Acting in Aotearoa

Hilary Halba is Associate Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and an award-winning professional actor. She is widely published and is on the editorial boards of the journals Theatre, Dance and Performance Training and the Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies. David O’Donnell is an award-winning theatre director, actor, dramaturg and Adjunct Professor of Theatre at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand. He has written and edited numerous publications on New Zealand and Pacific theatre and was the recipient of the Mayoral Award for Significant Contribution to the Theatre at the 2023 Wellington Theatre Awards.

Introduction by Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell. Te Āo Māori: the Māori World through Acting 1. “A ‘Wairua Workout’: Māori Experiences of Acting in Aotearoa/New Zealand” By Nicola Hyland and Trae Te Wiki 2. “Everything is Wairua”: Hilary Halba interviews Te Rākau Theatre 3. “Lightning Flashes: A Personal Journey through Fifty Years of Actor Training in Aotearoa” by Annie Ruth. Physical and Visual Approaches to Acting 4. “Making the Mask Move” by Murray Edmond 5. “The body is psychology. The body is the unconscious.” David O’Donnell and Hilary Halba talk to Pedro Ilgenfritz 6. “‘Lecoq is in my whakapapa’: The Influence of Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier on Acting in New Zealand” by David O’Donnell 7. “I Would Trust Gaulier with my Performance Life”: Le Jeu in Aotearoa. David O’Donnell interviews Samantha Scott. Psychophysical Approaches to Acting 8. “Stanislavsky and Meisner: aspects of western actor training in Aotearoa” by Hilary Halba 9. “Acting is a Form of Spiritual Practice” Hilary Halba talks to Elena Stejko 10. “Mike Alfreds and the (R)evolution of Text-Based Praxis in Performance: ‘The actor is absolutely the essence of theatre’” by Vanessa Byrnes.11. “An Organic Moveable Feast”: Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell talk to Lara Macgregor A Shift towards Diversity 12. “Taulaaitu: The Channeler of Spirits: Acting in Aotearoa from a Pasifika Viewpoint”. David O’Donnell interviews Anapela Polata’ivao. 13. “Storytelling is a very spiritual place”: Hilary Halba interviews Ahi Karunaharan. 14. “Our own stories”: Hilary Halba interviews A Different Light 15. “Pan-Asian Acting in Aotearoa.” Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell interview Lynda Chanwai Earle. The Current State of Actor Training in Aotearoa 16. “It Starts with Truth” Hilary Halba interviews Tanea Heke 17. “The Actor is Already the Person they Need to Be”. Hilary Halba interviews Miranda Harcourt. “Kupu Whakamutunga”: Rangimoana Taylor with Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell.