Back to Te Maunga | Australian Arts Review

Friendship, grief and forgiveness will collide when La Mama presents Antipodes Theatre Company’s production of Back to Te Maunga by Joel Te Teira at the La Mama Courthouse this March.

It’s the anniversary of Tāne and Isaac’s best friend’s death, and the two plan on reminiscing through song and laughter back at a cabin from their youth at the foot of the mountain. But what forces from their past have really brought them here? Can the friendship last the night?

Back to Te Maunga interrogates male relationships and mental health alongside spiritual beliefs and mysticism. How can we use our cultural context to repair old wounds?

As two Māori men now living in Naarm, Te Teira and his director Keegan Bragg have a keen understanding of the dissonant relationship to Australia for Māori people living here, who, although not First Peoples in their new context, still connect to the spirituality of their homeland.

“I’m interested in exploring a place for Māori spiritual beliefs in the modern day, and how mysticism across cultures can impact the way we navigate the world. Men’s mental health is often a taboo subject & I’d like to see the conversation open up. The grieving process can take many forms…”said playwright Joel Te Teira.

“Because many people who live in Naarm have cultural roots from somewhere other than Australia, the idea that there’s a ‘homeland’ someplace else that drives Joel’s gritty drama is incredibly resonant,” said director Keegan Bragg.

This examination of male friendship under extreme pressure will have audiences laughing through tears. “Joel’s writing is raw and muscular, with dialogue that is by turns wryly hilarious and bitingly truthful,” said Antipodes Theatre Company Producer Brandon Pape.

Image: Back to Te Maunga – photo by Darren Gill