Our purpose is to provide mana uplifting experiences and storytelling through kaupapa Māori led, collective approaches to performing arts.
Manaakitanga | Courageous Ingenuity | Whakawhanaungatanga | Doing it right | Keep it light | Tohungatanga | Āhurutanga
Whāinga | Goals
To create and sustain a programme of storytelling
To create and sustain a kaupapa Māori led performing arts venue
To build capability among young people
To support and encourage the growth and development of the Māori performing arts sector
To support and encourage an inclusive performing arts sector
To increase Māori community engagement with the performing arts
To connect all communities of Aotearoa to Māori performing arts
To increase diverse community engagement with the performing arts
To support the reclamation and revitalisation of Te Reo Māori through the performing arts
To increase awareness of a kaupapa Māori framework for arts management
Sarah has public sector experience in governance having worked in three Crown Entities across tertiary education, funding bodies and public museums. Experience in the field of governance spans writing policy, legislative and regulatory compliance, reviewing and creating governance structures including for Creative New Zealand, and assisting with board recruitment in the performing arts. Honours in Politics, Victoria Uni, Bachelor Arts, Politics & English.
Tuakoi Ohia joined the board in 2022 and represents the voice of rangatahi. Tuakoi has been working as a creative with Te Pou since 2019, she has been developing skills in performance and writing under the tiaki of Kaihautū Whānau and Wairua and has been engaged as a creative in many of our main bill and touring shows for tamariki. Tuakoi is motivated to create, and support the development of projects which require the positive representation of Māori, and to create content that involves all Māori who wish to pursue a career path in the arts. Tuakoi is a member of the esteemed Kapa Haka, Te Rōpū Manutaki, founded by Dr Peter Sharples.
Amber Curreen is a kaupapa-Māori focused arts manager, creative and performer who is a founding leader of Te Pou Theatre, Auckland’s Māori home for theatre.
Through this and other organisations Amber has produced national and international tours of works to festivals, theatres and marae including works like SolOTHELLO which has toured to present with other indigenous presenters Native Earth (Toronto) and Yirra Yaakin (Perth). She has a focus on te reo Māori in theatre and collaborations. She’s worked in collaboration with other companies to deliver festival works like Astroman in 2019 with Auckland Theatre Company, Black Ties with ILBIJERRI in 2020 and Tangi ā Te Tūī with The Dust Palace in 2023.
Chloe Weavers is an experienced producer who is driven by the power of performing arts to facilitate connection and conversation between people. She is passionate about supporting stories from diverse voices and perspectives. She has led and produced theatre, festivals, community events, arts experiences for children, soundscapes, site responsive work and digital projects, delivering intimate works for audiences of 10 people, through to large scale events of more than 10,000. Never shy of a wild idea, Chloe enjoys the creative journey working alongside creatives on projects from conception to realisation. Chloe is leading He Kai Kei Aku Ringa – an internship programme supporting the development of producers at Te Pou Theatre.
Ko Whakarara te Maunga
Ko Matauri te Moana
Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua te waka
Ko Ngāpuhi me Ngāti Porou ngā Iwi
Ko Mariece Irwin Ahau
Born & Raised in Waitakere, West Auckland where I now raise my four boys.
My role as part of the team here is accounts, administration & providing manaakitanga for all manuhiri to Te Pou Theatre.
I love being amongst all the creative energy and supporting Māori and Polynesian creatives in this space.
“He aha te mea nui o te ao? Māku e kī atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata”
Alice’s career spans various roles in the wider media, communications and arts industries. Her passion for cause-driven organisations led her to various roles managing logistics, marketing, communications, fundraising and sponsorship for a range of Not for Profit and Arts Organisations internationally and across Aotearoa.
As a passionate advocate for Te Reo Māori me ōna Tikanga, Alice is dedicated to being a strong tangata tiriti and works to champion the artistic community by fostering and facilitating robust connections between artists, audiences and key collaborators.
Marianne Infante is a Kapampángan-Filipino producer and creative leader driven by championing diversity, representation, and inclusion across Aotearoa’s screen and theatre industries. As Executive Director of Proudly Asian Theatre (PAT), she has produced groundbreaking works that amplify and celebrate tauiwi and Asian voices since 2017. Through her company Te & Kuya Collaborative (TKC), Marianne co-produced Mekeni (with Someday Stories) and launched a series of Filipino acting classes in Aotearoa. In 2023–24, she led PAT’s Producers in Training (PIT), mentoring 25 emerging producers nationwide with support from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Marianne is excited to be working with Te Pou Theatre. Always eager to learn, Marianne is excited to working with Te Pou Theatre, to upskill within a kaupapa Māori organisation whose values and storytelling ethos align closely with her own, strengthening cross-cultural collaboration and community-led creative practice.
Bekky is a lighting designer, production designer, and senior venue technician whose practice sits at the intersection of theatre, dance, film, and live events. After eight years as a full-time freelance designer and operator, they are now grounded in their role as Senior Venue Technician while continuing to expand their artistic profile across Aotearoa and internationally.
Since graduating from Massey University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Communication, Bekky has worked extensively across the performing arts. They have toured internationally with Mana Wahine (Ōkāreka Dance Company, 2024, USA Tour x2) and The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2025), and nationally with works including Kōpū (Te Pou, 2024–25), Ka Mua Ka Muri (Atamira Dance Company, 2024–25), and A Boy Called Piano (The Conch, 2022).
As a programmer and operator, Bekky has collaborated with Atamira Dance Company (Ka Mua Ka Muri, Rongo Whakapā), Red Leap Theatre Company (Moe Miti), Te Pou Theatre (Hemo is Home, The Handlers), Bianca Hyslop and Rowan Pierce (He Huia Kaimanawa), Foster Group (Double Goer), and venues including Basement Theatre, BATS Theatre, Circa Theatre, and the PumpHouse, among others.
Their lighting design credits include A Slow Burlesque (Silo Theatre, 2024) and Speed is Emotional (Silo Theatre & Barbarian Productions, 2025). They have also worked as production designer for No Time to Dry (Basement Theatre, 2024) and What Happened to Mary-Anne? (Brady Pēti, Auckland Pride, 2025).
Bekky was nominated for Best Lighting Design at the Wellington Theatre Awards in 2022 for Sublime Interludes and served as Technical Manager for Tahi Festival from 2021–2023.
With a growing body of work in lighting, set design, and construction, Bekky thrives on creative problem-solving and exploring the “mysteries of the tech world” to bring stories to life on stage and screen.
Kaea is our teina VT having recently graduated from the He Kai Kei Aku Ringa programme. He raukura tēnei nō Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kotuku.
In his spare time he enjoys playing Darts and Kapa Haka.
Koia tēnei ko te uri o Te Rarawa Kaiwhare, o Ngāpuhi Kōhao Rau e mihi atu nei. Jalieca is the bookings administrator here at Te Pou. She is a kaihaka for Te Rōpū Manutaki and has worked in the Arts as the Kaihāpai Hōtaka Māori for Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki. Passionate about Māori succeding as Māori, Indigenous peoples succeeding as Indigenous. Mauri Ora!
Ko Panguru te maunga
Ko Hokianga te moana
Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua te waka
Ko Ngāpuhi me Te Rarawa ngā iwi
Ko Eden Webster ahau
He uri tēnei nō te Tai Tokerau me te motu o Niue, anō hoki e tipu ake au ki Tāmaki Makaurau. I’m a born and bred Westie and so proud of it. Creativity has always surrounded me as both sides of my whakapapa boast writers, composers, visual artists, handicraft artists, weavers and dreamers. I’m a kaihaka for Te Rōpū Manutaki and also play a part in the organisational side of things for our kapa.
I am new to the toi whakaari world and am excited to embark on this journey at Te Pou under the He Kai Kei Aku Ringa Programme. In the past I have worked in admin, advisor, coordinator and project based roles. Two relevant pieces of work that I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of include helping to provide some coordination and support to a community based play called People and Things to celebrate World Smokefree May 2021, which was written by Maree Webster. Most recently I was also able to provide coordination across Auckland Council entities to support Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata 2023.
I have much to learn and heaps of space to grow and I’m super happy that I can do so here at Te Pou.
Nikolai Puharich is a NZ-based actor, filmmaker and creative, passionate about uplifting bold and vital Māori voices. He is a graduate of The Actors’ Program (2024) and holds a Bachelor of Creative Media Production from Massey University (2021).
He was also a part of the Auckland Theatre Youth Company from 2022 to 2023, and works for the Auckland Theatre Company as a Youth Arts Stage Manager. He was also part of the delivery of the NZ International Comedy Festival in 2023 as part of the Toi Māori Internship Programme.
Nikolai is proud to be this year’s He Kai Aku Ringa Producer Pia, helping to bring the 2025 Kōanga Festival to life and is extremely grateful to be collaborating alongside the devilishly talented and incredible team at Te Pou.
In partnership with Corban Estate Trust we fundraised and gathered support from Ngā Mātārae (formerly He Waka Anga Mua Ki Uta, Auckland Council) to develop the feasibility study and designs from the wonderful Graeme Burgess and the team at Burgess & Treep from there we gathered support from Foundation North, Lotteries & The Trusts Community Foundation. With the incredible team at Chain Construction led by James Delaney we began construction of the new Te Pou in 2020. We opened our new theatre venue with productions in early 2021 from artists including Rawiri Paratene, Nicola Kāwana and Tainui Tukiwaho. We’ve supported the community with online arts experiences over Covid-19 lockdowns and continue to build the theatre into 2023.
Get in touch with Te Pou Theatre to learn more about our whare.
Learn more about our Whare whakaari, our build project and exciting things to come.
Check out our upcoming shows, events and workshops