No skirting these Polynesian issues
Tusiata Avia’s one-woman show Wild Dogs Under My Skirt has taken on a life of its own.
Written 16 years ago, her play has been performed all around the world but is returning to Wellington under the direction of Anapela Polata’ivao as a sixwoman production.
Set primarily in Samoa, it explores the life and perspectives of Samoan women, applying a light touch to delve into some taboo themes.
‘‘She’s got some really clever poems in there that on the surface seem kind of welcoming [and] warm – your kind of idealised version of the Pacific – but, underneath a lot of them, the women are really baring their teeth,’’ executive producer Victor Rodger says.
Avia debuted the play in 2002 and performed it until 2008 as a solo piece. She says, at its essence, it’s about power imbalance – a theme that makes it relevant to audiences today.
‘‘That’s why I was able to travel [with] it all over the world and people who had no idea of the Pacific, or any of those kind of references around the Pacific, that didn’t matter – that was just icing.
‘‘They got it because I’m talking about injustice and abuse and the way we treat children, and sex and love; things that we all understand.’’
Avia’s poetry forms monologues for the female characters who discuss confronting subjects such as sexual abuse. ‘‘Using that in poetry, you don’t have to use a heavy hand; that is the thing, you can use a really light touch. You can almost be quite sly about it.’’
Her new production is more performative, offering some narrative elements to link the women’s stories.
Under Polata’ivao’s direction, the production has expanded into a bigger, fuller, much more exciting piece, Avia says.
‘‘She has really taken it to a whole other level and she’s really made it fly.’’
The combination of having Polata’ivao as director and Avia’s cousin, influential Pacific playwright Victor Rodger, as the show’s executive producer is ‘‘really the dream team’’.
‘‘They are taking this very precious baby of mine and I feel completely confident that they will do the right thing with it.’’
Rodger was the one who originally suggested re-forming the play in 2015 with six actresses.
He liked the idea of a show which had Pacific women at the heart of its narrative, not relegated to supporting roles.
A successful staging of the play in 2016 in Auckland demonstrated that the work had not aged and was still hitting home with audiences, Rodger says.
‘‘I’m a great believer, when you’re really specific in the work, that is what ironically can make it really universal.
‘‘It’s a reasonably confronting show because it is six Pacific women who are really standing unapologetically in their unbridled sensuality by the end of the show. It’s powerful, it’s a powerful, powerful piece.’’
Since signing on as director, Polata’ivao says she has been attracted to Avia’s fierce, fearless voice. Growing up Samoan, she related on a visceral level to the play’s feeling of wanting to break free from constricting rules that were dictated to her through her Polynesian upbringing.
‘‘There is that inner-scream and defiance and celebration in her work,’’ Polata’ivao says.