Makerita Urale

Makerita Urale is a documentary director and playwright, and a leading figure in contemporary Polynesian theatre in New Zealand.[1] She has produced landmark productions in the performing arts. She is the writer of the play Frangipani Perfume, the first Pacific play written by a woman for an all-female cast.[2] Working in different art mediums, Urale also works in film and television. She is the director of the political documentary Children of the Revolution that won the Qantas Award (2008) for Best Māori Programme.[3]

Early life

Urale was born on the island of Savai'i in Samoa.[4] The family moved to New Zealand in the 1970s where they lived in Wellington.

In 2010 Urale received the Fulbright New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency at the University of Hawai’i.[4]

Biography

Playwright

In 2000 Urale's play Frangipani Perfume (1998) was listed Top 10 plays of the decade by literary magazine The New Zealand Listener.[5] The play was first staged at Bats Theatre in Wellington in 1998 with a cast of three women that included her sister Sima. The director of the first production was Erolia Ifopo[6] followed by other directors when the play toured the country and internationally. In 2004, the play was published by Play Press[7] and is a key text in theatre studies[8] at schools and universities.[9] The play is about three sisters, born in the tropical islands of Polynesia, who move to New Zealand where they work as cleaners. The story explores the women's dreams and aspirations through the use of lyrical poetry, imagery and stylised movement. The play was nominated for Most Original Production at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. The play has toured in New Zealand as well as internationally, including to Canada,[10] Australia[11] and UK. It has also had playreadings in Toronto and New York.[12]

Urale has written plays for children, including The Magic Seashell and Popo the Fairy[6] as well as children's books[13] and feature articles in magazines.[14]

Frangipani Perfume is a dense and complex piece, interrogating the Pacific diaspora through an array of theatrical strategies.

— Hilary Alba, Australasian Drama Studies, October 2006[2]

Producer

In theatre, Urale was the producer of a number of major productions for the bi-annual New Zealand International Festival of the Arts in Wellington. She was producer of A Frigate Bird Sings (1996) directed by Nathaniel Lees and co-written by Oscar Kightley and Dave Fane, staged at Downstage Theatre. The play was nominated Best Production, Best Director and Best Set Design at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.[15] Other productions include Ricordi (1996) at the State Opera House, written by Peter Wells and directed by Colin McColl, Beauty and the Beast (1998) staged at St James Theatre, and the Samoan operatic work Classical Polynesia (1998) directed by Iosefa Enari and starring Jonathan Lemalu.[16] Other theatre productions include The Debate (1995), Duty Free (1998), five short plays by Māori writers directed by Tanea Heke, Two Days in Dream (2003) written by Mario Gaoa, Sex with Strangers (2004) directed by Colin Mitchell[17] as well as working on Paradise (2003), directed by Lemi Ponifasio for Auckland Festival. In 2007, she was the event producer of the opening festival of Tagata o le Moana, the permanent Pacific exhibition at National Museum of New Zealand, which brought together performers and artists around the country.[18] In 2008, she produced the short film Journey to Ihipa directed by Nancy Brunning.[19]

In the arts, there is light, hope and breathtaking beauty in innovation, courage and creativity. (Makerita Urale 2021)[20]

Documentary film director

Urale has directed a number of documentaries, including Savage Symbols (2002), which premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival,[21]Gang Girl – Tarnz's Story (2005),[22] Mob Daughters (2006) and Nesian Mystik (2006). The award winning documentary Children of the Revolution[23] focused on the children of iconic political activists in New Zealand as well as landmark protest movements during the 1970s and 1980s. The documentary featured interviews with Māori activists Tame Iti, Māori Party Member of Parliament Hone Harawira and his wife, former NZ Green Party MP Sue Bradford, musician and Polynesian Panthers Minister of Culture Tigilau Ness, anti-apartheid leader John Minto. Hip-hop star Che Fu is the son of Ness, and he features as one of the children.[22] Other works include freelancing for the television arts series The Living Room,[22]The Gravy, a short experimental documentary The Other Day in Paradise as well as directing an AV installation in the permanent Pacific exhibition at the National Museum of New Zealand. Urale has produced numerous music videos including Reverse Resistance, Groovilation, Ko Wai Ka Hua and the underwater Sub-Cranium Feeling for King Kapisi, directed by her sister Sima.[24] Filmed underwater, the music video won best music video awards including Flying Fish, BFM and TVNZ Mai Time.[25] In 2003, the video received an award from New Zealand On Air for contribution to music video making in New Zealand.

Arts leader

Since 2011 Urale has worked at Creative New Zealand, the arts funding and advocacy agency of the New Zealand Government. In 2023 she was in the role of Senior Manager Pacific Arts.[4]

Personal life

Urale has two brothers and three sisters, who also work in the arts and media. Urale's sister Sima Urale is a filmmaker and brother King Kapisi is a hip-hop artist.[26]

References
  1. "Pacific waves to hit Cambridge". University of Cambridge, UK. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  2. "Play review by Hilary Alba". Australasian Drama Studies. October 2006. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  3. "Children of the Revolution". NZ On Screen. Archived from the original on 29 September 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  4. "The team". Creative NZ. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  5. "La Mama Theatre, New York". Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  6. The Native Chef by Erolia Ifopo Archived 18 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, UNESCO Paper, Fiji, 25 November 2002.
  7. "National Library of Australia". Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  8. Davidson, Verity. "New Zealand/Aotearoa Plays and Playwrights: In Search of Our Theatre". Research in New Zealand Performing Arts. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  9. "Playmarket New Zealand Playwrights' Agency". Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  10. "Frangipani Perfume". Public Energy. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  11. "More New Art Goes to Market at APAM". Australian Council, Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  12. "Frangipani Perfume". Maidment Theatre, University of Auckland. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  13. "Keynote Speaker". Regional Arts Australia. Archived from the original on 25 June 2002. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  14. "Godzone". New Internationalist Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  15. Awards Archived 14 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Chapman Tripp Awards, Otago University. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  16. "New Indigenous Voices 2008". La MaMa E.T.C. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  17. "Sex With Strangers" Archived 10 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Brown Pages Directory. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  18. "Tangata o le Moana Opening Festival - Labour Weekend 2007" Archived 22 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  19. "Journey to Ihipa" Archived 7 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, NZ Film Commission.
  20. "Aho Tini 2030" (PDF). Wellington City Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  21. "A View To Tattoo". Victoria University (NZ). Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  22. "Gang-girl: Tarnz' Story". NZ On Screen. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  23. "Maori Documentary Winner at Qantas Awards 2008". Scoop.co.nz. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  24. "Cyclone Sima heads to Hawaii". Fulbright New Zealand Quarterly. 10 (3). 2004. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  25. May, Sue (26 February 1999). "New Zealand Music Awards 1999". NZine. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  26. "Fulbright New Zealand". Archived from the original on 18 May 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
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