The Whare Tapere.

The whare tapere was a house where the young people of a fort or village would gather at night in order to amuse themselves in various ways—i.e., with singing, dancing, playing of games, &c. It was the play-house of the neolithic Maori, and doubtless the prototype of the modern theatre of the intrusive pakeha (Europeans). It was not necessary that a village should have a house set aside or used specially for amusement. Such terms as “whare tapere,” “whare potae,” “whare pora,” &c., are to a great extent mere figures of speech. Still all amusements are spoken of as the arts of the whare tapere—i.e., the art of pleasure.