Introduction / by Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell. -- I. Te Āo Māori: the Māori World through Acting. 1. “A ‘Wairua Workout’: Māori Experiences of Acting in Aotearoa/New Zealand” / by Nicola Hyland and Trae Te Wiki -- 2. “Everything is Wairua” / Hilary Halba interviews Te Rākau Theatre -- 3. “Lightning Flashes: A Personal Journey through Fifty Years of Actor Training in Aotearoa” / by Annie Ruth -- II. Physical and Visual Approaches to Acting. 4. “Making the Mask Move” / by Murray Edmond -- 5. “The body is psychology. The body is the unconscious.” / David O’Donnell and Hilary Halba talk to Pedro Ilgenfritz -- 6. “‘Lecoq is in my whakapapa’: The Influence of Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier on Acting in New Zealand” / by David O’Donnell -- 7. “I Would Trust Gaulier with my Performance Life”: Le Jeu in Aotearoa / David O’Donnell interviews Samantha Scott. -- III. Psychophysical Approaches to Acting. 8. “Stanislavsky and Meisner: aspects of western actor training in Aotearoa” / by Hilary Halba -- 9. “Acting is a Form of Spiritual Practice” / Hilary Halba talks to Elena Stejko -- 10. “Mike Alfreds and the (R)evolution of Text-Based Praxis in Performance: ‘The actor is absolutely the essence of theatre’” / by Vanessa Byrnes -- 11. “An Organic Moveable Feast” / Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell talk to Lara Macgregor -- IV. A Shift towards Diversity. 12. “Taulaaitu: The Channeler of Spirits: Acting in Aotearoa from a Pasifika Viewpoint” / David O’Donnell interviews Anapela Polata’ivao -- 13. “Storytelling is a very spiritual place” / Hilary Halba interviews Ahi Karunaharan -- 14. “Our own stories” / Hilary Halba interviews A Different Light -- 15. “Pan-Asian Acting in Aotearoa” / Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell interview Lynda Chanwai Earle -- V. The Current State of Actor Training in Aotearoa. 16. “It Starts with Truth” / Hilary Halba interviews Tanea Heke -- 17. “The Actor is Already the Person they Need to Be” / Hilary Halba interviews Miranda Harcourt -- “Kupu Whakamutunga” / Rangimoana Taylor with Hilary Halba and David O’Donnell

"This comprehensive text traces a cultural history of acting practice in Aotearoa/New Zealand, whose Indigenous Māori 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." -- Utgivarens hemsida.