'Talofa lava' - it is Samoan language week

Transcript

1918, a play written and directed by Tupe Lualua, looks at the devastating Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918, and the effects of the disease which claimed the lives of nearly 8,500 people in Samoa.

TUPE LUALUA: It's part of Samoan history that either a lot of people know about or don't know about, so it's really important I think for us that are in the realm of thither and Pacific dance and performing arts to really use what we do to relay the messages and the history to and to just to be that voice for those can't speak because their lives were cut short because of the pandemic, and these are the results of colonism.

She says her piece was also inspired by the memories of her beloved Grandmother, Avea'i Fui, and the research of Dr John McLane.

TUPE LUALUA: Even for myself doing the research, just reading has really been informative for me and my cast, my amazing cast, so a lot of them didn't know about it and they have been learning through this process, I'm extremely proud of what we put out, and just to know that even though these things happen, we are strong, we are thriving and we like in both worlds, where we try and hold onto our heritage and move forward in this western world and the world that's continuously changing.

Latch
Another performace at the festival is Latch, a dance piece directed and choreographed by Sophia Uele.

Sophia says the inspiration for her piece came from her grandparents, and she dedicated the piece to them, saying she hopes they are looking down from heaven and are proud of her.

SOPHIA UELE: I wanted to show that I still go back to my roots with what my grandparents with the traditional Samoan but then also mix in the modern contemporary dance that I am living in now:

Spirits:Tatau

Spirits: Tatau, a piece by NZ-Samoan playwright, Sipeleni Muaau, looks at the spirit world.  

SIPELENI MUAAU: So I wrote a play at the end of last year, towards the end of my honours studies, and for me growing up, I looked towards Oscar Kightley, a famous playwright in NZ, Samoan, and I thought a lot of his plays are awesome and they relate perfectly and I can see how they did so well because the way they spoke to us as being Pacific Island, but I thought there was more of the migrant experience, the experience of my parents and I could see that it was awesome , I am now the second generation NZ, so there weren't many things that spoke to me personally as being young now, and so I thought, why not write.

Sipeleni explains what the play means.

SIPELENI MUAAU: Essentially it's about being young and PI in New Zealand, and playing rugby, and it's a lot of that but at the sametime there's this piece also encompasses the spirit world and it's a world that, you grow up being PI and you know that it exists and you hear stories back home and I thought I'd write something like that because it's something that speaks to things that a lot of young PIs don't express it out loud, and I thought I would write something like that.  This piece is still in the work shop, so this year I'm still developing the script, and so I've got the first draft, and throughout this year, I'll be workshopping it and this happens to be one of the first work shops pieces for "Black Out".

The director of Spirits: Tatau, Ian Lesa, says there are two main characters in the piece are couple Su'a and Al.

IAN LESA: What we were trying to work out in this project is what's there relationship to the spirit world and one for us was to contrast that was to get the audience to be as part of the show to have that interactive feeling, so they could have a sense of what that might be for them. So from my perspective, it's not imposing a meaning or our onto the audience but rather the audience taking their own meaning for their experiences."

Versions of Allah

MOANA ETE: I sort of started off from the perspective of granddaughters writing letters to their grandmothers about what they really wanted to say, if there was one thing you wanted to say to your grandmother what would it be and that's where it came from.

Moana Ete, talking about her piece Versions of Allah, a range of short skits, with her grandmother as the thread in the piece.

MOANA ETE: About my spirituality and how important that is to me, but how important it is also, it's just as equally important to my grandmother her spirituality, her religion, sort of that line of respect, but also, drawing your boundaries about who you are, and the type of person you are in this world".

She says she's always wanted to write a piece like this.

MOANA ETE: I think for this showing at Measina Festival, I just wanted to narrow it down to catholicism, christianity but certainly in a bigger, bigger sort of sense I really want to be able to talk about all the other sort of major religions, judaism, islam and also Hinduism and Buddhism, I just started at one place and I really wanted to put it to see how far I can go with Samoans exploring all aspects of religion and spiritually.

The producer of the Measina Festival, Sandi Malesic, says the festival has something to offer everyone.

SANDI MALESIC: Within the many shows that we have, we have a kids show, we have this particular show, we have body of work in progress, we have shows that have toured all around the country, so you will get a slice of everything and it will apply to you whether you are the youngest, the oldest, the foreigner, second third generation, you will find something there for you for sure.