Roma Potiki was born inLower Hutt, a city in the Wellington Region, and grew up in the suburbWainuiomata.[7] As a child she attended Wainuiomata Primary School, Woodhatton Primary School, Wainuiomata College and Wellington High School.[8] Her first play was written while at primary school and she also started writing poetry at school.[8]
Roma Potiki was involved in contemporary Māori theatre in early formative years. She was in a play performed by Te Ika A Maui Players in 1978 calledDeath of the Land byRore Hapipi (Rowley Habib).[8] She went on to help form the Māori theatre company Maranga Mai in 1979.[9] This company was linked to theMāori protest movement and they toured a theatre production in 1979 - 1980 to marae and schools.[8] The play Maranga Mai that they presented was a fifty minute story ofMāori activism. It started in with the1975 Māori Land March, included reference to occupations at theRaglan Golf Course,Bastion Point and the protests byNgā Tamatoa duringWaitangi Day. People involved included Brian Potiki, Anna Meihana, Hori Hapimana, Henare Hapimana, Buffy Pihema, Cyril Chapman, Jacki Davidson and Liz Marsden. The play included song, poetry, movement and drama.[10]
In 1990, she was a founding director of another theatre company He Ara Hou. They performed and toured a play calledWhatungarongaro.[9][5] This play was directed by Potiki and John Anderson and devised over nine months with the company members. Potiki had previously done workshops with a theatre company PETA (Philippines Educational Theatre Association) and was influenced by their way of working.[11][12]
Roma Potiki's writing includes poetry contribution to many anthologies, as well as published volumes. She has written the forward to books of New Zealand Māori plays and contributed text to exhibition catalogues. As an artist, Potiki has exhibited art work and one of her piecesHinewai is in the collection of theDowse Art Museum.[5]
The poemStones in her Mouth by Potiki inspired contemporary New Zealand choreographerLemi Ponifasio to create a community leadership project also calledStones in her Mouth in 2013. This involved a group of Māori women holding workshops at marae and writing text that was then performed.[13]
Before actorRena Owen was inOnce Were Warriors she performed a similar role in theatre company He Ara Hou's playWhatungarongaro that Potiki a co-creator of. Owens performance inWhatungarongaro influenced her being cast in Once Were Warriors.[14]
Playwright and director of theatre company Tawata ProductionsHone Kouka cites seeingWhatungarongaro in 1991 at the Depot Theatre in Wellington as being life changing and convincing him that innovative Māori theatre had no boundaries.[15] Another New Zealand theatre and film writerBriar Grace-Smith was an assistant to Potiki and learnt from the process of makingWhatungarongaro.[11]
Whatungarongaro(1990) Roma Potiki and He Ara Hou. Published inTa Matou Mangai: Three Plays of the 1990s: Irirangi Bay, Taku Mangai, Whatungarongaro (1999) ed.Hone Kouka. Publisher: Victoria University Press, Wellington, N.Z.
Introduction -He Reo Hou: 5 Plays by Māori playwrights(1991) ed. Simon Garrett. Publisher: Playmarket, Wellington, N.Z.
Robyn Kahukiwa : Works from 1985 - 1995 (1995) Exhibition catalogue. Includes essays by Anne Kirker and Jonathan Mané-Wheoki, and an interview by Roma Potiki. Publisher: Bowen Galleries, Wellington N.Z.[16]
Memory Walking (1998) "Exhibition of contemporary paintings, prints and installation work by eight women artists from around the world." Text by Roma Potiki. Exhibiting artists: Lubaina Himid, Michi itami, Robyn Kahukiwa, Jean LaMarr, Lily Laita, Debra Priestly, Maud Sulter, Judy Watson. Publisher: City Gallery, Wellington N.Z.[16]
^Toi te Ao : Aotearoa world celebration of indigenous art and history, Te Taumata Gallery, Auckland, 1993. Wellington [N.Z.]: Toi Te Ao Art Committee. 1993. p. 32.ISBN0473023113.OCLC154557391.
^Robinson, Roger; Wattie, Nelson, eds. (1998).The Oxford companion to New Zealand literature. Melbourne, Victoria.: Oxford University Press. pp. 448–449.ISBN0195583485.OCLC40598609.
^Balme, Christopher B. (1999).Decolonizing the stage : theatrical syncretism and post-colonial drama. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 64–65.ISBN0198184441.OCLC39655593.
^abcUnderhill, Bridget."Roma Potiki".www.komako.org.nz. Retrieved9 November 2019.
^"Potiki, Roma".www.read-nz.org. January 2017. Retrieved9 November 2019.
^abcde"Roma Potiki".Poetry Foundation. 15 November 2019. Retrieved15 November 2019.
^abO'Donnell, David (2007). "Calming the Oceans: Interview with Briar Grace-Smith". In Maufort, Marc; O'Donnell, David (eds.).Performing Aotearoa : New Zealand theatre and drama in an age of transition. Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang. p. 271.ISBN978-90-5201-359-6.OCLC165412282.
^Warrington, Lisa (2017).Floating Islanders : Pasifika theatre in Aotearoa. O'Donnell, David, 1956-. Dunedin, New Zealand. p. 139.ISBN978-1-988531-07-6.OCLC994638351.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Edmond, Murray (2007). ""Autonomous Theatre" in New Zealand". In Maufort, Marc; O'Donnell, David (eds.).Performing Aotearoa : New Zealand theatre and drama in an age of transition. Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang. p. 65.ISBN978-90-5201-359-6.OCLC165412282.
^Kouka, Hone (2007). "The State of Contemporary Theatre". In Maufort, Marc; O'Donnell, David (eds.).Performing Aotearoa : New Zealand theatre and drama in an age of transition. Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang. p. 240.ISBN978-90-5201-359-6.OCLC165412282.
