Organisation/Company
Name: Prowl Productions
My Role: Producer
Prowl Productions is an Aotearoa-based entertainment company blending street dance with theatre to create bold, high-quality experiences. Rooted in movement and storytelling, Prowl’s work is multidisciplinary and immersive, where dance becomes language, and performance becomes world-building.
Prowl is expressive, rhythmic, and unapologetically fierce - waacking is the blueprint of this. Waacking is the physical manifestation of our shared liberation. Our dancers are proud to lead the growth of this artform in Aotearoa, sharing its energy through performance, workshops, and community jams. Our artists reflect the richness of our communities, with representation from tangata whenua, BBiPOC, takatāpui and LGBTQIA+.
Prowl has appeared at major festivals and events including The Nest Street Style Festival, Pacific Dance Festival, Tempo Dance Festival, Auckland + Wellington Pride Festival, Auckland Cabaret Festival and New Zealand Fringe Festival.
Prowl Productions is where bold ideas meet boundary-pushing creativity to craft unforgettable, inspiring experiences through innovative and immersive entertainment.
Iwi affiliation
Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi.
PROWL
Artform: Street Dance Theatre, Multidisciplinary
Development Status: Tour Ready
Media Uploads
Trailer
Synopsis
femininity
[ fem-uh-nin-i-tee ]
noun
the quality of being
feminine
; womanliness
Feminine
[ fem-uh-nin ]
adjective
- being or relating to to a woman or girl: feminine beauty;
- having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, such as sensitivity or gentleness. effeminate; womanish:
PROWL is a street dance-theatre spectacle exploring femininity, identity, and the fluidity of self. Winner of multiple Auckland Fringe 2024 awards, including Outstanding Movement, NZ Fringe Tour Ready, and Auckland Arts Festival Tuakana, this groundbreaking work is created and performed by the acclaimed Prowl Productions ensemble. The show challenges traditional narratives while celebrating the fire, strength, and flair of femme expression.
Utilising street dance as a potent tool for political expression, we confront gender and body politics, challenging colonial legacies and spotlighting indigenous perspectives on gender and femininity, dismantling and redefining the concepts shaped by colonialism. Birthing realms. Portals to the other. Indulge in the intimacy of divinity. Feminine beauty wrapped in a dagger. A mother of many things.
This is work that centres BIPOC feminine experience across the gender spectrum, while speaking directly to now. It’s bold, emotionally charged, and visually striking, the kind of show that lingers with you long after the lights go down.
Creative Team and Crew
Produced by Prowl Productions
Director: Hayley Walters-Tekahika
Co producers: Hayley Walters-Tekahika and Renee Wiki
Lighting Designer and Technical Operator: Alylai Flynn
Set Design: Freya Burnett
Lead Stylist: Ehetere Rua
Production Stage Manager: Renee Wiki
Cast: Lara Chuo, Layla Dole, Raymond "Magic" Fong, Gabriel "Princess" Halatoa, Ella Rerekura, Ehetere "ENIGMA" Rua, Hayley Walters-Tekahika and Vivian Xu.
Marketing Photography by Prowl Productions and Afrina Razi
Number of People in the Touring Party
10 (8 cast members, 1 Production Stage Manager, 1 Technical Operator)
Previous Seasons
17 - 21 September 2024, Basement Theatre (Main Theatre) Auckland, Auckland Fringe Festival (Premiere Season)
6 - 8 March 2025, Te Auaha (Tapere Iti) Wellington, NZ Fringe
27 - 28 February 2026, Raynham Park, Auckland, PROWL FEST, Auckland Pride Festival
Reviews and Quotes
Winner of the ‘NZ Tour Ready’ award, Auckland Fringe 2024
Winner of the ‘Outstanding Movement’ award, Auckland Fringe 2024
Winner of the ‘Auckland Arts Festival (Tuakana)’ award, Auckland Fringe 2024
Nominated for ‘Most Memorable Marketing’ award, NZ Fringe 2025
Nominated for ‘Momentous Movement’, award NZ Fringe 2025
“A captivating rhythmic soul discovery, where bodies both female & male, challenge society's norm. PROWL transports its audience to pulsate with their Sisterhood."
- Amanduh La
"It is complex, multiplicitous, and intricate, and through the web of possible accolades for Prowl, this feels most appropriate: it is beautiful because it is honest. (...)The fun and unpredictability of asking the audience brought a liveliness to the work—Prowl will never be the same twice."
- Janina Smolira, Bad Apple Gay (Wellington, NZ)
"We felt it viscerally: a current of spiritual connection, an unapologetic feminism alive in both stance and spirit, and the radiant force of queer feminine experience. That energy crystallised in the whacking repertoire—fierce, sharp, and relational—each movement cutting through the air with precision and pride."
- Iatua Richard Felagai Taito, Theatre Review (Auckland, NZ)
TAFATOLU
Artform: Musical Theatre
Development Status: Tour Ready
Media Uploads
Trailer
Synopsis
a theatre experience of Pasiifka storytelling influenced and inspired by the ancient style of Fale Aitu (a comedic performance or commentary, a way to deal with political or contentious issues in the village). Devised by former members of No.3 Roskill Theatre who presented last years 'Welcome Home', they collaborate with Jake and Talia-Rae of YNOT, in this latest offering that fuses myths, legends and ancient Gods of the islands, into a tale of friendship. and loyalty.
Creative Team and Crew
Producer and Stage Manager: Renee Wiki
Music Director: Lijah Mavaega
Costume Designer: Jonjon Tolovae
Creative support: Jake Tupu, Talia-Rae Tupu, Fuimaono-Tuimafuiva Falesātaua Joshua Iosefo
Devised by Cast (formally known as No.3 Roskill Theatre): Nimeti Akatere, Lijah Mavaega, Josephine Mavaega, Netane Tauki'uvea, Jonjon Tolovae.
Number of People in the Touring Party
min 6pax (5 cast, 1 Stage Manager)
Previous Seasons
12 - 16 August 2025, Basement Theatre (Main Theatre) Auckland NZ.
30 January 2026, Altiora, World Buskers Festival, Christchurch NZ.
Reviews and Quotes
"Tafatolu was fucking funny. The show left me seeking more of that playfulness in every nook and cranny of my life." - Danielle Kionasina Dilys Thomson, Tagata Atamai (Auckland, NZ)
"an undoubtedly fulfilling play full of laughs and emotional storytelling. The combination of elements in live music, physical comedy, poetry, dance, and, not to mention, great acting made it a distinctive experience. (...) that's exactly what it was - filled with love, so much passion, witty exaggeration, and really great music." - Angelyn Cunningham, Craccum
