Five of New Zealand's most talented Pacific Island writers and performers are heading off to Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

Oscar Kightley, Dave Fane, Shimpal Lelisi, Mario Gaoa and Robbie Magasiva - The Naked Samoans - will be performing at Backstage 1, Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh throughout the month of August.

The August trip will be the first overseas venture for the Naked Samoans, famous for their irreverent Pacific Island humour.

Since 1998, the Naked Samoans have worked with producer Caroline Armstrong to present three sell-out seasons during three International Laugh Festivals! They've also had recent sell-out Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch seasons, attracting a culturally diverse audience.

Oscar Kightley was the Artistic Director of Pacific Underground, which produced Fresh Off The Boat, Tatau, Dawn Raids as well as numerous theatre-in-education plays.Oscar co-wrote the International Festival production A Frigate Bird Sings with fellow Naked Samoan Dave Fane.Oscar's new play Island Girls opens at the Maidment Studio in June.

Award-winning actor Dave Fane (SKITZ, The Semisis, The Strip) is well known throughout New Zealand as one of the country's foremost Pacific Island dramatic actors and comedians, and the brilliant FOB Pisupo Semisi.

Shimpal Lelisi (Shortland Street, Topless Women Talk About Their Lives) is highly regarded as a dramatic actor and recently appeared in ATC's production Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, while Mario Gaoa has acted in many seminal Pacific Island theatre productions.

Robbie Magasiva (Stickmen, The Strip) joined the Naked's in January this year, and is well known for his theatre, film and television roles in New Zealand.

While much of their humour is ethnic specific, the Naked Samoans say they're not worried about how their comedy will translate over in Scotland.

Fane says their humour deals with complex issues which are universal including teenage romance, domestic violence, school, and dysfunctional families.

"The Scottish are renowned for having a very black humour so I think they'll get our jokes," says Fane. "They'll love the child beating scenes because they'll be able to relate to it. As long as people can relate to the context of our stories they'll enjoy it. In New Zealand we've got a growing Palagi audience who appreciate our humour because a lot of it's relevant to their lives."

Indeed the Naked Samoans have become increasingly popular in New Zealand because of their daring comedy. One newspaper reviewer said their ability to shock and make people laugh at the same time was a key to their success.
 

"Racism and violence are not usually part of the staple ingredients of a comedy show, but then Naked Samoans isn't your usual comedy show," wrote Evening Post theatre critic Laurie Atkinson. "The points made and the slightly uneasy ripples of disquiet their comedy has caused among so much laughter is a tribute to their powers as comedians who refuse to be just joke machines. Sometimes they do go over the edge and seem to leave the audience slightly shocked, but soon the intakes of breath are drowned by the noise of laughter at some outrageous scene or flight of fancy.

The Naked Samoans were formed in 1998 and presented their first show Naked Samoans Talk About Their Knives as part of the International Laugh Festival. This show had sell-out seasons in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

In 1999, The Naked Samoans presented Naked Samoans Go To Hollywood as part of the International Laugh Festival and again, the show sold out in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

In 2000, the third show Naked Samoans: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go was created and presented as part of the International Laugh Festival, selling out in Auckland and Wellington, and also selling out a return season in Auckland.

June 2001 saw Naked Samoans: The Trilogy presented at Auckland's Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre. The Trilogy featured highlights from the three previous sell-out shows, combined with all-new material. It was the whole story of the Naked Samoans - from their humble beginnings struggling to pay their account at the dairy, through high school break dancing competitions and first love, to discovering their mother really was a Tongan man…

It's this Trilogy show that will be performed over at the Edinburgh Festival, however the two-hour show will be cut down to sixty minutes with no interval.

"The group will not be making any major concessions to UK audiences regarding place names or local references," says producer Armstrong. "The story is the story - and even when we perform the show in NZ, different audiences react in different ways. The most important thing is the spirit and energy of the performers, and the way that they deal with a huge range of complex issues."

Armstrong says the group will monitor how the show goes with Edinburgh Festival audiences in its early days and make changes if they have to. "That's the great thing about the Naked's - they are a tight ensemble and think on their feet. They'll do whatever it takes to get the audience on-side."
 

Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd. 2004