, and get to talk to the inmates, you get to find out what kind of people they are, and you see their humanity,” he says.

Director Tainui Tukiwaho says the play illustrates the impact political action can have on those who are normally shunned in our society.

“Te Wehi found a safe space for inmates to express and share their feelings through ingenuity and genuine connection. ration the Queen’s Veges is a story about the quiet voice of defiance that still burns within us even when we are silenced,” he says.

ration the Queen’s Veges: Te Pou Theatre, 2 Mount Lebanon Lane, Henderson, Tāmaki Makaurau from 14 – 23 March 2025, as part of Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival.

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