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THE
LIJAN PRESENTS TARO KING – VELA MANUSAUTE |
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By Frelimo ‘Ilolahia |
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Hot off the plate from the 36th Auckland International Film Festival
and Bro Town, Vela Manusaute is ready to take ‘Taro King’ to the
Theatre capital of New Zealand, Wellington.
‘Taro King’ is a play set in a Supermarket in Otara, Auckland. We hear
the struggle of a man called Filipo (Samoan born but was raised here in
NZ), who cuts taro for a living, searches and dreams about the land of
milk and honey that his father has promised him. With a young family to
support he is a hard-working man full of pride as a pacific islander.
The Supermarket that he works for is run by Indians from Fiji and
importing Taro is a major income for the store until a coup strikes in
Fiji that forces the NZ government to stop all trades with Fiji. This
puts a strain on the stores’ profit and especially Filipo. The play is
about an islander in South Auckland working for promises that will
never come.
Filipo’s family environment is also bought under scrutiny in this
script. We will meet the people who have shaped him into the young man
he is today. Apart from his eagerness to please his boss, Filipo also
has an inherent propensity to fulfil his cultural side by adhering to
the “Fa’a Samoa” or the “Samoan way”
Taro King explores the relationships that are created when three
different cultures clash within the same habitat. Filipo plays the
pivotal role in this story of a son and breadwinner for the family. It
is Filipo’s relationship with Raj (his fijian work mate) that opens the
proverbial can of worms of culture and understanding within this play.
At a time when most things in the
pacific are volatile to say the least, the coup in Fiji brings most of
Filipo’s life to a crashing halt. The market for Taro is drying up due
to a man called “George Speights”, horrible consequences are set in the
back room of a super market and both Indian and Samoan will face
challenges to control their own destinies.
Taro King played to Auckland
audiences at the maidment studio, where it opened to a full house! With
out exception everyone was treated to one of New Zealands new talents.
Writer and director, Vela Manusaute was soon the talk of the Auckland
theatre. He had taken an untreated script and chose almost twenty
unknown young actors and created a play that would capture and inspire
audiences of all races.
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Vela Manusaute, writer and director of the Taro King play; a
member of the comedian dual of the Brownies. |
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Raj Varma plays the Fiji Islander owner of the Otara supermarket
and Aleini Tufuga who plays Filipo in the King Taro play. |
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Raj Varma one of almost twenty new actors being cast in the King
Taro play, written and directed by Vela Manusaute.
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“....I was deeply excited by the authenticity of the world and the
voices that Vela was bringing to the stage...... His (Vela’s) work is
deeply felt and brilliantly satirical at the same time...... It is a
creative force driving us from the margins. Vela is one of those voices
- a mouthpiece from South Auckland.” Christian Penny, Head of
Directing, Te Kura Toi Whakaari o Aotearoa New Zealand Drama School,
2004.
This time around, the cast is a more experienced set of actors together
with a couple of the original main characters who have developed
themselves even more since the original show in Auckland.
After extensive script development through Playmarket, Taro King will
be staged at the BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace, Wellington from October
20th to 23rd, 2004.
The Taro King is a story of the people who live in the lower end of the
socio economic table. It will tell a tale of laughter, love and loss.
Some people are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them. And
so our story begins.
For more information contact Frelimo ‘Ilolahia on 021 294 2365,
or
frelimo@thelijan.com
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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