Claire Ahuriri-Dunning (born 1989) is a New Zealand playwright.[1]
Personal life
Ahuriri-Dunning was born in Takapuna, Auckland, in 1989.[1] She has Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Scots, German Jewish and Irish Catholic heritage.[1] She was educated at Glenfield College, and then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Auckland.[1] She has worked as a software tester and a drama teacher at a high school.[2][1] 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]
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][3]
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".[13]
Ahuriri-Dunning has also published a board game, Cat Capers.[1]
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.[1]
