Rawiri Paratene opens the new Te Pou Tokomanawa Theatre with his swan song season of PETER PAKA PARATENE a musical, cheeky look through the round window into Rawiri Paratene’s extraordinary life and career.

In a performance-career spanning nearly 50 years, Rawiri Paratene (…aka Peter David Broughton ONZM…. aka Paka) has graced the world’s stages and screens in iconic performances such as Koro in Whale Rider and Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Globe to Globe. After suffering a stroke in 2019, Paratene has decided to leave the world’s stage - but not before a final turn in the limelight. Te Pou Theatre, the nation’s only Māori-led theatre venue, opens its doors to live performance again after extensive building of a new theatre venue at Corban Estate Arts Centre in West Auckland. It is only fitting that Paratene’s is the first show to bless the new theatre. Te Pou hosted the development season of Peter Paka Paratene in 2017 at their annual Kōanga Festival to great acclaim.

“I thoroughly love Peter Paka Paratene and commend the genius thought behind it… I'm contemplating if I should return to watch him again”
Theatreview, 2017

“..if you’re a fan of this taonga aka our “national treasure” then this is the perfect opportunity to get to know Rāwiri Paratene’s inner thoughts and his extremely cheeky nature in a marvelously intimate setting. Don’t miss it!”
Theatrescenes, 2017

In this intimate night, Rawiri shares his own poetry, songs and favourite classical works as he regales the audience with stories of the three distinct phases of his life; Peter, Paka and Paratene. From his youth, during the urban shift from Hokianga to South Auckland, his early activism with Ngā Tamatoa, to his often outrageous experiences in the heady rush of the coming of age of New Zealand performing arts and his later career that has taken him to perform in over 200 countries.

Whakaari matihiko // Digital theatre experience

We are delighted to share PETER PAKA PARATENE with you via a special online experience in May 2021. This is an opportunity to share Rawiri Paratene’s story across the motu and for those who can’t make it ā tinana. Tickets are available for purchase now with a screening date to be confirmed shortly. Please ensure you tick to share your contact details with us so we can let you know about our whakaari matihiko.

Covid-19 // Tīkiti

For contact tracing purposes, we will need your full name and email, please ensure you tick this box at checkout. Te Pou Theatre is committed to providing a safe environment for our whānau according to government alert levels. If we change alert levels and the live season cannot proceed, your ticket will be converted to a tīkiti Whakaari Matihiko // Digital Theatre Experience. You will be able to select if you would like to give the difference to Te Pou Theatre Trust as a koha to our kaupapa. However full refunds can be offered on request.

Allocated seating

On the event of a Covid-19 Alert Level 2 being implemented by the Government, you may either be allocated a new seat or the event will be seated by General Admission to ensure appropriate social-distancing requirements are met. Please ensure you book with people you want to sit with so that we can take this into account if any seating changes are required on the night.

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For now we are releasing tickets for Alert Level 2 capacity so some seats may appear as sold.  More will be released as we get closer to opening night.  Wait-list available via this form.