The Wholly Grain at Herald Theatre

Sonia Yee's play is an endeavour of fulfillment.

On Sonia Yee's first day at school, another new entrant spat on her and told her to go home. Yee was often the only Chinese in the classroom, feeling very much an outsider, and her childhood was largely defined by wondering exactly where home was, given that she is a third-generation New Zealander.

Her search for identity led to drama school and this week her one-woman play, The Wholly Grain, which comes to Auckland for a season at the Herald Theatre.

It's the story of Jocelyn Chan, who dreams about anything other than taking over the family fish-and-chip shop which, as far as her parents are concerned, is her destiny.

Torn between her role as a dutiful Chinese daughter and a young New Zealand woman with independent ambitions, Jocelyn spends her time drifting in a fantasy world where she is a princess from the Han Dynasty.

For Yee, the cross-cultural story has been a lifetime in the making, starting with that first unpleasant day at school, through some difficult teenage years when she wanted to be anything but "the Chinese girl" and on to drama school - somewhat against her father's wishes.

Her parents' unsuccessful foray into the fast-food industry also played a part.

"I don't know why they did it - my dad's an aircraft engineer - but my parents opened a takeaway bar. For the first week, it was really busy, but mum wasn't a very good cook. She basically burned everything."

After that first week there were few customers. "I think it closed after less than a month." Had the business been successful, Yee might have spent her nights serving fish'n'chips - seasoned with her dreams of a more fulfilling career - rather than seeing her dream fulfilled.

That, she says, is the lot of many Chinese youngsters who follow their parents' wishes by choosing a conventional career and helping the family-run businesses the rest of the time.

Yee says The Wholly Grain expresses what it means to grow up in New Zealand as part of a minority group straddling two cultures with different expectations and demands.

She hopes the show illustrates those realities and gives a voice to the people behind the takeaway bar counter.

Yee, raised in Christchurch, recalls feeling intimidated by the skinheads who would congregate in Cathedral Square. And she did what she could to fit in to society and deny her Chinese heritage.

Drama provided an outlet for emotions and energy. "I always found myself in plays. I would tag along with friends who were auditioning and end up getting a part myself."

When she enrolled at Hagley Community College, an alternative highschool, it helped her develop confidence and self-belief. Although she spent the year after leaving school working with the Hagley Community Theatre, her father insisted she go to university and get a formal qualification.

But the three years she spent at Canterbury University, majoring in American studies, only strengthened her interest in minority culture. So Yee went to drama school, where The Wholly Grain - a mix of ideas that had long been in her mind - finally took shape.

When the play opened in 2003 at Wellington's Bats Theatre it attracted a large cross-cultural audience - something Yee expects it will do in Auckland.

"I'm very excited about the prospect, partly because of the huge Asian community of potential new theatregoers."

Yee spent part of last year travelling through China with her father, which opened her eyes to the imagined world she had written about. She says the experience has allowed her to bring extra depth to The Wholly Grain.

Subsequently, she reworked the script to keep the work fresh and she intends to tour it nationally.

Her goals have been partly inspired by the Indian Ink Theatre Company, the force behind the trilogy of plays about being Indian in New Zealand. "Seeing what Jacob Rajan has been able to achieve - well, he's an inspiration."

Yee now confidently describes herself as a Chinese New Zealander and says the more traditional aspects of her culture - such as martial arts training - are coming into their own.

Last year, she was nominated for a Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for her role as Monkey in the stage play of the same name, based on a Chinese legend.

What: The Wholly Grain
Where and when: Herald Theatre, Aug 31-Sep10