Going West Festival Theatre Season: Goodbye My Feleni

Overview

Simi, Tama and Ioane are fighting in another country’s army, in a war that’s half way round the world. Why are they here, where do they belong and who are they fighting for?

Goodbye My Feleni (Goodbye My Friend) follows the story of three naive, adventure-hungry Pacific Island boys as they prepare to embark for the battlefields of North Africa as reinforcements for the Maori Battalion. Bold and sensitively drawn it weaves Pasifika humour, song and storytelling into a moving homage to Pacific Islanders who participated in World War II.

Written by DF Mamea (To'ona'i) and directed by Shadon Meredith and Amelia Reid-Meredith (Le Tonu), the play features a cast of new generation Pasifika actors including Dominic Ona Ariki (The Brave, My Bed My Universe), Shadon Meredith (Le Tonu, The Arrival) , Pua Magasiva (Shortland St, Sione’s Wedding) and Shimpal Lelisi (Naked Samoans, Bro’Town).