Claire Ahuriri-Dunning Explained

Claire Ahuriri-Dunning (born 1989) is a New Zealand playwright.^[1]

Personal life

Ahuriri-Dunning was born in Takapuna, Auckland, in 1989. She has Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Scots, German Jewish and Irish Catholic heritage. She was educated at Glenfield College, and then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Auckland. She has worked as a software tester and a drama teacher at a high school.^[2] With her husband James Dunning, Ahuriri-Dunning is the founder of Pearangi Creative and Sky Bear Games. ^[3]

Plays

• Spilt Milk, a classroom play, published in "Stage Adventures: Eight Classroom Plays".^{[4] [5]}
• A Midsummer's Nightmare, a short version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream, designed for teens.^[6]
• Alice's Revenge, in which an actress is murdered during casting for the role of Alice in Alice in Wonderland.^[7]
• Dracula^[8]
• Hercules, a 30 minutes interactive play for young children^[9]
• King Arthur the Pantomime.^[10]
• Shakespeare Junior, in which Shakespeare enters a playwriting competition.^[11]
• The Iliad, with James Dunning, with Homer's story in a World War I setting. Dunning-Ahuriri wrote, produced and directed the Iliad at the Pumphouse Theatre in Auckland in April 2018.^[12]

Other work

In 2009, Ahuriri-Dunning wrote and directed The Virgin Party at the Drama Studio at the University of Auckland.^[13] Reviewer James Amos described it as "a fairly judicious (yet fun and very thought provoking) look at women's roles and stereotypes throughout history".

Ahuriri-Dunning has also published a board game, Cat Capers.

Awards

Spilt Milk won Auckland Flip the Script in 2005, and later also received a Special Mention from Playmarket's Plays for the Young competition in 2010. Dracula was shortlisted in the Adam NZ Play Awards of 2018.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Claire Ahuriri-Dunning. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004331/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/playwrights/claire-ahuriri-dunning. live.
2. Web site: Claire Ahuriri-Dunning. 2021-08-14. The Big Idea. en. 14 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210814001001/https://www.thebigidea.nz/profile/claire-ahuriri-dunning. live.
3. Web site: Claire Ahuriri-Dunning & James Dunning. 2021-08-13. The PumpHouse Theatre. en-NZ. 14 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210814000251/https://pumphouse.co.nz/whats-on/show/creative-talk-claire-ahuriri-dunning-james-dunning/. live.
4. Web site: Spilt Milk. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004341/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-play-series/spilt-milk/. live.
5. Web site: TROLLS, DRAGONS AND MAJOR LIFE DECISIONS - Theatreview. live. 2021-08-14. www.theatreview.org.nz. 14 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210814000950/https://www.theatreview.org.nz/news/news.php?id=1359.
6. Web site: A Midsummer's Nightmare. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004326/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-manuscripts/a-midsummers-nightmare/. live.
7. Web site: Alice's Revenge. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004306/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-manuscripts/alices-revenge/. live.
8. Web site: Dracula. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004306/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-manuscripts/dracula/. live.
9. Web site: Hercules. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004307/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-manuscripts/hercules/. live.
10. Web site: King Arthur the Pantomime. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004327/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-manuscripts/king-arthur-the-pantomime/. live.
11. Web site: Shakespeare Junior. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004336/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-manuscripts/shakespeare-junior/. live.
12. Web site: The Iliad. 2021-08-13. www.playmarket.org.nz. en-US. 18 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018004308/https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-manuscripts/the-iliad/. live.
13. Web site: The Virgin Party - Intense discussion about women's roles and perceptions. 2021-08-14. www.theatreview.org.nz. 14 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210814000950/https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=1996. live.