E Tipu e Rea - Variations on a Theme

In a nod to his theatre training, Whale Rider actor Rawiri Paratene (then better known as a presenter on Play School) unveils three stories to a marae audience. A bored schoolboy (Faifua Amiga) banters with a sarcastic teacher; a musical number features a prostitute (Rena Owen) and her client; and a young girl and her grandfather prepare and wait for the body of her father at the pā. This was the first screen drama directed by Don Selwyn, who argued "what Rawiri is saying in his script is that there are lots of things Māori which are left out of the education system." 

I remember I worked it out once. I guessed that if extra toes took you into witchhood, then Aunty Reha must have been born with sixteen.

– Rawiri Paratene

Key Cast & Crew

Rena Owen

As: Nancy

Rawiri Paratene

As: Storyteller, Writer

Don Selwyn

Director

Larry Parr

Producer

Marama Pairama

As: Moko

Alistair Douglas

As: Mr O'Leary