The Haka Party Incident: A powerful reflection on race relations, then and now

A scene from the Katie Wolfe play The Haka Party Incident, on at the War Memorial Theatre tonight and tomorrow night, as part of Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival. Picture supplied

The Haka Party Incident may be revisiting a confrontation in 1979 that changed the nation’s race relations forever, but it is just as relevant today. Perhaps even more so ,says Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival chief executive and artistic director Tama Waipara.

“It may well be the most impactful image of two cultures, and two perspectives, but the play is about us hearing each other now,” he says of the production that plays in Tairāwhiti tonight and tomorrow.

The Haka Party Incident returns to the day a group of University of Auckland engineering students were rehearsing a mock haka and were held to account by activist group, He Tauā. This confrontation and exposure of attitudes provides a contextual backdrop for a much deeper dive that occurs inside the play.

Tama  Waipara describes it as ‘brilliant”. “It provides us a space to hear everyone’s perspectives of what happened,” he says. “These are actual statements from the engineers and other young students there at the time. So, there is the historical context of what occurred but also the art form of haka that sits across it. There is a true intention which is borne out of generosity and a careless and derogatory disregard of what occurs in this incident. The play allows us to see across time and beyond the moment of conflict.”

The production is written and directed by the celebrated and multi-talented Katie Wolfe (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Toa Rangatira). She’s won awards for her filmmaking and acting, having graced screens and stages big and small since her early teens.

She has described The Haka Party Incident as her career-best work. “Gauging the critical acclaim and the successful box office has given me an indication that the work has been seen and heard,” said Wolfe. “The kaupapa that I wanted to explore has been successfully conveyed to an audience.”

Wolfe says the play is a meeting point of all the skills she has developed through her 30-year career.

“I have found confidence in documentary-making and was able to bring this to the theatre,” she says. “My knowledge of te reo Māori and kapa haka is more advanced than at any other time in my career.”

She has been working and collaborating with many of the creatives who helped make The Haka Party Incident, for a long time. “It was very much a meeting point of all these factors. Also, the delays that came through Covid meant that the piece was more developed and ideas taken further than say if the play was made in 2020.”

It had been a massive and drawn-out project to bring to fruition, which involved finding those involved with the actual incident. The space where Māori and Pākehā meet is not a comfortable one and Wolfe said she had to be brave and back herself in terms of all the politics and racial issues that are at the centre of the piece.

“It is my job as the writer and documentarian to have a very open mind, to understand fully what happened because all the press from that time was inaccurate and racist. I have had to rely on the sources that I found. I have been grateful and surprised by what I have learned about what happened that day, but I also made sure that every person I spoke to knew that I came with respect, mātauranga and compassion.”

She had not intended the play to be confronting, but rather to tell a new story.

“I have since gleaned from the many performances that the play is confronting. A lot of my work is,” says Wolfe.

“Some find watching the depiction of the university haka party can trigger anger to see this beautiful art form so disrespected. To a younger audience it is absolutely shocking and ridiculous. There is also the audience that is confronted by a new understanding of how racism sits in our society and recognise those attitudes within themselves or how they have participated in institutions that are racist. This confrontation to me is the most important as I do believe some people have walked away from the play having a complete new understanding of how they want to conduct themselves as New Zealanders.”

■ For tickets head to head to https://tetairawhitiartsfestival.nz/events/6548/