Upu
Mayfair Theatre
Saturday, April 6
Review by SAM HENDERSON
An ‘‘ocean of storytellers’’ was celebrated during the recent performance of Upu at the Mayfair Theatre.
This was an opportunity to dive into a sea of stories created by a wide range of poets from across the Pacific Islands. From the tap, tap, tap of a traditional tattoo to the shivers of sinful sex, the tales revealed vivid experiences of the loves, lives and loss of the Pacific peoples.
More than 30 poems from writers representing countries in the Pacific, including Aotearoa, Sāmoa, Fiji, Hawaiʻi, Tonga, Guam and Vanuatu were part of the performance. The chilling aftermath of colonisation, the destruction of tradition and the dark shadow of racism were some of the subjects explored.
An angry assault on Gauguin was given voice in Selina Tusitala Marsh’s Two Nudes On A Tahitian Beach, railing at the reductive caricature of Pacific women in the colonial past and, in the process, taking back control of female voices.
Sia Figiel’s Songs of the Fat Brown Woman celebrated the strength of Samoan sisters and mothers.
Briar Grace-Smith’s How I Got My Name related a tale of birth as well as scorn for smooth-faced doctors and good-for-nothing men who were only there for the conception.
The poems of Upu were vivid and emotional, but not without lightness as well.
Spam’s Carbon Footprint by Guam’s Craig Santos Perez was a wry and witty essay on the island’s peculiar history as the SPAM® capital of the world.
These voices from Oceania were performed by Maiava Nathaniel Lees, Nicola Kāwana, Mia Blake, Ana Corbett, Fasitua Amosa and Shadon Meredith. This ensemble of talented actors inhabited the souls of storytellers with forceful energy.
The set design by Michael McCabe was a simple yet effective series of risers. A moody lighting palette by Rowan Pierce allowed performers to emerge from and sink into the shadows, while visual projections by artist Tyla Vaeau added depth to the poetic imagery. A striking exploration of climate change and rising sea levels was cleverly illustrated by a blue laser light travelling up the bodies of the performers and out into the audience.
Choreography by Joash Fahitua was simple but fluid and an imaginative soundscape by ‘Anonymouz’, aka Faiumu Matthew Salapu added an emotive audio backdrop to the evening.
The work was created by the UPU Collective, founded by Ana Corbett, Grace Iwashita-Taylor and Fasitua Amosa.
Upu was a reminder that the powerful storytelling tradition of the Pacific peoples continues to enrich and illuminate our collective cultural experience.
