Review: The Savage Coloniser Show – raw, fierce, triumphant

Ruth Agnew reviews The Savage Coloniser Show, written by Tusiata Avia, directed by Anapela Polata’ivao, produced by Victor Rodger, presented as part of WORD Christchurch at the Black Box Theatre at Papa Hou, Wednesday 10 September, 2024. 

“Hey James,
yeah, you
in the white wig
in that big Endeavour
sailing the blue, blue water
like a big arsehole
FUCK YOU, BITCH”

From the opening moments of The Savage Coloniser Show, it is clear this show is going to leave a mark. A red hue bathes the audience, dawn-dappled light-play gradually revealing the cast through a gauzy haze, as a layered soundscape swells. This is a visceral theatrical experience of Tusiata Avia’s brilliant words, a multi-sensory reimagining; this is feeling poetry. 

“Big fat brown bitch”

Acclaimed Ōtautahi poet, performer, educator and children’s author Avia was given a New Zealand Order of Merit in 2020 and became an Arts Foundation Laureate in 2023. Her 2021 poetry collection The Savage Coloniser won the poetry Ockham NZ Book Award in 2021. However, her impressive achievements have sometimes been overshadowed by the vicious campaign of hate waged against her by the ACT Party. 

“I listen to white people say, I don’t see colour”

Three years after it was published in The Savage Coloniser book, the poem “250th Anniversary of James Cook’s Arrival in New Zealand” was published by Stuff, as part of a feature publicising the show The Savage Coloniser. Twerking pearl-clutcher politician David Seymour and his ACT-olytes took exception to Captain Cook’s portrayal in the poem and accused Avia of “inciting racist violence”.

“If you are sitting in a garage in South Auckland with your two brothers, hide your BA, MA, PhD, MNZM for services to the arts. Think instead how you might get into a gang and a life of crime.”

If Avia’s poetry on the page terrifies Seymour enough to press release the hounds, he would be frothing at the mouth and shaking in his shoes if he felt the power of those words spoken onstage, resonant with strength and determination. I have been moved by poetry before, but The Savage Coloniser was a truly transformative theatrical experience. 

“This is a dumb game… You are a dumb savage…”

Avia’s poetry is disarming and thought-provoking on the page; onstage it electrifies. The text is saturated in sensory triggers: light, body movement, breath, slapping, clapping, singing, movement blended with seemingly effortless precision. This is an ensemble, cast, crew, creatives working as one in a shared theatrical vision. The synchronised breathing, perfectly timed movement and pitch matched vocals added and informed the poetry, with the varying voices offering other perspectives.  

“Dear Brown Girl…”

Having already had outstanding success turning Avia’s first poetry collection and solo spoken word show, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, into a performance for multiple voices, the dream team trio of poet Tusiata Avia, producer Victor Rodger, and director Anapela Polata’ivao reformed for The Savage Coloniser. The calibre of the cast (Stacey Leilua, Petmal Petelo, Joanna Mika-Toloa, Ilaisaane Green, Katalaina Polata’ivao-Saute, and Mario Faumui) and crew listed in the programme reflect the standing these three have in the creative arts. This includes such weighty and well-respected designers and practitioners as Emily Hakaraia (sound), Tupua Tigafua (choreography, with Faumui) and David Long (composer).

“I am the girl who writes like this”

This show is not a hate piece. These poems do not incite, ignite or invite violence. Audiences do want to see themselves, their experiences, their culture and their faces and bodies reflected in the characters and images and voices on pages, stages and screens. This show acknowledges and informs and empowers; this poetry has sharp teeth. 

“I am the girl who bites like this”

 The Savage Coloniser is a masterclass in using drama techniques and conventions to inform and enrich the narrative and themes in performance. Audibly inhaling and exhaling as one, the panting and sighing becomes a percussive and musical foundation for the spoken word. Tupua Tigafua and Mario Faunui’s choreography uses stillness and slow motion movement to temper the brutality and bloodlust staining Cook’s Discoveries and Endeavours. The ensemble weave Avia’s words through synchronous patterns and rituals, then quickly and skillfukly switch character and intention and mood to embody varied perspectives within the poetry. Avia’s writing frequently intertwines different voices, presenting a spectrum of opinions and viewpoints. In her solo spoken words version of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt and The Savage Coloniser Show, Avia plays all of them. Having seen Avia’s solo spoken word performances, I know how mesmerising her velvet-cloaked roar can be; I hear her nuanced evocative tones echo in my  head when I read her poetry. But then I heard Stacey Leilua (home from the USA playing Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s mother in a sitcom about the wrestler/actor’s early life) speaking the same lines, with different emphasis and dynamics and intention, and she owned them so completely and with such conviction I would have believed those stories had always belonged to her. 

“Tonight, James,
it’s me
Lani, Danielle
and a car full of brown girls
we find you
on the corner
of the Justice Precinct”

In a cast of such a uniformly high standard, it is almost impossible to single out individuals for praise. However, one actor made such an impression on me I’m going to anyway. Katalaina Polata’ivao-Saute was just out of high school when she was cast and made her acting debut in the 2023 Auckland Arts Festival season of  The Savage Coloniser. That’s an illustrious introduction to the industry, and the reason becomes evident in the latter part of the show. Smiling sweetly and bright eyed, Polata’ivao-Saute’s childlike cherubic presentation gave no hint at the magnificence and might hiding inside until the climactic peak of the play. So when the volcano of emotion erupts, her voice grows and roars. 

“Racism aside… history aside… culture aside…intergenerational trauma aside…”

Upon arriving home (for the first time in my life thus far, and hopefully the only time), I wanted to watch Sean Plunket’s right-wing toxic-mascufragility talkback attack on Avia’s poetry (labelled “racist hate speech” by Plunket). Usually I avoid listening to conservative hate-mongering media patriarchal rants but I was interested in his justification for targeting one of our country’s most successful writers. What is shaking their brittle white male fragility so thoroughly they feel moved to try silence Avia? Perhaps Plunket’s fervent paranoid fear-fantasies about an army of BIPOC feminist writers ransacking and razing misogyny and the patriarchy cut too close to the bone. Perhaps what sent an icy shiver up Seymour’s was his subconscious reaction to the realisation that poetry-fuelled big fat brown bitches whose backs aren’t broken by the weight of intergenerational trauma, whose heads won’t be bowed by victim shaming and reverse-racism accusations, whose voices will be heard. 

The Savage Coloniser Show is an experiential multi-sensory phsyical theatre poetry performance that deserves every ovation, accolade and award. Or, to quote the friend who accompanied me, “The Savage Coloniser is the best show I’ve ever seen. Ever.”

Originally commissioned by and premiered at Auckland Arts Festival 2023 this tour is supported by Creative New Zealand, produced by FCC and presented as part of the PANNZ (Performing Arts Network of New Zealand) touring programme. The show runs in Ōtautahi from 10-13 September, as part of WORD Christchurch 2024.