Carrie Green, a Ngāti Porou actress, has been in preparation for her next gig “A Frickin Dangerous Space-mas”, a comedy play that sees a group of brown skin astronauts operating an International Space Station. Green says if it wasn't for Nancy Brunning who helped her and many other aspiring actresses get through Toi Whakaari Drama School, she wouldn’t be where she is today.
“She was just part of my career from then on in. From watching us making sure we were okay, giving us growlings, giving us advice. She was like a nan, I'm really aware of the loss within our community, of what she would do. That there are big shoes to fill left behind by Nancy.”
Green has been an acting now for seven years, she studied and completed her degree at Toi Whakaari in Wellington.
Green says, “I just love telling stories, I love telling our stories Māori stories New Zealand stories, I like collaborating with people.
“We're all astronauts on the international space station and it's just silly and fun. I play a character called Hanz who is half Māori and half Swedish. Everyone thinks her name is Hanz because it's Swedish but it's actually Reihana.”
Lastly moving forward in her career, Green is wanting to pay tribute to Nancy and the teachings that she has passed down to her.
“There just seem to be more opportunities created for us, because in those roles to make those opportunities. So we do need more Māori producers and directors and writers and story tellers to make the work to make the work for us to be in.”
Tonight will be the first preview of this play and the last show will be on the 20th of next month.