Polata’ivao will play the part as a girl who grows over time into a woman. Her lists also evolve as a kind of timeline that tracks how she views the world, says the actor.
“She becomes the product of a parent who has left her to fend for herself. The young character has always been left alone and is trying to figure it out. The list is one thing she has control over. It is a complex, beautiful and simple story.”
New Zealand Herald reviewer Paul Simei-Barton said the show does what live theatre is supposed to do.
“It creates a communal space for people to engage empathetically and imaginatively with problems that are too big to face alone.
“While not laying claim to definitive answers, it demonstrates that enthusiasm is contagious especially if it is entered into in a genuine way with the spontaneous acceptance of the joy that is found in everyday things.”
Having performed in the unsettling Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, as well as directing and performing in a script-in-hand production of American playwright Robert O’Hara’s excoriating satire Barbecue, during last year’s arts festival, Polata’ivao relishes the opportunity to explore edgier works.
“Sometimes the hard stuff people don’t want to talk about, I’m all good with. There are a lot of voices that are marginalised, that get swept under the carpet.”
Ultimately, Every Brilliant Thing is a story of hope, says Polata’ivao.
“By the end you’re gunning for your mate to keep going.”
