Back to Te Maunga's director Keegan Bragg on suspending judgement and the Māori approach.
1. How do you begin?
I try to begin directing a work by suspending judgment and really researching and investigating its world and context. Suspending judgment of the play is important - even though I have a strong affinity for some aspects of it, I want to return to those initial feelings with a deeper base before I really interpret the script. Especially with a new work I find its important to carve out this early step for myself so I can collaborate fully with the writer and honour what they’re creating.
2. What can an audience member expect of your work in Back to Te Maunga?
I hope audiences can have a cultural experience with the work that leaves them appreciative of a Māori approach to dealing with unresolved tensions in their lives, hopefully while amply entertained! Joel’s script is raw and powerful and very masculine – there’s an authentic observance of how men behave when dealing with grief which we want to hook audiences with as we slowly build the beauty of their shared culture and history around them, and hopefully audiences will walk away feeling healed and grounded.
3. How will your previous work influence Back to Te Maunga?
This is the first fully-realised production of a Māori play I’ve directed, although my background has informed my previous selection and staging of work. While preparing for rehearsals I’ve reflected on how Western plays I’ve worked on like Happy Days and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? depict conflict on stage in such divergent ways, yet their shared commitment to rhythm and tension are crucial to the meaning we draw from them. Te ao Māori has its own rhythms and tensions that we’ll be exploring as a full production team, as we look to bring Tāne and Isaac’s conflict to life.
Keegan is a Melbourne-based director of Māori/Pākehā descent (Ngāi Tahu), whose passion for theatre began in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), New Zealand. Keegan has directed with Melbourne Theatre Company through their Cybec Electric Playreadings program and the MinterEllison’s Future Directors Initiative, and was Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s Hansen Graduate Director in 2023. His recent directing credits include Boys on the Verge of Tears at fortyfivedownstairs, presented by The Maybe Pile. He holds a Masters of Theatre (Directing) from the Victorian College of the Arts. Keegan has also served as Artistic Director of Long Cloud Youth Theatre, based in Pōneke (Wellington).
Image: Happy Days by Charlie Kinross
LA MAMA PRESENTS Antipodes Theatre Company's Back to Te Maunga
From 4 March 2026
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