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Taki Rua Productions is bringing a fully immersive te reo production to the stages throughout the North Island, He Kura E Huna Ana.

The growing demand and understanding of te reo Māori has given life to one bold theatre production.

He Kura E Huna Ana, centred around a legend from South Island's Ngāti Waewae hapū, located next to the Arahura River in Hokitika, is performed entirely in te reo Māori.

Taki Rua director Tānemahuta Gray, who commissioned the show, said while they are taking a chance with a production entirely in te reo, there is an increasing appetite for the language from a growing, and varied, audience.

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He Kura E Huna Ana tells the story of how a Tauranga ancestor was kidnapped by a taniwha.

"It's a big risk for Taki Rua to take a fully te reo show onto the main stage - obviously our first focus is those who are students of te reo Māori or first speakers - it allows them to experience a show in their own language on stage which is a real rarity," Gray said.

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"For us it's a way to put one of our three national languages on the stage. And we're in a place, in New Zealand, where you're seeing language courses being booked up, there are lists of 300 on waiting lists and there's an interest in reo more than what there has been in a long time coming from a wider demographic of New Zealanders - so we try to ask that side, too."

Written by Hōhepa Waito, He Kura E Huna Ana features in this year's Kia Mau Festival, which runs for two weeks from June 1.

Gray, who has headed other productions such as 2017's Tiki Taane Mahuta, said He Kura E Huna Ana intertwined two time periods - ancestral and contemporary.

The ancestral story follows a jealous taniwha called Poutini who abducts a woman, Waitaiki, from Tauranga. He takes her south and her upset lover, Tamaahua, follows. 

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He Kura E Huna Ana is set in two times, traditional and contemporary.

The taniwha morphed Waitaiki into the pounamu found in the Arahura River so no-one could have her.

"It's a tragic tale for our most beautiful treasure," Gray said.

In the contemporary period, Hine returns home on the anniversary of her sister's death where she confronts the grief left behind after her ancestor was taken. 

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Wairoa, written by Hone Kouka, has been picked up by three Māori students from Whangarei who have created their own theatre company The Wāhine Works

"For those who are starting that language journey, or haven't yet, the way we stage it most people can follow the narrative. You won't get the full deep elements but you can follow the flow of the narrative and where the story is going. It's the same with dance," Gray said.

Gray, along with the show's directors and writers and actors, spent time with Ngāti Waewae to perform the show during development and gain consent from the hapū, a sub-tribe of Ngāi Tahu. It's title translates to 'the treasure hidden within'.

After opening at Wellington's Bats Theatre as part of the Kia Mau festival,, the production will return to where the legend all began, in Tauranga.

Kia Mau is a two week event that celebrates indigenous arts and artists from across the world. Up until now it has been held annually, but after 2019 it will become biennial.

"We felt for the first five years, [let's] build the brand and see if people really respond to it, which they have. It's been fantastic getting senior theatre practitioners and other companies going, 'where do all these brown people come from', in regards to the audiences," says festival director Hone Kouka.

"Because some of the work is coming from these communities, that's one of the key reasons these people are supporting it.

"It's a really great example of that phrase, if you build it they will come."

This year, there is a focus on younger artists and their work. For example, a production of Waiora, actually written by Kouka more than 20 years ago, has been picked up in 2018 by three female high school students who have created their own theatre company, The Wāhine Works.

"They want to work and create work for young Māori in that area and I can't think of anything better," Kouka said.

"Out of the 14 productions we've got, 11 of them are led by artists 30 years and younger. 

"It's just a beautifully talented place with these young artists and practitioners."

Kouka says the festival is looking outwards, as well. New Zealand is becoming something of a hub for indigenous artists, and he envisions Wellington becoming the global centre of contemporary indigenous practise and performance.

"A lot of other indigenous artists are coming together and they come to Wellington - even just to kōrero and engage. We're slowly starting to become part of a global indigenous festival platform," Kouka said.

"For us, the globe is our audience, not just Aotearoa."

 - Stuff