Petmal Petelo Photo: Supplied
You may have heard the phrase ‘triple threat’ in the arts, but Petmal Petelo is perhaps a quadruple threat. A dancer, actor, stage manager and assistant director she’s been steadily rising in the theatre world.
The Samoan born and raised performer grew up in a family of six children. Following a visit with her grandma to Aotearoa at the age of eight, she had always imagined returning to New Zealand at some point. A fateful phone call from her uncle in New Zealand, saw her chosen from her siblings to be sent over for high-school. She hopped on a plane at the age of 16, to pursue a high school education at Rutherford College where she became a prefect.
Speaking to Culture 101’s Perlina Lau, Petelo admits while she loved Samoa, she felt limited there and didn’t feel she could grow. It wasn’t until towards the end of high-school, she had a taste of acting and decided to pursue a path in performing arts.
Petelo enrolled at the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts - PIPA and while studying there, met writer and director Anapela Polataivao, who took Petmal under her wing and gave her a stage managing role as her first professional job. It was while studying and stage managing Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, she was given the opportunity to audition for one of the roles.
Landing the part, the show went on tour to New York in 2019 drawing in audiences from across the US including Hawaii and California. From there, she was then cast in The Savage Coloniser Show, also by Tusiata Avia and performed in every show with the ensemble.
The Savage Coloniser Show will be in Christchurch as part of the Word Festival 10-13 September, before travelling to Te Tairawhiti, Gisborne and then to the Seoul Performing Arts Festival at the end of October, for its first international season.
