WHAKAPAUPAKIHI - THE MUSICAL

​

KAUPAPA

There are 3 key reasons why Whakapaupakihi was created:

1. To remind everyone of how epic our ancestors and their stories are

2. To create the Māori Marvel for our children

3. To write and perform a musical work in our First Language, te reo Māori

​

​

ACT ONE

Whakapaupakihi tells the epic story of 3 brothers, Taua, Māhaki and Hauiti who created the tribes in Te Tairāwhiti, Aotearoa.

​

ACT 1 is set in a futuristic, utopian-like world.  Iranui, the reigning leader of the land and mother to Taua, Māhaki and Hauiti, has the ability to manipulate the elements, earth, wind, fire and water.

​

The 3 brothers have come to an age where they are gifted by their mother the power to manipulate an element.

​

Our story follows Hauiti; the youngest of the three brothers.  We learn that Hauiti is special and has been gifted the power to manipulate 2 elements unbeknownst to him and everyone else.

​

This causes a great divide between the whānau and their people forcing Hauiti to take on the mantle of leadership.

​

​

ACT TWO

In the 2nd Act time has passed. We are in a Mad Max like setting, after multiple battles between the siblings. Hauiti has just witnessed his first child being born. 

​

Taua and Māhaki are furious that Hauiti is a much better fisherman and provider for his people then they are, and so enforce tikanga, where the first catch goes to the eldest in the whānau. 

​

Hauiti outsmarts Taua and Māhaki by building Whakapaupakihi, a giant net. He uses the smaller net to give the catch to his briothers and uses Whakapaupakihi to feed his people. 

​

This causes Taua and Māhaki to declare war on Hauiti and his people. 

​

Hauiti defeats and banishes his brothers from the land, pushing Taua and Māhaki out, which in effect, creates the spread of the people and in time creates the tribes of the East Coast.