Shakespeare is Dead, Decolonised Theatre is Alive: Sheilah Winn Festival 

OPINION

In 2022, the theatre industry went ballistic over Creative New Zealand’s decision to decline funding for the Aotearoa secondary school Shakespeare Festival, commonly known as Sheilah Winn.  

A Radio New Zealand article The Sheilah Winn saga: Much ado about funding, shared how one assessor of the application made them "question whether a singular focus on an Elizabethan playwright is most relevant for a decolonising Aotearoa in the 2020s and beyond”.  

In my opinion, this is a fair enough question to pose, and prompted similar questions from others— why can’t our indigenous stories take the spotlight for once?  

Of course, people decided to take the festival’s declined funding as an opportunity to jab at Māori and other minorities.  

In an open letter, Terry Sheet said Creative New Zealand was over-emphasising “intrinsically New Zealand” art forms over others, that they were showing systemic bias to “non-Māori and Pākeha organisations”, and said they were an “artistic Taliban”.  

Oh, Terry, your white privilege is absolutely stinking up the room. Creative New Zealand also received an onslaught of hate mail and comments that they were imposing “reverse racism”. 

An article with the Guardian wrote how Dawn Sanders, CEO of the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, affirmed that a huge number of students within the festival were Māori, Pasifika or belonged to other ethnic minorities, and many of these students adapted Shakespeare to their own culture.  

But Dawn, darling, it’s still a Pākeha-led festival. We don’t see a Māori-led festival of this capacity, do we? And if a Māori-led festival showcasing Māori stories was declined funding, you best believe it wouldn’t receive the same kind of uproar or attention. 

The festival is still happening, because of course it is— it’s Pākeha-led!  

Performer Jordan Hōrana Henare (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) even points out how a lot of barriers for Māori theatre is that we are “essentially an impoverished demographic”.  

We do not start off on the same level as these Pākeha organisations financially, yet they still love to claim reverse racism, artistic Taliban, and systemic bias.  

Systemic bias against Pākeha? You have GOT to be kidding me. Pick up any book about colonisation in Aotearoa, please, for the love of God.  

Also, has anyone told these people going insane over Shakespeare that reverse racism isn’t real, or do they just enjoy being delusional? 

Our people are CRYING out for more representation within Aotearoa’s theatre spaces.  

In a Te Waha Nui article, Māori creatives call for better representation in theatre, Mark Wilson (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), playwright and co-producer of the show .co.nz, said "I’m tired of seeing the same old stuff in NZ theatres – unfortunately, some of that stuff gets bums on seats. You do your Shakespeare, your Agatha Christie, because ‘that’s theatre’… It’d be nice to see the local theatre down the road put on Purapurawhetu or The Pohutukawa Tree.” 

I absolutely tautoko our Māori students, and other non-Pākeha students, making Shakespeare their own and giving it their own cultural touch.  

I also agree with Dawn that there are many universal themes to explore, such as the human psyche and misogyny.  

However, tāngata whenua and our pūrakau aren’t being heard in anywhere NEAR the same capacity as these stories from the land of the coloniser.  

The fact that I heard more about Shakespeare in high school than Hone Kouka or Briar-Grace Smith is a tragedy, and I can’t turn back time to remedy it.  

But, moving forward, we have the chance to decolonise the theatre space for our rangatahi, both Māori and tauiwi.  

If the Shakespeare festival can exist in such a huge capacity, there’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t receive the same support in showcasing our pūrakau.  

Glossary: 

Tautoko - support 

Tāngata whenua - people of the land 

Pūrakau - stories 

Rangatahi - teenagers/young adults 

Tauiwi - people who are not Māori

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