This book celebrates 30 years of Pasifika theatre in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Pacific Underground, Pacific Theatre, The Laughing Samoans, The Conch, The Naked Samoans, Kila Kokonut Krew the distinctive style and themes of Pasifika theatre have been developed by many individuals and theatre companies in New Zealand. Authors Lisa Warrington and David ODonnell have interviewed over 30 theatre practitioners to tell the story of Pasifika theatre in Aotearoa from 1984 to 2015. This lively book showcases playwrights, directors and performers whose heritage lies in Samoa, Niue, Fiji, Tonga, Tokelau and the Cook Islands. Extracts from the interviews are threaded throughout the book, providing often entertaining insights into their history and creative practice. While the immigrant experience of living in two worlds is often seen as troubled, the authors suggest that this in-between-ness has been turned to advantage in Pasifika theatre to create a unique and often subversive performance phenomenon. Not only is Pasifika theatre a success story within the performing arts in New Zealand, it is also an intriguing case study of migrant theatre that has international resonance.
Lisa Warrington is a theatre director and associate professor in theatre studies at the University of Otago. She has directed over 125 productions, including 30 for Dunedin's professional company the Fortune Theatre. She has commissioned new works and served as director or dramaturg with Playmarket (the national playwrights' agency) on a number of new play workshops. She co-edited Playlunch, a volume of short plays that is now in its second edition (OUP), and has published a number of articles on New Zealand theatre and colonial theatre history. Theatre Aotearoa, Lisa's database of all New Zealand theatre, including over 14,000 productions, may be viewed at http:// tadb.otago.ac.nz
David O'Donnell is a theatre director and associate professor in theatre at Victoria University of Wellington. He has directed many premieres of New Zealand plays, including Heat by Lynda Chanwai-Earle and West End Girls by Ken Duncum. In 2004 he was voted director of the year in the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for directing David Edgar's Albert Speer, and in 2015 he won a Po`okela directing award from the Hawai`i State Theatre Council. David has published widely on New Zealand theatre, including co-editing (with Marc Maufort) Performing Aotearoa (2007), and has been editor of the Playmarket New Zealand Play Series since 2010.
