Anapela Polataivao and Goretti Chadwick, last seen on stage in Auckland Theatre Company’s hugely successful MY NAME IS GARY COOPER, round off the ensemble cast.
In 2007 they appeared together on the silver screen in SIONE’S WEDDING. WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED marks the first time the brothers have appeared on stage together. Joining Vaele are the celebrated Samoan actors Robbie and Pua Magasiva. She was in the original cast of FRANGIPANI PERFUME which toured to Canada in 2006. Vaele burst on stage in Pacific Underground’s production of DAWN RAIDS, and also appeared in the feature films SIONE’S WEDDING, ROMEO & TUSI and TATAU – RITES OF PASSAGE. Joy Vaele takes the lead role of Alofa Filiga. Like Dave Armstrong’s previous hit NIU SILA, WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED has the same simple, honest staging which highlights the storytelling and celebrates the actor’s talent and invention," says McColl.
"At previews of WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED audiences were swept away. WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED honours both these traditional forms of performance in a contemporary and innovative way. The fa’aluma (or clown) performs satirical village comedy for the entertainment of the community. The first of these is the fofo (native doctor) who performs shaman-like rituals for the healing of illnesses. In Samoan tradition two forms of performance illustrate the relationship between ritual and theatre. The staging of WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED draws on traditional Samoan fale-style storytelling techniques where the audience sits right around the performance area.
Brave, brutal, unflinchingly honest and very, very funny," says director Colin McColl, "it has the same innocent perspective on a chaotic rite of passage as MISTER PIP or THE KITE RUNNER." "This is a coming of age story in Samoa that Margaret Mead could never have imagined. Written by Sia Figiel and adapted for the stage by Dave Armstrong WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED will premiere in Wellington at Downstage Theatre and be performed from March 8 – March 16 2008.Īs young Alofa Filiga navigates the mores and restrictions of her Samoan village, she begins to come to terms with her own changing sense of identity and the price she must pay for it.
Lively, spirited and fiercely written, Where We Once Belonged is a starkly honest, sometimes brutal, yet often wildly funny coming-of-age story is co-produced by the Festival and Auckland Theatre Company during March. New Zealand International Arts Festival Production Details Concert Chamber - Town Hall, THE EDGE, Auckland
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