The Undertow: Dog & Bone By Helen Pearse-Otene

It’s 1869 at the bottom of the world, The British Army gone and left Māori and Pākehā to fight it out. The Māori kuri, like its master an inferior, ugly, savage animal not to be given an inch…or a bone

Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School is excited to present The Undertow: Dog and Bone, the second instalment of writer Helen Pearse-Otene’s quartet of plays about Wellington.

During the Taranaki Land Wars, savage lives were cheap, colonial greed ruled, and the power of public perception changed New Zealand’s race relations forever.

Dog & Bone points to a pivotal moment in our country’s race relations history – when the media were first used to paint Māori as inferior and dangerous and therefore unworthy of their lands. It tells a story of the real people who were making, living with, disseminating, fighting, accepting and benefitting from these ideas.

Directed by Jamie McCaskill and featuring the work of Second Year Acting, Second and Third Year Design and Management, Second Year Costume and Set & Props students from Toi Whakaari.

By arrangement with Playmarket NZ

Content warnings: Imitation firearms, violence, strong language, use of smoke/haze

Performance Season (Runtime 90 mins):

Friday 14th June – Opening night 8pm
Saturday 15th June – 8pm
Sunday 16th June – 8pm
Tuesday 18th June – 8pm
Wednesday 19th June – Agents’ night & Closing night 8pm

Toi Whakaari presents both The Undertow: The Ragged and The Undertow: Dog & Bone by Helen Pearse-Otene as part of our Term 2 Productions. Both shows run in concession of each other with an hour break in between, however, tickets must be bought seperately.