The Savage Coloniser Show – Auckland Arts Festival 2023

The Savage Coloniser Show

BY TUSIATA AVIA

Rangatira, Q Theatre 9–12 March 2023

The Savage Coloniser Show

Written by Tusiata Avia

Directed by

Anapela Polata’ivao

Produced by Victor Rodger for FCC

Assistant Director

Stacey Leilua

Costume Designer

Elizabeth Whiting

Production Designers

Filament Eleven 11:

Brad Gledhill & Rachel Marlow

Choreographers

Mario Faumui

Tupua Tigafua

Composer

David Long

Stage Manager

Chrissy Vaega

1hr 10mins approx

World Premiere: 9 March 2023, Rangatira, Q Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

Commissioned by Auckland Arts Festival

IMAGES: Tusiata Avia (front cover) and machete by Toaki Okano, Alt Group

Performers

Frankie Adams

Mario Faumui

Ilaisaane Green

Stacey Leilua

Joanna Mika-Toloa

Petmal Petelo

Iuni-Katalaina Polata’ivao-Saute

Fa’afetai tele lava to

Creative New Zealand

Vaimaila Urale-Baker

Leki Jackson Bourke

Tusitina & Pulega Polata’ivao

Rocky Manusaute

Vela Manusaute

Letti Wickman

Sapati Apa-Fepulea’i

Lyncia Muller

Sese Pahulu

Fa’amele Etuale

Onehunga Community House

Warning: The content of this show touches on important but difficult historical societal themes such as colonisation, slavery, genocide, sexual abuse and racism. Suitable for ages 14+. Contains strong language.

SUPPORTED BY

CREDITS

TUSIATA AVIA Writer

One of Aranui’s finest, Tusiata Avia, MNZM, crushed it with her first poetry collection, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, which she toured around the world for several years as a one-woman show. In 2020 she was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to poetry and arts and the following year became the first female Pasifika winner of the Ockham award for poetry with her fourth collection, The Savage Coloniser Book.

ANAPELA POLATA’IVAO Director

Multi-award-winning director and actress Anapela is from the villages of Vailoa ma Vaiusu in Upolu and Fagae’e ma Safune in Savai’i. Since graduating from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 2000 she has directed diverse works such as Alofagia Le Opera with Sole Mio and the Pasifika musical The Factory. She won awards for both directing and acting in the critically acclaimed FCC production of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt.

VICTOR RODGER Producer

Best known for turning his daddy issues into a cottage industry, Wainoni-born playwright Victor Rodger, ONZM, created the theatre entity FCC (Flow, Create, Connect) to give his Pasifika mates roles that placed them at the heart of the narrative. Celebrated for his hit play Black Faggot, he was named an Officer of the Order of New Zealand Merit in 2021 for services to theatre and Pacific arts.

STACEY LEILUA Assistant

Director

See cast credits for bio

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

“The Savage

Coloniser Show

is a mirror. You’ll see yourself, your culture, your country and your world: left wing, right wing, no wings, South Auckland teenager, Devonport matron. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll squirm. Whoever you are, I invite you to take a look.”

— Tusiata Avia mnzm

“This is a piece that pushes the audience from pillar to post, where laughter will catch in your throat. Where tears may suddenly appear. Where anger – either in recognition or indignation – will never be far away. Buckle up.”

— Victor Rodger onzm

Khandallah native Elizabeth Whiting is the Rolls Royce of costume designers in Aotearoa and once dressed Savage Coloniser’s director Anapela Polata’ivao as a mafia-esque rat in The Worm Her work for opera, theatre, ballet and the World of Wearble Art has been seen throughout New Zealand and as far abroad as Edinburgh, Perth, Seattle and Kentucky. No stranger to designing Pasifika works, her past credits including designs for Black Grace and Victor Rodger’s My Name is Gary Cooper for Auckland Theatre Company.

FILAMENT ELEVEN 11: BRAD GLEDHILL & RACHEL MARLOW Production Designers

One time Lower Hutt local Rachel Marlow and North Shore native Bradley Gledhill are the co-founders of design company Filament Eleven 11 and create production designs – lighting/set/video – for live events and public experiences, both nationally and internationally. Individually, Marlow was the awardwinning lighting designer for FCC’s acclaimed production of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt while Gledhill’s many credits include lighting Victor Rodger’s play My Name is Gary Cooper

See cast credts for bio

Tupua Tigafua has danced with companies such as Black Grace, Mau and White Face Crew before establishing his own path as an independent artist. A son of Mt Wellington, in 2017 he debuted his own piece Shel We at the Measina Festival to huge acclaim and went on to perform it at the BIBU biennial in Sweden. Most recently he collaborated with composer David Long on the celebrated piece Ciggy Butts in the Sand.

In 2022 Upper Hutt muso David Long released the album Ash and Bone and is soon to release a chamber orchestra piece, I’ll Hum the First Few Bars. He also scored Loren Taylor’s upcoming feature The Moon is Upside Down and Paul Oremland’s Mysterious Ways In 2021 he scored the feature film Punch, composed the score for Tupua Tigafua’s dance show Ciggy Butts in the Sand, and won Best Score for the TV series, The Luminaries.

Proud Avondale resident Chrissy Vaega has worked in wardrobe and costumes in TV, theatre and fashion editorials. She worked with Savage Coloniser’s Mario Faumui on projects for the MVPFAFF dance company Fine Fatale and was part of the wardrobe team for the acclaimed TV series Panthers, lead by award-winning costume designer Sammy Salsa.

ABOUT THE CREATIVES

ELIZABETH WHITING Costume Designer MARIO FAUMUI Choreographer – DAVID LONG Composer CHRISSY VAEGA Stage Manager TUPUA TIGAFUA Choreographer

Samoan born, Owairakaraised Frankie Adams ditched high school to join the cast of Shortland Street in 2010. Since then, her credits have included Wentworth, the hit American TV series The Expanse, and the awardwinning drama Panthers. Next up: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart opposite Avatar’s Sigourney Weaver.

A son of Mt Roskill, quadruple threat Mario Faumui has garnered acclaim as an actor, choreographer, director and writer. The choreographer for Wild Dogs Under My Skirt since 2016 and a founding member of the acclaimed MVPFAFF dance company Fine Fatale, last year he was nominated for Best Director at the New Zealand TV Awards for his work on the drama series Panthers

The star of Tropical Love Birds at Auckland Arts Festival 2021, Otara native, Ilaisaane Green’s credits include The Commons opposite Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt and the upcoming feature film Red White and Brass. For her role in the groundbreaking Tongan language webseries Brutal Lives, she won Best Actress at the 2020 Sydney Web Festival.

STACEY LEILUA

Stacey Leilua grew up on the streets of Papakura and Manurewa before before studying acting at Unitec and then became a director of the late, great Kila Kokonut Krew South Auckland theatre collective. An original cast member of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, she is now one of the stars of the hit NBC comedy series Young Rock

Long-time Point Chev

resident Joanna Mika-Toloa is a singer and actress whose credits include Victor Rodger’s plays Girl on a Corner and Sons. She is an original member of the Wild Dogs Under My Skirt cast who performed to critical acclaim OffBroadway at the SoHo Playhouse in 2020 and also travelled to Edinburgh as part of the cast of the Pasifika musical The Factory in 2014.

A proud daughter of Samoa, Petmal Petelo was the stage manager for the first production of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt in 2016, before joining the cast in 2018. Since then, she has won a Best Newcomer Award at the 2018 Auckland Theatre Awards and made her screen debut in Teine Sa: The Ancient Ones opposite fellow Savage Coloniser Frankie Adams, as well as receiving funding to create her first play.

IUNI-KATALAINA POLATA’IVAO-SAUTE

Straight outta South Auckland, Iuni-Katalaina Polata’ivao-Saute is also straight outta high school. The Savage Coloniser Show is her professional acting debut.

MARIO FAUMUI FRANKIE ADAMS JOANNA MIKA-TOLOA PETMAL PETELO ILAISAANE GREEN

ABOUT THE CAST

The Chosen Haram

An award-winning, emotionally candid work about sexuality, faith, addiction and connection that’s also a unique and complex take on circus.

Something that is ‘Haram’ is forbidden by Islam. The Chosen Haram tells the story of two gay men and their chance meeting through a dating app, portraying the highs and lows of their relationship and the social, cultural and personal barriers they face in seeking happiness and fulfilment.

Based on Edinburgh-born artist Sadiq Ali’s experience, combined with interviews with members of the LGBTQ+ community who identify as (ex) Muslim, The Chosen Haram explores the struggles faced by many people whose upbringing contradicts their personal truths, and how this can lead to self-destructive behaviour. Expect a heady mix of love, drugs and Islam, set to a banging soundtrack with ultra-sensual acrobatics on two Chinese poles.

Winner of the Innovate Award (Scottish Emerging Theatre Awards, 2021) and Lustrum Award for Unforgettable Performance (Summerhall Edinburgh Fringe Awards, 2022).

“A beautiful, affecting piece of physical theatre... Powerful, strong and sensual.” — the queer review

Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki / Auckland Arts Festival (AAF) champions change-making, the environment, ambitious ideas, powerful voices and unique experiences that open our eyes, our hearts and our minds.

The Festival takes place each March in New Zealand’s largest city, and reflects its contemporary, multicultural nature.

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Through the incredible work of artists here in Aotearoa and across the globe, we aim to unify, uplift and inspire our audiences – the people of Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa and all who visit.

The Auckland Festival Trust

Ph +64 09 309 0101 Email info@aaf.co.nz

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PO Box 5419, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142

Aotearoa New Zealand

Rangatira, Q Theatre 24–26 March

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