A packed house for Upu at the Mayfair Theatre on Saturday evening listened intensely to every word and every line, reacting with quiet laughs and outright belly laughs.
Minimal staging, intelligent use of light, draught and dry ice encouraged concentration on the poetry. Sharp diction, succinct movement and superb editing created an edge-of-seat event.
The power and the variety of the narrative and allegorical poetry is captivating. Their content creates an honest upfront declaration of the ongoing impacts of colonialism. Upu is very angry, highly amusing and self-deprecating. The audience missed nothing of its power.
Colonialist affronts to the Pasifika world view and social wellbeing range from the insult of governors and missionaries making value judgements based on body colour, size and shape, to lowered employment expectations, social degradation while simultaneously pressuring Pasifika to mimic Palangi’s (Pākehā) "successes". Skinny white guys have got a lot to answer for.
The show is finely tuned poetry in motion. Actors and directors Fasitua Amosa and Grace Iwashita-Taylor with actors Maiava Nathaniel Lees, Mia Blake, Nicola Kāwana, Ana Corbett and Shadon Meredith have drawn pieces by iconic wordsmiths Albert Wendt, Karlo Mia and others from across Pasifika.
Works disclose the effects of Palangi interventions (spam and Gauguin) to rising oceans enveloping the porch of the Girl from Valu, to the tan Māori Jesus walking through Auckland’s meth labs, and Pākehā telling a Māori joke, to the Lapita pot’s anthropological importance. The poetic diversity mixes the hard-hitting with the whimsical, the pithy with the ode. Upu richly deserves its international success.
This basket of stories clearly illustrates the word is mighty for those who have the heart to receive it.
Recent affronts to Māori sovereignty have heightened Pākehā awareness of the wealth contained in others’ truths.
Upu is essential viewing.
Review by Marian Poole
