Epic Little Bay
Epic Little Bay, led by Jacob Dombroksi is about reigniting the home fires, it is about connecting people to the beach, sea, breeze, whenua & each other.
Epic Little Bay was conceived as a live festival to be created on the south coast of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). As Covid-19 variants have pushed us to think about how we bring people together at this time, our initial thoughts to gather on the site of Tapu Te Ranga Marae and share breath have to wait until it’s safe to do so.
[Our original live event was scheduled to be delivered 12 March, it now looks like we will have something digital in time for June]
For Artistic Director Jacob Dombroski, Island Bay is his current tūrangawaewae, where he feels the most grounded in the world. Jacob’s keen to connect with the community, and celebrate performers from Aotearoa.
As it is Epic Little Bay is a festival in the making, a festival that is built by the people, and in turn it helps build them. An adaptation of the whakatauākī – Ko te ringa tangata i hanga i te whare, engari ko te tuara o te whare i hanga i te tangata – Those who build the house are also built by the house – and a guiding principle of Tapu Te Ranga Marae.
Jacob finds the beach is the best place for his wellbeing. He wants more people to be able to consistently reconnect with it and themselves. Ensuring people feel connected to where they are and proud of where they’re from.
We need to celebrate the powerful visions individuals and groups had as kaitiaki in setting up Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Manawa Karioi Ecological Restoration Project, Tawatawa Reserve, and others. The powerful vision of Bruce Stewart in daring to dream of a place where Te Ao Māori thrives and individuals don’t feel disconnected. And we need to keep dreaming together.
We’re keen to come together (however we can at this time) to connect with ourselves, tīpuna, family & friends and meet some new people on the way.
Creative Team:
Festival Director Jacob Dombroski
Executive Producer Jacob Dombroski
Producer Nic Lane
What if the City Was a Theatre (2021) – ELB644
Over four days during Wellington’s ‘What if the City Was a Theatre‘, we tested multiple ideas, and van styles.
Would you take time aside out of your busy day to be placed somewhere on Wellington’s coast? Would you take a stranger there to buy them an ice-cream?
Would you get down and dirty in the club? ELB644 was multiple experiments housed in a ‘rent by the hour’ carshare van over a handful of days roaming different areas of the CBD. These tests will fuel the development of a new work Epic Little Bay, led by Jacob Dombroksi.
Jacob Dombroski, nēe Te Amo (Ngāti Porou / Ngāi Tūhoe / Asau, Samoa) has been performing professionally for the past five years. Jacobs’ heart and spirit have shone through in award-winning productions like Wake Up Tomorrow and No Post On Sunday at Circa Theatre. In 2017 he began developing his solo work Big J Stylez to start to tell his story as well as creating the vessel to land his dream role as the bartender Winston Kimiora on Shortland Street. Epic Little Bay is the next waka to support his journey to deeper connect with his Māoritanga and just share good vibes.