He Māori?
Thursday, October 15
TAHI Ōtepoti 2026
Te Whare o Rukutia
Review by Sam Henderson
Playwright and actor Īhaka Martyn shares the awkwardness and discomfort of exploring his bicultural identity.
He blends stand-up comedy with original music, opening up about his non-linear journey into te ao Māori.
Growing up in a “decidedly pale-skinned frame” on the North Shore of Auckland, his knowledge of the Pokémon movie outstrips his grasp of Te Tiriti o Waitangi or his Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Arawa whakapapa.
Finally ready to study te reo at university, he is warned by his mother that he will need to embrace the culture alongside the language.
Huge laughs greet his routine on the “Pākehā freeze”, when white friends malfunction upon hearing casual Māori phrases.
Beneath the gags lies the shame of gaping like a mute goldfish when racists confide in him.
Within him rages a dispute between his Cornish, Scots and English roots and his “one-sixteenth Māori”.
He parodies singing in Cockney and posh British accents before botching a melody in a spiral of perfectionism, later channelling his tone into a percussive chant of “not enough” and “plastic Māori”.
Is being Māori a pretend trump card to avoid simply existing as a boring, straight, white, cis man?
Armed with only an acoustic guitar and a water bottle, he conducts candid soul-searching, ultimately finding some peace living on both sides of Te Tiriti as Māori and Pākehā.
Martyn is an assured solo entertainer with elastic vocal control who conveys vulnerability and conflict while keeping the crowd on his side with witty tunes and skits.
He Māori? succeeds because it denies the performer and the audience any comfortable escape from the realities of dual heritage.
The humour never hides the underlying conflict, moving through an unflinching inner critique of racial privilege, hesitant learning and finally an opportunity for ancestral reclamation, concluding with a resonant, powerful waiata.
For any theatregoer seeking intelligent, emotionally honest local drama that lingers well after the final note, Martyn presents a work of exceptional substance.
Further shows:
Ōtākou Marae - Friday, October 16, 6pm
Araiteuru Marae - Saturday, October 17, 4pm
Puketeraki Marae - Sunday, October 18, 4pm