This comprehensive text traces a cultural history of acting practice in Aotearoa/New Zealand, whose Indigenous Maori practitioners have made a significant impact on acting processes, principles and values in this postcolonial nation.

Each chapter outlines not only historical aspects of acting in Aotearoa but also the way in which the phenomenon of acting has been modified by contingent local conditions. Interwoven into each chapter is a consideration of cultural, political and historical forces that have influenced the art form of acting in Aotearoa. Chapters include vivid personal accounts from the contributors, all of whom are also professional artists as well as scholarly experts in their fields. Interweaving the chapters are interviews with key practitioners and actors, which provide eloquent, first-hand accounts of current innovative actor training practice.

Representing a wide range of approaches to acting and actor training for stage and screen, this book will be of use to scholars, students and theatre practitioners alike.