Writing

Since joining the industry in 2020, Te Huamanuka has worked as a freelance playwright, storyliner, songwriter, and writing teacher.

NGĀ RETA

ABOUT THE PLAY

Kāore ō Mia Māoritanga i whakatau i roto i a ia. Engari, i te wā i pānui ia i ngā reta tōna Māmā, ka panoni haere ōna whakaaro. Ka taea e ia te whakatau?

Urban-Māori Mia rejects her Māoritanga. To her, being Māori is too deep and heavy. When a box of letters arrive from Nan about her mum’s journey through womanhood, Mia’s world is turned upside down. Will she return home? Who is her real dad? Can she fix the relationship with her Mum?

Ngā Reta is a reo-Māori solo show about Māoritanga, independence and identity – the balance of te ao Māori and te ao hurihuri. Ngā Reta, based on a true story, was originally written for a final assignment at Te Wānanga Takiura – a year long reo-Māori immersion course, Ngā Reta then premiered at Te Pou Theatre in 2023 and toured marae in Mahuru 2024. Although the whole play is in te reo Māori, audiences praised how understandable the show was.

Digital Program

“Reo the whole way – from beginning to end – the only Pākehā words were Jeremy and Jane. You don’t have to know what every word means, but you pick up on the since of empowerment from beginning to end, it’s uplifting, it’s positive, it’s kind of amaaazing. And she’s amazing, I’m a number one fan. 100%”

– Audience member, Nov 2023

LIPSYNC, KANIKANI & TWERK OFF!

This play was originally commissioned by Te Pou Theatre and was the first play I ever completed. It went on to win Playmarket’s B4 25 Award in 2021.

Listen to the Radio Play below!

ABOUT THE PLAY

When Kahu, Te Rina and Ariana lose their mum in a fatal car crash, they create a year-long lip sync list to hold their whānau together. The nightly lip syncs are compulsory – no matter what.

But with the unveiling rapidly approaching, a distant father and tension in the whare rising – the fun and shimmer of a lip sync, kanikani or twerk off might not be good enough glue.

Award-winning play, “Lip Sync, Kanikani, Twerk Off!” tells the story of a whānau struggling with a huge loss, navigating womanhood and learning how to bring joy to the hard times. A message to our rangatahi to speak out, keep hope and have a mean lip sync on the way home.

OTHER WORK

PŌHUTUKAWA – Pakiwaitara Ororongo

15 min radio play about Pōhutukawa

He pakiwaitara reo Māori e pā ana ki te whetū Pōhutukawa. He ororongo pai mo ngā pākeke me ngā tamariki. He taumaha ētahi o ngā kōrero, nō reira kia ngāwari te rongo me te wā whai muri i te rongo. Mānawatia a Matariki,

Listen Here

HĀ KI ROTO, HĀ KI WAHO – Pukapuka Tamariki

Children’s Book in Te Reo Māori, 22 pages

E rere ana ō Hine kare-ā-roto i ngā wā katoa. Pēwhea ka tau haere ia?

Tama teaches his friend Hine to breathe when she’s feeling overwhelmed with her feelings. Every day she has a new emotion! She learns to become a master of her hā, her breath.

22 pages, available in 210mmx297mm (A4) and 148mmx148mm (square)

Purchase Pukapuka

BACK ON TRACK

70 min Theatre ensemble piece that explores how rangatahi māori fit in a colonised school system.

James Cook High School has received funding to start a “back-on-track” program for troubled youth who have been suspended from school as a “last-chance” to get these kids functioning healthily in society as they become adults.

Playmarket B4 24 Runner Up 2022

IT DIED WITH THE TAIAO

10 min short play written as a part of ATC’s “Future Tense” Anthology 2023

2123. The New Zealand landscape has been destroyed. We live in underground bunkers. Virtual reality rules our world. After meeting in a VR basketball shoot out game, Jordan let’s it slip to Sam that she’s Māori – the long lost culture of New Zealand.