Geography: Oceania > Australia and New Zealand > New Zealand
Year: 2003
Produced by: Downstage Theatre
Creative Team: Written by Dave Armstrong and Oscar Kightley; directed by Conrad Newport; originally performed by David Fane and Damon Andrews
Synopsis: Niu Sila follows the friendship between Ioane, a Samoan New Zealander, and Peter, a Pākehā boy, from childhood into adulthood. Two actors perform a large range of relatives and neighbours, making the social world around the friendship visible through rapid character changes. The title uses a Samoan pronunciation of New Zealand, this signals that the nation is experienced differently across different languages and communities. The consequences and racial assumptions Ionane’s family faces after arrival shape Ionane’s education. The friendship creates intimacy across cultural differences, but it does not remove the unequal ways the two men are treated. Niu Sila is relevant to post migration identity because Ioane’s belonging is repeatedly questioned by others. The production displays ordinary Pacific New Zealand life whilst also revealing the social mechanisms that continually mark migrants as other.
Source: Te Ara, production and cultural-history feature: https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/43428/niu-sila Armstrong Creative, project archive: https://www.armstrongcreative.co.nz/projects/niusila