A play that combines the trauma of the unlawful arrest of Rua Kenana in 1916 and the Tūhoe raids of 2007 has won the best play prize for Maraea Rakuraku at the NZ Adams Playwriting Awards.
The Tūhoe writer also won two other awards at the ceremony over the weekend for best play written by a wahine and best Māori play.
“It’s like the best award ceremony I’ve ever had in my life," Rakuraku says. " It’s so humbling. It’s very affirming that I write about things that are important to me are resonating.”
The winning play has a unique numeric title – 02014161007. Rakuraku says it’s not the Lotto number or cellphone digits. The title incorporates the dates of Kenana’s arrest in 1916 and when the Armed Offenders Squad entered and shut down Ruatoki following suspicion of terrorist activity in 2007.
“They are the dates, and they run into each other. I wanted to show how the events in 1916 have had an effect on what happened in 2007 and how it’s an ongoing thing.”
Tuhoe wāhine
The story follows the lives of Tūhoe wāhine on those days and the impact of colonialism and gives testimony to their survival, resilience, and te mana motuhake o Tūhoe.
“I love these women so much. They are women I know and who I am inspired to be. They are on fire.”
Rakuraku wrote the play during her PhD studies in creative writing. She's won the Adams Award before in 2016 for her play Tan-knee, a story also about the Tūhoe raids. The two award-winning plays will be part of a trilogy centred around the Te Urewera.
Rakuraku says she’s inspired to write about the injustices that occurred in Tūhoe to give a voice to her whānau who are deeply impacted by the events.
“At the time of the raids, I was employed with Radio New Zealand. It was challenging working on one side when you are reporting on what’s happening to people that you love and care about.
It was a terrible bloody time. Because of what happened in 1916, you felt that maemae again.”