Festival Fever

The International Festival has finally started on Friday, and we are proud to host two iconic Kiwi shows at Downstage. Te Karakia opens tonight and tells a love story of hope and forgiveness set amidst the maelstrom of the 1981 Springbok Tour. Co-produced by multi-award-winning company Taki Rua Productions and the International Festival and written by NZ's boldest young playwright Albert Belz (winner of the 2006 Bruce Mason Playwrights Award and the Chapman Tripp Award for Outstanding New Zealand Play of the Year in 2006 for Yours Truly) it will surely be a winner.

And Downstage is also getting ready for another festival premiere. Directed by former Downstage director Colin McColl Where We Once Belonged is an unflinchingly honest, poetic and often wildly funny coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of 1970s Samoa – a society on the cusp of change.

It tells the story of Alofa, Lilia and Moa, three typical teenage girls. They tease the local boys, misbehave at school and worship Charlie's Angels. But there is a darker side to Alofa's life. She struggles to win the acceptance of her unforgiving family. As young Alofa Filiga navigates the more and restrictions of village life, she begins to come to terms with her own changing identity and the price she must pay for it. This emotionally charged adaptation of Sia Figiel's award-winning novel, by another leading New Zealand playwright Dave Armstrong, starring Robbie Magasiva (Naked Samoans), Goretti Chadwick, Pua Magasiva, Anapela Polataivao and Joy Vaele will be another unforgettable Festival premiere

And have a look behind the scenes of this Auckland Theatre Company production. Watch some exclusive shots from the rehearsals here