About Pākiki
Vickie and Raewyn founded Pākiki Theatre in 2018 for the purpose of creating theatre that celebrates and explores local heritage. They've brought heritage based shows to hundreds of children and families in schools, theatres and community venues. This is a little more about Vickie & Raewyn:
Vickie
Vickie is an actor, writer and storyteller who has spent 20 + years in the professional performance industry. She loves to devise new shows, play with creative ideas, and see characters come to life in a fun and engaging way. As well as sharing the running of the
company and occasionally performing, Vickie mainly directs and co-devises Pakiki’s new work. She is based in Hertfordshire and was particularly proud to co-create The Big Herts Hero Hunt.
Raewyn
Raewyn has been a professional actor and theatre maker for over 25 years. She has a wealth of experience in children’s theatre facilitating drama workshops with young people. Raewyn loves creating new work and at Pākiki has combined this with another
love – history! One of Raewyn’s highlights at Pākiki has been seeing the joy experienced by audiences, especially during their show ‘Who Wants To Be An Olympian?’ Raewyn’s Kiwi roots led us to the company name Pākiki, which means curious.
How we work
A huge amount of work is carried out researching the shows, interviewing people who may feature and archiving our work, which we share widely.
This is an example of the research carried out during the creation of ‘Who Wants To Be An Olympian?’ for Newham Heritage Month 2022 Pakiki Theatre: Who wants to be an Olympian? | Newham Heritage Month
We have created shows for Newham Heritage Month for the past two years. This is what our client said about us:
“Coming along to Pākiki Theatre's 'Who Wants To Be An Olympian?' at Plaistow Library was one of my highlights of Newham Heritage Month 2022.
I was unsure of what to expect as an adult coming to a game show aimed at young children, but by the end of the hour I would have happily done the whole thing again.
The show found the perfect balance between entertainment and heritage, engaging the entire audience in Newham's sporting past in a creative and exciting way. The show allowed children plenty of different opportunities for participation should they want to, whilst providing entertainment for the adults present. They had clearly done fantastic research and I am sure that everyone learned something new (I know I did!).
The production quality was also fantastic, from the many beautifully made props and the stage design, to the characters, the script and the soundtrack (the pairing of a fantastic poem with a beautiful piece of music was one of my personal highlights - a really poignant moment). Aside from the performance I saw, I have seen Pākiki go above and beyond to engage as wide an audience as possible.
As well as vigorously promoting their four public shows across social media, they have also taken their project into local schools to ensure that as many of Newham's children are able to engage with their heritage subject as possible. I really look forward to what work they produce next.”
James King, Newham Heritage Month