"The Tākapu, the Australasian gannet, has been a big motif for us and this work. There are only two tākapu colonies in New Zealand. It is so special that both of our (theatre) seasons have been where the tākapu is. There’s the one up in Muriwai out of Auckland, and then a colony up in the Hawke’s Bay at Cape Kidnappers*.
Tākapu have an amazing cycle where they’ll go away for two years independently. And then they’ll come back and settle. And they’re monogamous birds, so they’ll settle in that colony for life, but on that two year cycle it’s just an anything goes moment. So if you see a solitary tākapu, that’s the phase of it’s life it is in." - Ana Chaya Scotney QUESTIONS
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* The Contours of Heaven was first performed at the Hawke's Bay Arts Festival in October 2017. It was then performed in Auckland in February, as part of the Fringe Festival 2018, at TAPAC.