Theatre-maker Fiona Collins intended to be away for a year when she became Creative New Zealand's Artist in Residence at the National University of Samoa in 2009.
But being there meant life made more sense for Collins, born and raised in New Zealand in what she describes as a traditional household steeped in Samoan culture and protocol. Rather than hurrying back to NZ – where she'd made a name for herself in productions like Frangipani Perfume, Awhi Tapu, the Vagina Monologues and Vula along with a role on Shortland Street - Collins decided to stay in Samoa. For a decade.
Now she's back in NZ with film credits to her name she never expected – a role in Samoa's first feature The Orator, the female-centred Vai and a credit as a casting director for Disney's Moana – and 10 years teaching performing arts at the university. That job meant writing shows for her students to perform.
"I looked around for material I could use for students to perform – stuff they could relate to - and found… Well, there wasn't very much at all, so out of necessity I started writing my own," says Collins, on the phone from Rotorua. "I arrived a week before the tsunami struck so that was the first thing I wrote about."
Now New Zealanders are seeing what she has been writing and how it is growing Pasifika theatre. Collins is touring her play AloFA (Samoan for love) which arrives in Auckland this week after performances in Wellington, Rotorua and Hamilton. Those followed seasons in American and Western Samoa.
