What must grow, must die.
To most, Aotearoa is an idyllic safe haven from the world where racial harmony has been largely achieved. But unseen layers run deep. Nam Woon Kim’s first play uncovers some ugly truths about Aotearoa’s past as he aims to dig into the complexity of those that are lucky enough to land on this soil.
A land surveyor encounters a friendly ghost but fails to heed his warning, dooming a couple who will settle there years later, to a deep hunger beyond their understanding.
Nam is a writer and photographer interested in modern horror and the unexpected places you can find it – from the soft zapping of powerlines to vacant subdivisions. With a newfound appetite for theatre, this is his first time writing for the stage. Nam’s creative experience includes being an interpreter for a K-pop music video, running a university student magazine, and interning at an independent music label. He also loves zine-making and has tabled at Overload NZ and Auckland Zinefest.
PAT interviewed Nam ahead of his public reading.
New Zealand is a Garden by Nam Woon Kim:
Saturday 30 May, 7:30pm
This is a lab; an exciting first outing for a brand new story. Come through and support the next cohort of Fresh new plays!
BOOK NOW: bit.ly/FOTPAKL26
Where do you draw inspiration for your project? / Were there particular experiences, ideas, or tensions that inspired this piece?
Nam Woon Kim
When this story first started out as a series of notes and a loose premise three years ago, it lived on my computer as “The Garden”. The current title comes from a speech made by a senior diplomat to the EU who remarked that “Europe is a garden” and characterised the rest of the world as a “jungle” which Europe must guide.
New Zealand shares this arrogance and tries to maintain a facade of peace-loving enlightenment (a tough sell in 2026 given our complicity with the crimes being committed in Palestine, most recently also Iran and Lebanon). Although this story has changed since then, and continues to change with each rewrite, my most enduring source of inspiration is probably the tension between what New Zealand is, and what it claims to be.
“... my most enduring source of inspiration is probably the tension between what New Zealand is, and what it claims to be.”
Korean music is also always inspiring me. Vintage South Korean pop made prior to democratisation and the cacophony of my favourite album from last year, Huremic’s Seeking Darkness are some of what sits on my sonic mood board.
Huremic’s Seeking Darkness Album cover
What are you hoping to get out of your development reading?
This is my first time writing a play, and I’ve already gotten so much out of it thanks to Jane, my dramaturg (plus the amazing PAT team behind the scenes and the actors who’ve generously signed up to perform the reading).
It’s been a process of learnings and unlearnings, and from the reading itself with the audience there to guide me further, I hope to get a sense of whether the story feels grounded in something real. Does it feel plucked out of thin air? Or is there something honest to the proceedings? – though it may be dressed up in fiction. I hope to keep polishing the story and keep it alive after.
What made this a story you wanted to tell, and what keeps you coming back to this story, on a personal level?
I love art that captures what it feels like to be alive in our times today. A comment online said this in praise of a hip-hop duo I’m fond of, Armand Hammer, and I’ve never quite stopped thinking about it since – this idea of stories as archiving moments in history through emotions.
I wanted to tell a story that captures this essence of today through the lens I know best, that of a Korean immigrant living in New Zealand. Where do I sit in society? What has changed since I was a teenager? What hasn’t? These types of questions keep me coming back.
“What has changed since I was a teenager? What hasn’t? These types of questions keep me coming back.”
What’s one thing you’d like to share about your writing process?
I’ll confess I’m still figuring out my writing process! I guess working on this project I’ve learned that ruminating doesn’t produce any answers when feeling stuck. Stepping away from my phone and switching off with a movie, or a play, has been helpful to keeping the ball moving. Then when I least expect it, a breakthrough happens, usually when I’m brushing my teeth or in the shower.
What’s one question you have about your own script or story at this point? Or a problem you’re trying to solve?
Right now I’m revisiting the structure of the story. Reviewing what each character wants and how they might go about getting it has been helpful. Choosing an interesting, but honest, path for the characters to follow while tying things together thematically is my next challenge.
Nam is supported by dramaturg/director Jane Yonge (a mixtape for maladies, Our Own Little Mess, Scenes from a Yellow Peril) along with a stellar cast including returning whānau from PAT’s most recent production of Genuine and Stable, Junghwi Jo and Uhyoung Choi, joined by new whānau Hae Yeon Seol and Ben Son.
See you there!
BOOK NOW: bit.ly/FOTPAKL26