La Mama Presents an Antipodes Theatre Company production of
BACK TO TE MAUNGA
by JOEL TE TEIRA
From 4 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.
Featuring JOE DEKKERS-REIHANA (Te Tangi a te Tūī) & JORDAN SELWYN (Spartacus: House of Ashur)
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, use and references to alcohol/drugs, the use of herbal cigarettes, cooking and crafting knives, simulated carving of a pig, references to animal slaughter, staged combat, use of stage blood and coarse language.
Online “On Demand” Season: 1 April - 6 April
Access Guide containing full spoilers for the show, available here.
Our COMMUNITY EVENTS are the purposeful creation of environments in which audience members can experience and discuss an event in cultural spaces where they are the majority. While the content of our shows represent different communities, these events provide an access point to celebrate intersectionality and promote allyship!
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: Māori/Pasifika Night followed by a Post-show Q&A A night for the Māori/Pasifika community to gather and enjoy a performance that incorporates their culture and language. Join us after the show for a Q&A with members of the creative team and cast.
Thu 19th: Auslan Interpreted Auslan Stage Left will interpret this performance for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members.
★★★★★ - The Age, Australian Arts Review and My Melbourne Arts
★★★★.5 - Stage Door | ★★★★ - Triple R and Tinsel and Tap Shoes
Highly Recommended - Overthinker Press
"Joel Te Teira’s masterful script reverberates beyond time and place, sketching an intricate web of shared history, relationships and trauma."
"These lived-in characters are beautifully evoked by Dekkers-Reihana and Selwyn, a pair with undeniable chemistry"
"Dekkers-Reihana brings irreverence, warmth and an impeccably timed knack for physical comedy...Tāne – a man whose strong sense of who he is and macabre humour mask imperceptible anxieties about the future."
"Restrained and brittle, Selwyn’s finely attuned Isaac is the perfect foil..[his] pragmatism...paints a picture of someone whose grief has untethered him from himself and his whānau."
"Zoë Rouse’s beautifully contained set of a humble cabin with foliage peeking through confines the escalating drama, lending it an inescapable urgency."
"Harrie Hogan’s subtle calibration of the play’s lighting is a masterclass in accumulation and release, mirrored by the creeping unease of Ethan Hunter’s sound design."
"Under Keegan Bragg’s direction, these disparate elements cohere into a stunning meditation on loss, culture and connection."
"Back to Te Maunga is less preoccupied with providing a definitive resolution...and more interested in charting a forever-evolving mode of Māori masculinity" - The Age
"a moving and finely crafted piece of theatre – one that reminds us that returning to the places of our past can be painful, necessary, and sometimes the only way forward."
"beautifully natural performances that anchor the play. Their chemistry is immediately convincing" - Australian Arts Review
“a powerful production that builds steadily towards a finale that is quietly devastating and profoundly hopeful."
"Tainui Tukiwaho's dramaturgy underpins the play’s intimate form, enabling its exploration of friendship, memory and land to emerge naturally."
"Harrie Hogan’s lighting gently transforms the cabin, bathing it in warmth that amplifies the intimacy that defines the production." - My Melbourne Arts
“magnificent...Joel Te Teira’s script traverses expertly between comedy and drama.”
"shines due to its unwavering commitment to detail...Keegan Bragg’s direction must be applauded, for such a cohesive production" - Overthinker Press
“It’s vital and considerate, endearing and grounded, and the audience leaves having learned something about how to show up for your friends."
"The transcendent soundscape at the outset of the show brought us to the wilderness, and Ethan Hunter’s sound design throughout kept the remote setting ever present in the stakes of the piece." - Stage Door
"a fantastic achievement"
"beautifully nuanced and instantly believable performances...their connection as friends is beautifully conveyed" - Tinsel and Tap Shoes
"Zoë Rouse has [created] a beautifully realized hunting shack that feels so real and so alive."
"A nuanced subtle work…the performances by Jordan Selwyn and Joe Dekkers-Reihana are really strong." - Triple R
Writer: JOEL TE TEIRA (he/him)
Director: KEEGAN BRAGG (he/him)
Performers: JOE DEKKERS-REIHANA (he/him) & JORDAN SELWYN (he/him)
Cover: CAM TĪTOKOWARU VENN (he/him)
Dramaturg: TAINUI TUKIWAHO (he/him)
Set and Costume Designer: ZOË ROUSE (she/her)
Lighting Designer: HARRIE HOGAN (she/her)
Composer and Sound Designer: ETHAN HUNTER (he/him)
Fight Director: LYNDALL GRANT (she/her)
Mau Rākau Consultant: CAM TĪTOKOWARU VENN (he/him)
Stage Manager: LEXIE JAENSCH (she/her)
ASM/Wardrobe Supervisor: STEFAN JAROSZ-SETIAWAN (he/him)
Creative Producer and Production Manager: BRANDON PAPE (he/him)
Creative Producer and Marketing: CAMERON STEENS (they/them)
Biographies are available below.
Promotional & Production Images: DARREN GILL (he/him)
Rehearsal Images & Videographer: ANGEL LEGGAS (he/him) 3 FATES MEDIA
On Demand Videographers: ANGEL LEGGAS (he/him) 3 FATES MEDIA, BRANDON PAPE (he/him) and CAMERON STEENS (they/them)
Set Construction: NICK LEMALU (he/him)
Crew: CHRIS PATRICK HANSEN (he/him), JADE HIBBERT (she/her) and RAMI BOLES (he/him)
Antipodes Branding: ROB CHIVERS (PUSH Collective)
Meet the BACK TO TE MAUNGA Cast
Meet the BACK TO TE MAUNGA Team
Venue Information:
La Mama Courthouse
349 Drummond St, Carlton 3053
For more venue and accessibility information, head to lamama.com.au





