Nancy Brunning (1971 – 16 November 2019) was a New Zealand actress, director, and writer who won awards in film and television and made a major contribution to the growth of Māori in the arts.
In 1994, she appeared in the classic Nga Tangata Toa play written by Hone Kouka and directed by Colin McColl.
Brunning also appeared on stage in major productions for the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, the biggest arts event in the country, in productions such as Hide ‘n’ Seek (1992) (NZ and Australian tour) and Waiora (1996) (NZ, Brighton Festival and Hawai'i tours) and Blue Smoke.
[8] A speaker of the indigenous Māori language, Brunning also worked as a theatre director,[9] cultural advisor and script consultant.
[10] She received a best actress nomination at the 2009 Qantas Film & TV Awards for her role in the movie Strength of Water.
"[12][13][14] Brunning's last creative work Witi's Wāhine premiered at the Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival in Gisborne in 2019.
[15][16][17][18] Emma Hislop, in her review of the 2023 staging at the ASB Waterfront Theatre, said that the play is an "incredible gift" from Brunning: "The 18 scenes in Witi's Wāhine weave an intricate pattern through Ihimaera’s works, and the result is astonishing".
[4] In a post on Facebook, New Zealand television and radio host Stacey Morrison wrote that Brunning was "Our māmā, our sister, our aunty, our friend, she has followed the call of her tīpuna.