Powerhouse Samoan Theatre Production Goes South

Following its wildly successful Aotearoa festival seasons and its award-wining New York debut in 2020, the fiercely moving and defiantly poetic Wild Dogs Under My Skirt confirms a South Island tour to Invercargill, Dunedin and Oamaru from 8-10 April.

Alive with the energy and rhythm of raw and lyrical performance poetry and oral traditions, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt challenges perceptions of culture, life and love. Based on Tusiata Avia’s provocative and unapologetic poetry, this is a play that explores power, politics, racism, love, sex, abuse and life between cultures. It’s a celebration of island life, the femininity of a Samoan woman and the wonderful complexity of both.
“…moved me to tears of laughter and tears of sadness and even tears of fury…”
RADIO NEW ZEALAND

Award-winning director Anapela Polata’ivao (The Factory) leads six formidable Pasifika actors in this production which has been developed alongside playwright and producer Victor Rodger’s company F.C.C. The production has rocked audiences both at home and in New York, where it played for 2 weeks at the SoHo Playhouse in 2020. New Yorkers raved about the production which went on to win the highly competitive top prize – The Fringe Encore Series 2019 Outstanding Production of the Year. The prize gifted the company a full 6 -week run off Broadway in April 2020, which was sadly cancelled due to covid.

Since its premiere at the Mangere Arts Centre in 2016, the accolades have come in thick and fast in Aotearoa with the production winning Actress of the Year for Anapela Polata’ivao, Lighting Designer of the Year for Rachel Marlow, and Production of the Year at the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards.

CREATIVES

Creatives involved in this production are some of New Zealand’s finest, most recognised talents. Director, Anapela is a true force in the Aotearoa and Pasifika performing arts scenes. Her work has been recognised with numerous awards including the Creative New Zealand Contemporary Pacific Artist Award and a New Generation Arts Laureate Award. Producer Victor Rodger was recently made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2021 New Year’s Honours list. As a playwright he’s been acknowledged at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards and received the Best New Writer and Most Outstanding New New Zealand Play awards. In 2001, he won the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award.

Writer, Tusiata Avia was recently awarded the Theresa Gattung Female Arts Practitioner Award as a 2020 Arts Foundation Laureate and has held a number of residencies including the Fulbright Pacific Writer’s Fellowship at University of Hawaii, and the Ursula Bethel Writer in Residence at University of Canterbury. She was the 2013 recipient of the Janet Frame Literary Trust Award. Her latest collection, The Savage Coloniser Book was published by VUP at the end of last year.

CAST

The cast and crew of this epic production include Joanna Mika-Toloa, Petmal Lam, Ilaisaane Green, Vaimaila Urale Baker, Anapela Polata’ivao and Musician, Leki Jackson-Bourke. Jackson-Bourke just won the Young Male of Influence Award at the inaugural Pacific Cooperation Foundation Youth Leadership Awards for outstanding service to Pasifika communities.

An audio drama of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt has also been produced by Radio New Zealand which will be broadcast on Standing Room Only on Sunday 7 March. This collaboration between RNZ and PAANZ, which operates Tour-Makers, has resulted in the creation of three full-length audio dramas from leading theatre-makers. These high-quality recordings offer more kiwis access to artistic excellence, while supporting artists in the creation of new avenues for their work in the wake of covid.

Flush with awards, international acclaim and an incredible cast and crew, – Wild Dogs Under My Skirt is an unmissable theatrical experience that is vivid, passionate, and truly compelling.

WILD DOGS UNDER MY SKIRT plays:
INVERCARGILL: 8 April. SIT Centrestage. Book at: ticketek.co.nz
DUNEDIN: 9 April.  Regent Theatre (as part of Dunedin Arts Festival) Book at: dunedinartsfestival.co.nz
OAMARU. 10 April. Oamaru (as part of Dunedin Arts Festival). Book at: oamaruoperahouse.co.nz

AUDIO DRAMA BROADCAST: Standing Room Only, RNZ, Sunday 7 March. More times to be announced.