‘UPU’ Brings Poetry From The Pacific To Life At The Opera House

The words of 23 poets are set to be brought to life by six talented actors in UPU, a singular kind of theatrical experience from New Zealand that represents a broad range of perspectives from First Nations people across the Pacific Ocean.

UPU, which means ‘word’ in many Pacific Islands languages, is being brought to Sydney after touring New Zealand and across the globe in locations like Canada and Mexico by the similarly named Upu Collective. For Fasitua Amosa – a NZ-Samoan actor who co-created the show and the group, among many other achievements – coming to the Opera House is an incredible opportunity for the show.

“We never dreamed where we’d go with UPU, and the Opera House was never on the bingo card,” he says to City Hub. But it’s just incredible. I mean, it’s one of the most iconic venues in the world, and I think we’re the first Pacific theatre company to be programmed there. We’re really stoked.”

The show, which Fasitua describes as “a journey through the heartbeat of Pacific poetry”, features the work of poets with published work from First Nations people across Te moana Nui a Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean) to reflect on identity, history and the present challenges they face. With a talented crew of actors in Fasitua, Maiava Nathaniel Lees, Nicola Kāwana, Mia Blake, Ana Corbett and Shadon Meredith, the resulting show is a show that takes place in an auditorium but is not strictly theatrical.

The origins of UPU

UPU has come a long way from its original incarnation in 2018, which was born from Fasitua’s desire to perform poetry. “When I’ve watched poets perform their own work, I think like most actors: ‘Ohh, if I did that, how would I approach it?’ Then it sort of dawned on me that an actor’s strength is performance, interpreting text and performing that for an audience, and a poet’s strength is their words. Surely these two things could come together.”

Soon, Fasitua came together with the show’s co-creator Grace Taylor and a bunch of his friends to create UPU. “I’d never worked with poetry before, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into!” Fasitua says. “But it was just amazing. I’ve been describing poetry as the closest thing that we have to literal sorcery. This stuff hits hard, I’ve literally watched people in the audience have an epiphany while watching.”

A key appeal of UPU is the way it brings poetry that may otherwise sit published in a book somewhere to life in a uniquely fascinating way. “Poets trend towards academia, a lot of them live in universities and teach literature,” Fasitua explains. “So when they publish stuff, it’s all through the uni, meaning the published work often lives on a shelf. I said to Grace, ‘Why don’t we dust off some of these works from amazing writers?’”

The result is a show that eschews strict categorisation. Fasitua describes it as an experience more than an explicit theatre show, with all the bells and whistles that come from performing on stage. The words of each poet are thus rendered in a manner wholly distinct from their published format, while remaining true to the author’s intent.

“[Poetry]… is the closest thing we have to magic”

Fasitua recalls some of the best feedback they received for the show: “One of the poets actually came to the show, and no one else had ever performed that poem except for her. What she said was ‘You said that exactly how I heard it in my head, but in a way I could never do myself.’ And I thought that’s why we’re doing it, because actors have the voice to amplify and interpret these works.”

Being able to take UPU across the globe has been a real privilege and sharing it with other First Nations people has been a real privilege, Fasitua says. “Last year we were invited to Mexico, and the audience feedback was that they resonated with so many of the themes of colonisation, the loss of language and land, and finding yourself again amongst that.

“It was the same in Montreal in Canada, and it’s so cool to share this around. When people from across the world say they resonate with these things, it makes the world smaller and reminds you that we’re all humans, we’re all part of the same world, even if we’re physically far away.”

In his final recommendation of the show, Fasitua says: “It would be great for Pacific people to come along, to see themselves represented on stage. But as a recommendation for everyone, you wouldn’t have experienced poetry like this before. I think people will really enjoy the stories and how these perspectives have been shaped. It’ll resonate with you and change the way you think about things; like I said before, it’s the closest thing that we have to magic!”

UPU plays at the Sydney Opera House from May 7th to May 10th. More info on the Opera House website.