“Once were Samoans” Thrills the Crowd at Manukau’s Festival of Arts

In a side-splitting hour of entertainment, the Manurewa-based Kila Kokonut Krew brought the much anticipated “Once Were Samoans” show to an enthralled crowd at the Metro Theatre in Mangere East. The mayor of Manukau City, Len Brown, said about the Kila Kokonut Krew, “they bring the fantastic flavour of our wonderful city drawing on their ’southside’ roots to make us laugh until we cry”. The play is a parody of the famous novel “Once Were Warriors” by Alan Duff. It features the Samoan Tufifi family as it prepares for a family reunion. The play comes to a head when the family’s four unambitious sons and two obedient daughters find out that their Samoan matriarch has hidden some inconvenient truths from them. In the midst of the laughter, writer Vela Manusaute has skillfully woven several serious messages about being Polynesian in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The show was one of the highlights of the successful Manukau Festival of Arts which ran through October and November 2008.