{{Short description|New Zealand theatre director, actor and storyteller}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = | citizenship = New Zealand | alma_mater = Toi Whakaari | occupation = Theatre director and actor | notable_works = Founder of theatre companies Te Ohu Whakaari and Kilimogo Productions | relatives = Apirana Taylor (brother), Riwia Brown (sister) }}
'''Rangimoana Taylor''' is an actor, theatre director, storyteller from New Zealand with more than 35 years in the industry. He has performed nationally and internationally and was the lead in the feature film ''Hook Line and Sinker'' (2011). He was an intrinsic part of three Māori theatre companies, ''Te Ohu Whakaari'' and ''Taki Rua'' in Wellington and ''Kilimogo Productions'' in Dunedin''.''
== Biography == Rangimoana Taylor was born in Wellington. His mother was Reremoana Taylor (Shelford). His father Melvin Taylor was a journalist and worked in the diplomatic service. Taylor is affiliated with the iwi Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui and Taranaki. The secondary school he attended was Onslow College in Wellington.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Rangimoana Taylor |url=https://www.komako.org.nz/person/1120 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Komako}}</ref>
Taylor's first screen acting role was on the first funded New Zealand television series ''Pukemanu'' in 1972.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Rangimoana Taylor |url=https://gcm.co.nz/artists/rangimoana-taylor |access-date=2021-01-10 |website=GCM}}</ref> Taylor graduated from Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School in 1975 with a Diploma in Acting and was one of the first Māori graduates. Taylor upgraded his qualification to a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting) in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Graduate|url=https://www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/graduate|access-date=2021-08-09|website=toiwhakaari.ac.nz}}</ref> Taylor was one of the key people who developed the style of Marae-Theatre, incorporating cultural concepts and values into the performance space.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyXXGGhT1FcC&q=Rangimoana+Taylor&pg=RA1-PA63 |title=Decolonizing the stage: theatrical syncretism and post-colonial drama |first=Balme |last=Christopher B. |page=64 |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-818444-1}}</ref> As an educator Taylor also taught at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School.<ref name=":0" />
Taylor founded contemporary Māori Theatre company Te Ohu Whakaari in the 1980s which was a collective that created shows based on their experiences and issues they felt important.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Performing Aotearoa : New Zealand theatre and drama in an age of transition|date=2007|publisher=P.I.E. Peter Lang|others=Maufort, Marc., O'Donnell, David, 1956-|isbn=978-90-5201-359-6|location=Bruxelles|oclc=165412282}}</ref> Some of the plays of Te Ohu Whakaari were written by Taylors siblings Apirana Taylor and Riwia Brown and included ''Kohanga'' (1986) about Māori language revival and kohanga reo.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=22 October 2014 |others=Mark Derby and Briar Grace-Smith |title=First Māori theatre companies, 1970–1990 |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-theatre-te-whare-tapere-hou/page-2 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Play readings of Kohanga and Whaea Kairau |url=https://www.aucklandlive.co.nz/show/play-readings-of-kohanga-and-whaea-kairau |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Auckland Live}}</ref> Te Ohu Whakaari toured New Zealand for fifteen years and presented in theatres, marae and schools.<ref name=":3" />
He was also one of the important contributors to Taki Rua Theatre in Wellington which became a venue for bi-cultural contemporary theatre in the country during the 1980s and 1990s and is a national platform for contemporary Māori theatre.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Qfmy3uMTNkC&q=Rangimoana+Taylor+marae+theatre&pg=PA208 |title=Pacific Islands writing: the postcolonial literatures of Aotearoa/New Zealand and Oceania |first=Michelle |last=Keown |page=208 |series=Oxford studies in postcolonial literatures in English |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press US |isbn=978-0-19-927645-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://www.takirua.co.nz/|access-date=2021-01-10|website=Taki Rua}}</ref>
In the 1990s, Taylor collaborated with Cindy Diver, Awatea Edwin and Hilary Halba to form a bi-cultural theatre company Kilimogo Productions in Dunedin, with Māori and Pākehā traditions present in the process and the performance form.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Halba |first=Hilary |title=Theatre - Negotiating the bi-cultural tightrope: thoughts on Bi-cultural theatre practice in Te Waipounamu |url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/deepsouth/1199/theatre.html |access-date=2021-01-10 |website=DeepSouth - Theatre, Otago University}}</ref> As part of Kilimogo Productions in Dunedin and Timaru Taylor co-produced and co-directed with Hilary Halba ''Nga Tangata Toa'' by Hone Kouka in 1997.<ref name=":1" />
As a storyteller, Taylor has presented at the National American Storytelling Conference (1997) at Jonesborough, Tennessee and in Brazil in 1998.<ref name=":0" />
Taylor acted along Kirk Torrance and Temuera Morrison a recurring role in the BBC America Mystery drama mini-series Tatau (2015).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/94085/start-trippin-on-this-sneak-peek-of-bbc-americas-tatau/ |title=BBC America's Tatau |first=Debi |last=Moore |date=21 March 2015 |publisher=DC}}</ref> His lead role in the film ''Hook Line and Sinker'' (2011) was part of an ensemble performance alongside others including Geraldine Brophy and Kate Harcourt. Taylor plays a truck diver who can no longer work due to eye disease.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKinlay |first=Tom |date=2011-05-14 |title=Real lives realised |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/film/real-lives-realised |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Otago Daily Times }}</ref>
In 2022, Taylor received the Mayoral Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre at the Wellington Theatre Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 December 2022 |title=The Wellington Theatre Awards 2022 – Ngā Whakarākei O Whātaitai |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/news/news.php?id=1801 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=New Zealand Theatre: theatre reviews, performance reviews - Theatreview}}</ref>
In 2023, Rangimoana Taylor was honoured with Te Tohu Aroha mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the Supreme Award in the annual Te Waka Toi Awards which are the premier awards in 'recognition of leadership, excellence and outstanding contribution to Ngā Toi Māori (Māori arts)'.
== Performance == Selected acting roles in film, television and theatre. {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" ! scope="col" |Year ! scope="col" |Title ! scope="col" |Role !Production company / Director ! class="unsortable" |Notes !Ref |- |2016 ! scope="row" |''Great Maidens Blush'' |Kaumatua |Torchlight Films, dir. Andrea Bosshard |Feature film |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2015 ! scope="row" |''Tatau'' |Ati |Tatau Productions Ltd / BBC2 |TV drama |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2011 ! scope="row" |''Hook, Line and Sinker'' |PJ (lead) |Torchlight Productions, dir. Andrea Bosshard and Shane Loader |Feature film |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2009 ! scope="row" |''Kaitangata Twitch'' |Grandpa |KT Productions, dir. Yvonne McKay |TV drama |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2008 ! scope="row" |''Paradise Cafe'' | |Gibson Group |TV drama |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2008 !''Waimarie'' |Matiu |4 Winds Films, dir. Katie Wolfe |Short film |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2008 ! scope="row" |''Taking the Waewae Express'' |Dad |Torchlight Productions, dir. Andrea Bosshard and Shane Loader |Feature film |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2005 !''Hamlet'' |Polonius |Fortune Theatre, dir. David O'Donnell |Theatre |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2004 !''Cherish'' by Ken Duncum |William |Wow Productions, dir. Lisa Warrington |Theatre |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2003 !''Home Fires'' by Hone Kouka |Jacob |Taki Rua, dir. Nancy Brunning |Theatre |<ref name=":2" /> |- |1997 !''Legend of William Tell'' | |Cloud 9 Productions |TV drama |<ref name=":2" /> |- |1976 !''Mortimers Patch'' | |TVNZ |TV drama |<ref name=":2" /> |- |1993 - 1994 !Kids TV | |TVNZ |TV drama |<ref name=":2" /> |- |1972 !''Pukemanu'' | |TVNZ |TV drama |<ref name=":2" /> |}
==Personal life== Taylor is the brother of leading Māori poet and performance artist Apirana Taylor and writer Riwia Brown, the award-winning screenwriter of the New Zealand movie Once Were Warriors. He lives in Wellington with his partner, activist, counsellor, and celebrant Bill Logan, who helped lead the campaign for Homosexual Law Reform in the early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rothwell|first=Kimberley|date=2011-07-08|title=25 years of gay rights in New Zealand|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5259090/25-years-of-gay-rights-in-New-Zealand|access-date=2021-06-07|website=Stuff }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Gay-rights battlers reflect on bitter campaign for reform|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gay-rights-battlers-reflect-on-bitter-campaign-for-reform/EK4DZKH74UPTP3IZITLW6M7NXU/|access-date=2021-06-07|website=The New Zealand Herald }}</ref>
==References== <references/>
==External links== *{{cite book| last=Pavis |first=Patrice |pages=182–183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAHqEOXLQEIC&q=Marae+Theater&pg=PA183 |title=The intercultural performance reader |year=1996 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-08154-2}} ''Contains a description of the concept of Marae-Theatre in Māori culture.'' *{{IMDb name|2040416}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Rangimoana}} Category:Living people Category:New Zealand gay actors Category:New Zealand theatre directors Category:New Zealand male stage actors Category:New Zealand male Māori actors Category:Toi Whakaari alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Ngāti Porou people Category:LGBTQ theatre directors