The warmth and joy of the Pasifika community was to the fore in sweetly youthful piece Brown Sugar.
A large audience filled the Playhouse Theatre for the show, presented by newly Dunedin-based Pacific performing arts collective Migrated Creatives responding enthusiastically to the action on stage.
Brown Sugar follows a few days in the life of four young Pacific Island women, Lulu (Esiteri Kacivi), Beatrice (Kalisi Laveti Waqa), Nessa (Loreal Urika-Filifilia), and Ivy (Leah Faitonu), as they bunk down in their North Dunedin flat’s lounge to escape a flood.
Written and directed by Basim Kafoa, produced by Peter Laga-aia and Basim Kafoa, with music by Leah Faitonu, Brown Sugar is a gently amusing exploration of friendship, student life and the search for love.
Working as an ensemble, the four emerging young actors do a good job of keeping the comedic dialogue flowing, earning plenty of laughs from their supportive audience.
All in all, Brown Sugar was an enjoyable start to the Dunedin career of the Migrated Creatives collective. It will be good to see what they come up with next.
