A story challenging us to ask who we are and what we stand for.
A story of how far we’ve come, but also how far we still have to go.
An epic so big it took not one play but four, a quartet, to house it.
An epic that, by reflecting back to us the sometimes mutual incomprehensibility of the

different worlds that make up Aotearoa, begins to make them comprehensible.
Starts the connecting. Starts the healing. This is The Undertow.
Dr Elspeth Tilley | Massey University

What are all the things that brought us here? What are all the issues, what do we need to turn and face? How do we go forward? The Undertow offers an opportunity to overcome our cultural amnesia, and reflect on where we have been, where we are, and where we want to go as a nation.

It is possible to hold ourselves accountable for the inherited colonial systems we perpetuate without guilt or anger, and that journey begins with learning and understanding and openness to the experiences of others.

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The Undertow is our attempt to move forward into the 21st century, get over our historical amnesia

and understand our collective history. The works will travel all over the world and audiences will

recognise the themes. We created these stories based on the south coast of Wellington as

a metaphor for events that happen everywhere. The dynamics of people colonising each other

is still as relevant now as it was then.”  Jim Moriarty | Director

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