An incredible story _{by Madelaine Empson}

Music Portrait of a Humble Disabled Samoan blends live music, storytelling, and visual design to share the extraordinary life journey of musician and disability advocate Fonotī Pati Umaga. Created by a powerhouse Pacific creative team that includes Oscar Kightley, Maiava Nathaniel Lees, Neil Ieremia, Pos Mavaega, and Sasha Gibb, this bold and unapologetic production premieres at Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival before making its Wellington debut at Tāwhiri Warehouse from the 12^th to the 14^th of March for the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

A confluence of “honesty, community, and trust” led to recent Toi Whakaari graduate Paris Tuimaseve-Fox stepping into the rehearsal room to take on a role for Music Portrait of a Humble Disabled Samoan, an experience she describes as “genuinely life changing”.

Kia ora Paris, what do you most love about the work?

Definitely the whanaungatanga that fills every inch of the room when we’re together… I’ve loved watching the different ways we serve the text and each other. Watching creatives in motion doing their thing, laughing through failure, sitting in depth and emotion when needed and all of us bringing our own different backgrounds and laying it out on the floor, as if to say, ‘This is what I can bring, where is its place and how would you like to me to present it to serve our story we tell?’ Then, what’s next but to work it out together as a group and slot it into a particular part of Pati’s story. 

Can you please describe your role and what joys and challenges you’re finding in embodying the character?

The show is written in first-person perspective, so our roles on stage correlate to being the different versions of Pati that lie within him... One of the greatest joys of everyone playing the same character is the creation of deep kotahitanga, which feels like a gift, being in an industry that is usually focused on individual greatness. At the heart of it, I’d say we all love Pati and really want to serve his story well, and most of the challenges and joys come from our working outs of how to serve him and his life, the script Oscar’s written, Nathaniel’s vision – and doing it in a way that gives his full experience the flowers it deserves.  

How do you hope the show will impact audiences?

I hope the show introduces our audiences to the intricate and deep power of the communities the show spotlights... It’s not a show you observe from the sidelines. Let the music move you up, down, and all around your seat, let the way Pati talks about the people in his life hit home, and let the physical and vocal exertion of us actors make you feel breathless. But just a reminder, you can’t learn, grow, cry, laugh, and feel the impact if you miss out... so from our whaanau to yours; get amongst it and let us share Pati’s incredible story with you kanohi ki te kanohi x