La Mama Presents an Antipodes Theatre Company production of

BACK TO TE MAUNGA

by JOEL TE TEIRA

4 - 22 March 2026

La Mama Courthouse

Friendship, grief and forgiveness collide against the backdrop of a hunters cabin in rural Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Tāne & Isaac return to a cabin from their youth on the anniversary of their best friend's passing. They plan to drink, sing and reminisce. But with the Maunga looming over their heads and hearts, can the two men finally confront the truth?

This riveting, original Māori drama tests the friendships of men and the relationship one has with their own history.

FULL CAST TO BE ANNOUNCED!

This project was previously developed as part of Antipodes Theatre Company's 2025 Winter Lab.

SHOW DETAILS

Runtime: 80 minutes, no interval

Recommended for audiences: 16+, parental discretion is advised.

Warnings: Discussion of suicide.

Online “On Demand” Season: 1 April - 6 April

COMMUNITY NIGHTS

Sun 8th: Maori/Pasifika Night The purposeful creation of an environment in which Maori/Pasifika audience members can experience and discuss an event in cultural spaces where they are the majority.

Tue 10th: Industry Night Connect with other artists from the performing arts community.

Thu 12th: Queer Night Show your pride alongside other members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

Sun 15th: Post-show Q&A Join us after the matinee for a Q&A with members of the creative team and cast.

The 19th: Auslan Interpreted Auslan Stage Left will interpret this performance for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Writer: JOEL TE TEIRA (he/him)

Director: KEEGAN BRAGG (he/him)

Performer: JORDAN SELWYN (he/him)

Composer and Sound Designer: ETHAN HUNTER (he/him)

Dramaturg: TAINUI TUKIWAHO (he/him)

Creative Producer: BRANDON PAPE (he/him)

Creative Producer and Marketing: CAMERON STEENS (they/them)

Biographies are available below.

Promotion Image: DARREN GILL (he/him)

Antipodes Branding: ROB CHIVERS (PUSH Collective)

Meet the BACK TO TE MAUNGA Team

Joel Te Teira

He/Him
WRITER
Joel Te Teira is a producer, musician and playwright of European and Māori descent (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Hikairo). He has a background in Indigenous Arts and Education which has seen him work internationally with communities across the Pacific and Canada. Joel worked as the production lead for We Are Warriors; a platform built to celebrate Indigenous creatives and provide avenues for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander youth into the arts, through which their work was awarded an Award for Music at the Cannes Lions in 2023. Joel currently works as a Producer for Ilbijerri Theatre Company in Melbourne, Australia. As a writer he is involved in the Pathways Program with La Mama Theatre Company and was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award for his first play Sedentary.
Keegan Bragg

He/Him
DIRECTOR
Keegan Bragg is a Melbourne-based director with a Masters of Theatre (Directing) from the Victorian College of the Arts. His passion for theatre began growing up in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), New Zealand, and developed through ensemble and text-based performance making in Pōneke (Wellington). He is of Māori/Pakeha descent. In 2023, Keegan worked with Melbourne Theatre Company through the MinterEllison’s Future Directors Initiative and was Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s Graduate Director. In 2019 he directed Shadow, co-devised with Liam Whitney, which toured to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He also served as Artistic Director of Long Cloud Youth Theatre, based in Pōneke.
Jordan Selwyn

He/Him
PERFORMER
Bio pending.
Tainui Tukiwaho

He/Him
DRAMATURG
Tainui Tukiwaho is a writer, director, and theatre-maker from Aotearoa New Zealand, known for bold, kaupapa-driven storytelling that centres te ao Māori. He is the founder of Te Pou Theatre, NZ’s only Māori-led venue, and has created award-winning work across stage and screen. Tainui co-created Black Ties with Ilbijerri Theatre Company, a groundbreaking trans-Tasman comedy that toured internationally. His work blends humour, heart, and cultural depth, challenging and uplifting audiences.
Ethan Hunter

He/Him
COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER
Ethan Hunter (he/him) is a sound designer and VCA graduate (BFA Design & Production) working across theatre, dance, film, and installation.

His recent notable credits include sound design for ‘What’s Yours’ (2025) and 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (2023, 2024) with Red Stitch Actors' Theatre, ‘Boys on the Verge of Tears’ (2025) at fortyfivedownstairs, ’Laundry Shoot' (2024), 'MinusOneSister' (2023) at Theatre Works, and several graduate productions at VCA, such as 'Plant Nation' (2024), 'Theatrum Botanicum' (2022), and 'The Wolves' (2022). Ethan has also collaborated with Masters of Theatre (Directing) students on captivating projects like 'Ariadne' (2021), and 'An Unseasonable Fall of Snow' (2022) at VCA. ethanhuntersound.com
Brandon Pape

He/Him
CREATIVE PRODUCER
Brandon is the Founding Artistic Director for Antipodes Theatre Company, where he directed Ghost Quartet (two 2020 Green Room Award Nominations, return seasons in 2021 (Meat Market Stables) and 2025 (Hayes Theatre) and co-directed with Trudy Dunn their immersive reimagining of Guys and Dolls (thirteen 2024 Green Room Award nominations). Other Antipodes credits include Sam I Am, And She Would Stand Like This, Passing Strange (five 2023 Green Room Award Nominations), Orlando, and the Winter Lab - an annual development program for new work and bold ideas.
Cameron Steens

They/Them
CREATIVE PRODUCER
A queer, neurodivergent theatre maker based in Naarm, originally from Boorloo. A WAAPA Music Theatre graduate, they work as a creative producer, director and performer. Antipodes’ New Work & Marketing Manager and a Producer on numerous developments including the Winter Labs, Death to a Butterfly, Silver Tongue, Little Squirt (prev. Spunk Daddy), the premieres of Orlando, Storked, the Festival of the Unseen and the Hayes Theatre season of Ghost Quartet. Other credits include: The Last Sunday in June, MIMMA, James Terry’s RENT & BSSTC’s Assassins (Performer). AMTAC Sessions (Co-Producer), This is Living, Pops and If We Got Some More Cocaine… (Associate Director), Protein (Assist. Director & Sound Design) and Venue & Ticketing Coordinator (Gasworks Arts Park). www.cameronsteens.com