A Woman Of Consequence: Fierce Wāhine Tell The Story Of Lucy Takiora Lord

Kūpapa, the debut play by acclaimed actress Nicola Kāwana (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Kāhungungu and Rangitane), is set to have its world premiere production at Auckland’s Te Pou Theatre from July 3 – 10. Kūpapa takes us into the mind, the heart and the soul of controversial figure Lucy “Takiora” Lord.

In 1868, Lord returns to her turangawaewae to work alongside the militia in the Taranaki Land Wars. Fiercely independent and ambitious, Lucy lives outside the expectations for women of her time. She is determined to define her place to stand, on her terms. But at what cost?

Kūpapa journeys into the world of first-generation Māori/Pākeha wāhine who lived out their extraordinary lives, and carved out their own space in both cultures, during the harsh birth of colonisation.

This production stars Kāwana herself alongside Renaye Tamati (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, Rongomaiwahine, Te Atiawa, Kāi Tahu) (Constellations, Pop Up Globe’s Twelfth Night) and Lana Garland (Te Atiawa) (Black Ties, TVNZ1’s Runaway). The rest of the team is rounded out by two accomplished wāhine: acclaimed emerging director Erina Daniels (Taki Rua’s Cellfish) and award-winning designer Jana Hakaraia (Astroman, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt).

Kāwana comes to the story of Lucy Lord via two pathways; the interest in the controversial figure that she’s had since drama school, since playing her twice onstage and onscreen; and her own personal relation to Lord, who is her great aunt. Fascinated by Lord’s motivations, Kāwana has written her theatrical debut to give voice to the wāhine of this time, readdressing the imbalance of our wāhine Māori who contributed significantly to the creation of a shared new world for Pākeha and Māori.

Lucy Lord, also known as Takiora, was born to William Lord and Kōtiro Hinerangi in the Bay of Islands, where Hinerangi had been taken from Taranaki as part of a peace deal with Ngāpuhi. Lord’s siblings include the famous Te Paea of Whakarewarewa and Jane Philips, landowner, and petitioner to the Crown on Māori land.

Lord herself worked as a guide and interpreter for Major Gustavus Von Tempsky, assisted the government in the purchase of Māori land in her own tribal area, and was even involved in the bloody campaign against her whānaunga, the prophet and military leader Titokowaru. She’s still such a contentious character amongst her people that some still refuse to speak her name.

This marks the culmination of decades of research for Kāwana, who has been investigating Lord’s story before she even knew she was related to her. The play is inspired by Kāwana’s research and letters that Lord herself wrote, found in the Alexander Turnbull Library.

In Kūpapa, Kāwana reimagines historical events through the eyes of her ancestor. Kāwana, an acclaimed and experienced performer with over 30 years’ experience, was raised on her turangawaewae in South Taranaki, and whakapapas to Ngāruahine and Ngāti Ruanui; Kūpapa is a story from that whenua and holds tremendous importance to her.

Kūpapa is also inspired by Kāwana’s desire to write robust roles for older women that go beyond the traditional roles that she’s seen, and played, before. The wāhine that Kāwana writes about are notorious, they’re devious, and they’re critical in the birth of the New Zealand that we live in today. Kāwana is giving voice to these wāhine buried under the histories of the male narrative in Aotearoa.

“A central theme of Kūpapa is the exploration of mātauranga Māori in the face of a new imposed culture,” says Kāwana. “The roles these women played in the early interactions between Māori and Pākeha are often overlooked in the story of “our nation”. The stories of these first women who were both Māori and Pākeha are virtually non-existent. It is a story of loss of land, culture and a place to stand and the fight for it all.”

This premiere comes after robust development by Te Pou Theatre’s Koanga Festival which aims to develop and prepare the fertile ground for Auckland’s Māori stories and storytellers. The festival has also developed works by award-winning playwright Albert Belz, Rutene Spooner and Regan Taylor.

Kūpapa is not a story of redemption or condemnation, it’s a story of humanity. The story of Lucy Lord has been told by men for generations. It’s time for wāhine to do her justice.

Kūpapa plays:
TE POU THEATRE
3-10 July. Shows at 7.30pm. Matinee Saturday 10 July at 3pm.
Book at www.iticket.co.nz

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