UPU

Award-winning and electrifying theatre experience UPU celebrates Pacific voices on stage. Fresh from its sold-out Sydney Opera House season, UPU returns home as the first-ever Mana Moana work at the Waikato Regional Theatre. Be immersed in the heart of the Pacific with a powerful celebration of our ocean, our people, and our stories.

Tickets go on sale at 12pm on Friday 12 December.  

Poems as broad and deep as the Pacific Ocean itself.

UPU - meaning ‘word’ in many languages of the Pacific, is a collection of voices from our people who

live on a sea of islands connected by the vast Pacific Ocean, Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

Featuring works by celebrated poets including Maualaivao Albert Wendt, Selina Tusitala Marsh,

Hone Tuwhare, Tusiata Avia, and Ben Brown, alongside emerging voices from across the region,

UPU weaves a rich tapestry of stories, experiences and perspectives from our peoples of Te

Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. These poems reflect on cultural identity, history and the challenges faced by our

Pacific communities from Hawaiians debating Captain Cook’s legacy, to the joys of SPAM in Guam

and other Americanised islands, to the Marshall Islands’ struggle against rising seas.

Poetry is powerful on the page - but on stage, it’s pure magic.

Performed by an extraordinary ensemble of Mana Moana artists including Miriama McDowell, Jarod

Rawiri and Nicola Kāwana, and enhanced by evocative lighting, projections and an original

multi-layered soundscape design, UPU is an intimate and unforgettable celebration of our ocean, our

people and our stories.

All poems are performed in English.