One well-known New Zealander and his family are airing their struggles on the Baycourt stage this month and audiences are in for a powerful, brutally honest performance that will have many reaching for the tissues.
Renowned hip-hop artist Malo Luafutu, aka Scribe, with his father John, and brother Matthias have written and perform in the play, The White Guitar - the true story of their family, the Luafutus.
It tells the story of a Samoan grandmother's dream of a better life in New Zealand and the harrowing reality of the move for John, who was a migrant, an outsider in a new culture and country. It is the story of hardship and loss: the journey from boyhood innocence into violence, drug addiction, prison and gangs - to the possibility of hope, healing and redemption.
Audiences have been stunned to tears by the honesty of their story, and Malo once cried real tears in a performance.
"It is hard because the memories are real, certain times when we act out a scene - in my mind it happened yesterday. I cried because I was reliving all the emotion. That is when the power of the stage clicked. That's the beauty of theatre, because the process does have healing properties. It is therapeutic - even though it is hard with the memories."