TE POU THEATRE PRESENTS: Te Pūtea
Thrifty and Fabulous

This kōrero is all about sharing advice on making performing arts on tight budgets.

Join us for a special evening of sharing from a range of performing arts creatives about their top tips for doing lots with not much.

Producers and arts makers will share their real life experiences of making performing arts on a tight budget.

We will hear from Marianne Infante (actor, theatre producer, writer, emerging director, intimacy professional, advocate, arts administrator and mentor), Anders Falstie-Jensen (producer, writer & director for The Rebel Alliance) and Poe Tiare Tararo (theatre & film maker, as well as Boosted X Moana and E Tū Toi Mentor) before a facilitated kōrero with Amber Curreen. There will be some time for questions and answers, so come curious!

Proudly supported by the ANZ Staff Foundation.

Workshop Details

Āhea | When: Tuesday 30 Sept, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Kei hea | Where: Te Pou Theatre, 2 Mt Lebanon Lane

Mō wai | For who: Performing arts whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Utu | Cost: Free
Roanga | Duration: 2hrs

Register HERE

Website for more information

Get to know the panel

Our panel will be facilitated by Amber Curreen. Joining her for the kōrero are Anders Falstie-Jensen, Marianne Infante and Poe Tiare Tararo (from Boosted).

Get to know more about them below and their practice. 

Anders Falstie-Jensen
Anders hails from Viborg in Jutland, Denmark and has lived in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2001. He is the producer, writer and director for The Rebel Alliance. In his past he has worked as the national publicist for the New Zealand International Film Festival; as a stage manager for Massive Theatre Company and Douglas Wright Dance Company and as a production manager for numerous independent productions. From 2014 to 2021 he was a programmer for Auckland Live and was responsible for several Summer in the Square events on Aotea Square as well as putting together the Fringe Town programme at the Auckland Town Hall in 2019/20/21. As a director for The Rebel Alliance his credits are: The Orderly, A Night of French Mayhem, The Bomb, Standstill, Yours Truly, Manifesto 2083, Watching Paint Dry, Back to Square One? and The Valentina.

Marianne Infante

My name is Marianne (M-AH-rianne) Infante. I’m an award-winning Kapampangán-Filipino multi-disciplinary theatre and film creative based in Tāmaki Makaurau. I graduated at Unitec with a Bachelor in Performing Arts Majoring in Screen and Theatre Acting. 

I wear many hats across this sector: actor, theatre producer, writer, emerging director, intimacy professional, advocate, arts administrator and mentor. I’m Proudly Asian Theatre’s executive director and producer, and co-founder and director of Te & Kuya Collaborative (creative production company). I’m an Equity NZ elected board member from 2020 continuing to serve the actors union to ensure we continue to protect and better working conditions in the screen and theatre industries. 

I’ve been labelled a creative force and trailblazer having achieved many “firsts” in my creative lifetime. These achievements I also acknowledge weren’t intentional, and that these milestones were accomplished under not-so-pleasant circumstances especially when I was still building myself. It’s never easy doing something no one has done before because it did mean there was little to no resource or creative guidance. And though I lacked resources, I had an abundance of support from my community who helped me create a blueprint. 

My very first PINAY won 2019’s Auckland Theatre Awards for ‘Excellent Overall Production’ and made history as Aotearoa’s first Filipino theatre production. Following PINAY’s success, I wrote, performed and co-produced ‘MEKENI’ with The Outlook For Someday Stories. This short film was marked as NZ’s first Kapampángan film. MEKENI received six NZWebFest nominations and I was honoured to be presented with the ‘Best Actress’ award for the webseries narrative category. 

From 2021 to 2025, I represented the Filipino community as the first Filipina core cast member on NZ’s prime time TV show ‘SHORTLAND STREET’ as Madonna Diaz. This year I was awarded the Women in Film and Television (WIFT NZ) Outstanding Newcomer for my “excellence in performance and advocating for minority voices to be recognised on stage and screen.

Poe Tiare Tararo (Cook Islands – Mauke & Manihiki; Māori – Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa). 

Poe Tiare is a theatre and film practitioner and a passionate advocate for Māori and Pacific storytelling.

She currently works for Aotearoa’s only arts crowdfunding platform, Boosted, supported by The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. In her role as Boosted X Moana and E Tū Toi mentor, Poe Tiare supports Māori and Pasifika creatives across the motu by delivering matched funding opportunities in partnership with Creative New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori strategy teams.

Outside of Boosted, Poe Tiare co-directs Tū Anga’anga Productions, a Cook Islands arts company she runs with her partner. Through this kaupapa, she creates work that centres, celebrates, and revitalises Cook Islands identity, language, and storytelling across both stage and screen.

About the Whakapuāwai Programme

The Whakapuāwai Programme at Te Pou Theatre is an annual programme offering opportunities for development and connection for the Māori performing arts community.