New Zealand’s favourite musical quartet, the award-winning Modern Maori Quartet, will perform Two Worlds, a theatrical tale full of heart and revelation, as part of Arts Centre Melbourne’s Big World, Up Close series from 10 – 14 July, 2019.
With signature style and humour Two Worlds, an original Maori play with songs, weaves together four stories from different eras of New Zealand history that reveal the fabric of Maori musical culture, its genealogy and evolution.
Layering a uniquely Kiwi narrative to beautiful soaring harmonies and classic quirky charm, the Modern Maori Quartet invite audiences to meet Koro, Big Bro, Uncle and Bub to experience their take on what it means to be Maori today.
This highly acclaimed original play direct from Edinburgh Fringe Festival features hysterical and heartfelt harmonies as well as some hard truths. Accomplished actors and musicians, Maaka Pohatu, Matariki Whatarau, Francis Kora and Matutaera Ngaropo all hail from different corners of Aotearoa to perform as the core members of the Modern Maori Quartet, with Matu Ngaropo as Music Dramaturg/Director.
Recent highlights include performing at the Salisbury International Arts Festival, St John’s Smith Square (London), Komedia (Brighton), Norwegian Church Arts Centre (Cardiff), Sharq Taronalari International Music Festival (Samarkand, Uzbekistan), Festival of Voices (Hobart), Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahilu Theatre (Hawaii Island), SingJazz Club (Singapore), PJ Live Arts Theatre (Selangor, Malaysia), Empire Cinema (Rarotonga), TEDxAuckland, New Zealand Festival (Wellington) and Maorilands Film Festival (Otaki).
“Big World, Up Close is a curated program of six works that focus on artists, cultural perspectives, stories and experiences that are under-represented on our main stages.
It is a rare opportunity to see some of the most compelling contemporary performance works from around the globe over three months at Arts Centre Melbourne,” says Arts Centre Melbourne Director of Programming Edwina Lunn.
Arts Centre Melbourne’s highly acclaimed series Big World, Up Close amplifies vital voices in contemporary performance giving space for fierce storytellers to reclaim and reframe views of the world today.
These stories know no limits and are more urgent than ever. Woven from raw emotion, brutal truths and radical love each story speaks across the fault lines between ancestry and contemporary existence.
This year, it turns the spotlight on First Nations artists from New Zealand, Canada and Australia, as well as those representing Cambodian, Malaysian and African diasporas – it’s a fearless new world in the making.
“Sit back and revel in the unique vocal experience, unbridled joy and genuinely good-natured, ingeniously crafted humour that is the Modern Maori Quartet, which is surely the find of this year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival.” The Advertiser
“A combustible mix of passionate history, personal and tribal.” The Scotsman
Arts Centre Melbourne presents
Modern Maori Quartet: Two Worlds
Part of Big World, Up Close
10 – 14 July 2019
Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio
Auslan Interpreted Performance – Thursday 11 July, 7.30pm
Visit: https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
