# Amber Curreen

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{{Short description|New Zealand actor and theatre producer}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Amber Curreen
| image         = Amber Curreen on The Cafe.jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Curreen in 2018
| birth_name    = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date    = {{circa|1985}}
| birth_place   = [Waiheke Island](/source/Waiheke_Island), New Zealand
| occupation    = {{Hlist|Actress|theatre producer}}
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = 
}}

'''Amber Curreen''' (born {{circa|1985}}) is an actress and theatre producer based in [Auckland](/source/Auckland), New Zealand.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017-09-06 |title=Amber Curreen: Changing the narrative |url=https://www.thebigidea.nz/stories/amber-curreen-changing-the-narrative |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=The Big Idea }}</ref> She played character Shannon Te Ngaru on ''[Shortland Street](/source/Shortland_Street)''. She is a producer with Auckland theatre companies Te Rēhia Theatre Company and Te Pou Theatre.

==Life and career==
Curreen grew up on [Waiheke Island](/source/Waiheke_Island).<ref name=":0" /> She is of Māori and [Pākehā](/source/P%C4%81keh%C4%81) descent. Her father who died in 2017 was [Ngāpuhi](/source/Ng%C4%81puhi).<ref name=":0" />

From 2001 to 2006, Curreen was an actress in the television soap opera ''Shortland Street'' playing the character Shannon Te Ngaru. She was originally cast for a short period as a 16-year-old but her role was extended.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Native Affairs – Shorty turns 25 |url=https://www.teaomaori.news/native-affairs-shorty-turns-25 |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Māori Television }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=All 30 years of Shortland Street, ranked |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/27-05-2022/all-30-years-of-shortland-street-ranked |access-date=4 August 2022 |work=The Spinoff |date=27 May 2022}}</ref>

Curreen is creative producer of [Te Rēhia Theatre Company](/source/Te_R%C4%93hia_Theatre_Company), a theatre company established in 2012, alongside [Tainui Tukiwaho](/source/Tainui_Tukiwaho).<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Te Rēhia Theatre |url=https://www.thebigidea.nz/profile/te-r%C4%93hia-theatre |website=The Big Idea NZ |access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref> Te Rēhia co-produced a comedy play ''Black Ties'' with the [ILBIJERRI Theatre Company](/source/Ilbijerri_Theatre_Company)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Live |first=Auckland |title=BLACK TIES |url=https://www.aucklandlive.co.nz/show/aaf20-black-ties |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=Auckland Live }}</ref> as an "exploration of what happens when two First Nations cultures collide".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Karamjeet |first=Jess |title=REVIEW: Black Ties (Auckland Arts Festival) |url=http://www.theatrescenes.co.nz/review-black-ties-auckland-arts-festival/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=Theatre Scenes: Aotearoa New Zealand Theatre }}</ref> The play was presented in 2019 in Australia at the [Sydney Festival](/source/Sydney_Festival), [Perth Festival](/source/Perth_Festival) and Asia TOPA<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-02 |title=Black Ties unites First Nations cultures across the Tasman |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-stage-show/black-ties-ilbijerri-theatre-company-te-rehia-theatre/11760976 |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=ABC Radio National }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wrong |first=Suzy |date=2020-01-10 |title=Review: Black Ties (Ilbijerri Theatre Company / Te Rēhia Theatre) |url=https://suzygoessee.com/2020/01/10/review-black-ties-ilbijerri-theatre-company-te-rehia-theatre/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=Suzy Goes See }}</ref> and then in New Zealand in 2020 at the [Auckland Arts Festival](/source/Auckland_Arts_Festival)<ref name=":2" /> and the [New Zealand Festival](/source/New_Zealand_Festival_of_the_Arts).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smythe |first=John |date=5 Mar 2020 |title=BLACK TIES - Surprising insights |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=12158 |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=TheatreView}}</ref>

Curreen is a founding director of [Te Pou Theatre](/source/Te_Pou_Theatre) (Te Pou) in Auckland founded in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Te Pou Theatre showcases Māori performing arts |url=https://thetrusts.co.nz/blog/te-pou-theatre-showcases-m%C4%81ori-performing-arts |website=The Trusts |access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Elevating Māori voices through performing arts |url=https://www.foundationnorth.org.nz/news-and-reports/article/elevating-maori-voices-through-performing-arts |website=Foundation North |access-date=4 August 2022 |date=16 March 2022}}</ref> Te Pou programmes Māori theatre and prior to Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 programmed four shows and two festivals annually.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Powell |first=Kate |date=2020 |title=Leaning into Liveness |journal=Playmarket Annual |volume=55}}</ref> Curreen said the goal was "to provide opportunities to make sure there are Māori artists onstage and audiences seeing are seeing Te Ao Māori onstage."<ref name=":3" />

One of the projects at Te Pou that Curreen produces is the annual Kōanga Festival which fosters Māori playwrights and started in 2015.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-26 |title=Amber Curreen: te reo and the arts in NZ Theatre Month |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018659752/amber-curreen-te-reo-and-the-arts-in-nz-theatre-month |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=[RNZ](/source/RNZ) }}</ref> In 2020 during the [COVID-19 pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic_in_New_Zealand) the festival was hosted online, which Curreen said she hoped would enable "the best of both deep listening and hearing, and being able to share it throughout the world, and at the same time people communing with art".<ref>{{cite news |title=Koanga Festival - now a theatre festival goes on-line |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/standing-room-only/audio/2018760730/koanga-festival-now-a-theatre-festival-goes-on-line |access-date=3 August 2022 |work=Radio New Zealand |date=23 August 2020}}</ref> She also produced Te Pou's Front Yard Festivals, putting on short live performances for isolated and vulnerable people.<ref>{{cite news |title=Te Pou Theatre holds Front Yard Festivals |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/te-pou-theatre-holds-front-yard-festivals/YGG2BSVNX4NZBGGHDKIZ5NAG4E/ |access-date=3 August 2022 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=20 May 2020}}</ref>

In a collaboration between Te Rēhia and circus performance company [The Dust Palace](/source/The_Dust_Palace), Curreen co-wrote and developed ''Te Tangi a te Tūī'', a show featuring circus performances. The show's story is inspired by the song of the [tūī](/source/t%C5%AB%C4%AB) and by Curreen's [whakapapa](/source/whakapapa). It premiered at Canadian theatre [The Cultch](/source/The_Cultch) in October 2023 and is being performed at Te Pou Theatre, Auckland, in March 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hill |first1=Natasha |date=3 October 2023 |title=A traditional Māori performance infused with circus acrobatics will have its world premiere in Canada |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/a-traditional-maori-performance-infused-with-circus-acrobatics-will-have-its-world-premiere-in-canada/AA4Q6VG7VBBLXKQVPCDLMZ2UA4/ |access-date=3 October 2023 |work=The New Zealand Herald }}</ref> Curreen, her partner and their two children are performers in the show.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ruru |first1=Karanama |date=3 March 2024 |title=Whānau hopes to inspire with Māori circus, Te Tangi a te Tūī |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/te-ao-maori/350192192/whanau-hopes-inspire-maori-circus-te-tangi-te-tui |access-date=4 March 2024 |work=Stuff}}</ref>

==Selected productions==
===Theatre===
* ''Mahuika'' – writer and director<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mahuika! |url=https://www.tepoutheatre.nz/events/mahuika/ |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Te Pou Theatre }}</ref> 
* ''Hoki Mai Tama Ma'' by Regan Taylor – producer and actress (2014)<ref>{{cite news |title=Masked adventurers |url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/masked-adventurers/docview/1565553247/se-2 |access-date=3 August 2022 |work=Manawatū Standard |date=26 September 2014 |page=9}}</ref>
* ''Ruia Te Kakano'' – children's play – writer and actress (2014)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Townend |first1=Lucy |title=Te reo show a boost for young |url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/te-reo-show-boost-young/docview/1614091275/se-2 |access-date=3 August 2022 |work=Manawatū Standard |date=20 October 2014}}</ref>
* ''Larger Than Life'' by [Tainui Tukiwaho](/source/Tainui_Tukiwaho) and Chris Martin – producer (2017) <ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Mahvash |date=2017-06-14 |title=A play that reminds of the long summers, the Goodnight Kiwi and all things retro |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/93432634/a-play-that-reminds-of-the-long-summers-the-goodnight-kiwi-and-all-things-retro |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Stuff }}</ref>
* ''Kororāreka – The Ballad of Maggie Flynn'' by [Paolo Rotondo](/source/Paolo_Rotondo) – actress (touring cast 2017–2018)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kororāreka – Red Leap Theatre |url=https://redleaptheatre.co.nz/productions/kororareka/ |access-date=2022-07-03 }}</ref>
* ''Astroman'' by [Albert Belz](/source/Albert_Belz) – co-producer with [Auckland Theatre Company](/source/Auckland_Theatre_Company) (2019)<ref>{{cite news |title=12 Questions: Former Shortland Street child star Amber Curreen |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/12-questions-former-shortland-street-child-star-amber-curreen/KMAAL6AAYMJP6M3JPQAMSOUZNE/ |access-date=3 August 2022 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=19 March 2019}}</ref>
* ''Kōpū'' written by [Tuakoi Ohia](/source/Tuakoi_Ohia) – director (2022)<ref name="Luke">{{cite news |last1=Luke |first1=Candice |title=Theatre review: Kōpū – a celebration of wāhinetanga |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/theatre-review-kopu-a-celebration-of-wahinetanga/3MYLZOU55ZESJHBJXTXAS7LR2U/ |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=11 May 2023 }}</ref>

===Screen===
* ''Shortland Street'' – television soap opera – actress playing the character Shannon Te Ngaru (2001–2006)
* ''[Waru](/source/Waru_(2017_film))'' – film produced by Kerry Warkia & Kiel McNaughton – actress playing the character Titty (2017)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-11 |title=Waru review – death, guilt and Māori life lessons in eight acts |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/11/waru-review-maori-drama-mark-kermode |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=The Guardian }}</ref>

== Memberships ==
* Executive board of the Performing Arts Network of New Zealand (PANNZ)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Amber Curreen |url=https://apam.org.au/artist/amber-curreen/ |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Australian Performing Arts Market }}</ref>
* The national Māori theatre committee ''He Waka Ūrungi''<ref name=":1" /> 
* The Tri-Nationals Indigenous Performing Arts Council<ref name=":1" />

== References ==
<references />

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curreen, Amber}}
Category:1980s births
Category:Living people
Category:New Zealand television actresses
Category:New Zealand theatre people
Category:New Zealand writers
Category:People from Waiheke Island
Category:Ngāpuhi people
Category:21st-century New Zealand writers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Amber Curreen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Curreen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Curreen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.