His chilled-out defiance masks deep hurt that is revealed through a tender relationship with his mother and a powerful encounter with an often absent father who has been driven into the ground by decades of factory work.
The storyline is tossed about in a carnival of local colour that includes a wildly energetic dance battle, a seriously cute family group preparing for White-Sunday, a deranged neighbourhood wi-fi hacker, an amusing parody of an LA-style girl gang and a hilarious cameo from an Indian school teacher exasperated by his students while losing himself in a Bollywood fantasy.
On top of all this, Jenifer Perez delivers a sweetly poetic series of diary entries chronicling the heartbreak of romance among teenagers adrift in a world of gaming consoles.
Eventually it becomes a case of too much of a good thing and the running time extends to an attention-sapping two hours and 20 minutes without an interval.
The main narrative resurfaces periodically, most notably in a riveting speech from Tom Natoealofa who honours the memory of a mate who committed suicide by aggressively rejecting the pathway that leads to despair.
Theatre review
What: The Tautai of Digital Winds
Where: Mangere Arts Centre - Nga Tohu o Uenuku
When: to August 16.
