wild dogs under my skirt
An all-consuming performance filled with poetry, song, dance and the powerful presence of Samoan women comes to Merrigong this month with one of New Zealand’s most successful theatrical exports, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt.
Words Kirsten Hammermeister
Images Peter Meecham, Adam Kissick
Written by Tusiata Avia and directed by Anapela Polata’ivao, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt has remained a provocative and tender insight into an underrepresented community. The performance explores the personal views of Tusiata Avia, illuminating Pacific Island life and, at times, the tension and collisions with New Zealand.
We spoke to Tusiata Avia ahead of the show’s run in Wollongong and uncover the history and transformation of the performance, what it means to her and to others.
Tell us about you and your work.
I am Samoan, I live in New Zealand in Christchurch, I was born here, and I have writing, performing poetry mostly for the page and for the stage for 23 years now.
What themes can audiences expect to see explored in Wild Dogs Under My Skirt?
Wild Dogs Under My Skirt is 20 years old now, so it’s been through lots of different lives. It was a one woman show. I used to perform, all around the world really. As far away as Morocco and Russia. So, one of the things that I learnt when I was doing that was that, although it’s a show about Samoan women, it’s universal enough that to cross that border.
The main themes being of life, of love, of culture, violence. It deals with the hardship of feeling no entitlements; to being in your body, having those entitlements. Also, the relationships between each other. So yes, it has those universal themes but it’s also very much about Pacific women. In an audience, they are the ones that are going to be getting every single level.
It’s also very funny. There is a real kind of leveling, moving between the serious and the dark, and the funny. It’s now no longer a one woman show, it’s five women. There’s choreography, singing and music. It’s an all-singing, all-dancing theatre spectacular, even though the script comes from poetry. A lot of the poetry is monologue or dialogue, or larger pieces between the women.
Tell us about the transformation from poetry to play.
It was on stage before it was a book and I developed both really at the same time. I started writing it in 2002 and it started on the stage around the same time. It used to be a ten-minute piece, then it became a 40-minute one woman show. It's now an hour and a quarter for the whole cast.
Why did you choose the art of poetry and theatre as your mode of storytelling?
It’s what comes most naturally to me, so I didn’t really choose it. It’s my natural form of art.
How has it been witnessing this play be performed overseas and now you're bringing it here to Australia?
It’s great, it has had such a long life even though it went to ground for a while. I stopped doing that as one woman show because I had a baby. It is hard to take a baby around the world, although I gave it a good go.
There was probably a period of about five years where it wasn't performed at all, and it was picked up again in 2015. Obviously, it’s transformed since then and I think it's really quite an incredible experience.
It’s incredibly moving, cathartic and I don’t think anyone can leave the theatre without tears running down their face.
Have you experienced a moment, during the show's run, where you realised that your story was having an impact audiences?
Again, and again. I’ve had so much feedback from people over the years, from all different places. It touches people wherever it goes. It is incredible - it is something that is way bigger than me.
