A new play inspired by the Māori and Pasifika staff who worked at Crown Lynn, an iconic Kiwi crockery factory in Auckland, will debut at Te Pou Theatre in May.
The Handlers, written by playwright Poata Alvie McKree and directed by Amber Curreen, is a comedy/drama that pays tribute to the many Māori and Pasifika women who dedicated their working lives to Crown Lynn in the 1970s.
Poata says, “I wanted to write about the kinds of compromises our whānau had to make, and the difficulties they faced working and living in a Pākehā world.”
“I was struck by the discovery that at Crown Lynn, where possible, different ethnic groups were separated into different departments. At the same time, it was common with Māori employees for many members of one whānau to work at Crown Lynn – it begged the question, what would happen if there was a tangi?,” says Poata.
Crown Lynn was established in 1948 and filled New Zealand homes with locally made homeware and was well known for its iconic cups and saucers. By the 1960s, Crown Lynn was the largest pottery company in the Southern Hemisphere, producing 15 million pieces a year. By the 1980s, the company was in decline and closed in 1989.
Director Amber Curreen, was compelled to direct The Handlers because she wanted to tell the stories of Māori and Pasifika working in factories in the 1970s.
The debut season of The Handlers will be at Te Pou Theatre, Corban Estate Arts Centre from 16 May-2 June
