We don't talk about domestic violence enough. We don't talk about the abusers, we don't talk about the victims and we don't talk about the people who ask for help and what that process is.
Not In Our Neighbourhood is talking about domestic violence, and it is begging us to talk about it too.
Presented by Tikapa Productions with Te Whariki Manawahine O Hauraki, the play is a piece of documentary theatre that the refuge commissioned from writer Jamie McCaskill, and it tells the stories of the women in this refuge and their road to healing.
Kali Kopae plays all the characters in the show, from the woman in charge of the refuge to the women living there. It is an absolutely towering performance.
Kopae doesn't just capture the heavy moments in the piece, but also the lightness. Through her we understand that abuse does not define these women, and they are women with lives outside of this abuse.
