Writer/ Director from South Auckland telling Pacific stories for the stage and screen.
Vela Manusaute
Niuean/Samoan
South Auckland
Writer, Actor, Director for stage and screen
1990: A member of the Pacific Theatre Company.
1994: I graduated from Toi/Whakaari New Zealand Drama School.
1996: The Pacific dynamic comedy duo – The Brownies paved the way for Pacific humour in New Zealand.
2007: I wrote the original concept for the NZ film ‘The Tattooist with Robin Scholes.
2002: Kila Kokonut Krew Entertainment, Pacific artists, creating stage and screen content.
2013: Actor and Executive Producer with Robin Scholes for The Factory Web Series( NZOA)
2014: Writer and Director of the first Pacific Musical – The Factory with the Kila Kokonut Krew for the Auckland Arts Festival, Australia & Scotland.
2018: Writer & director, The Messiah short film – NZFC/ Sandra Kailahi, Kingston Production.
2020: Writer/ director, Brutal Lives/ Mo’ui Faingata’a season 1 with Coconet TV and executive producer Sandra Kailahi, Kingston Production.
2023: Web series Brutal Lives/ Mo’ui Faingata’a season 2 with Coconet TV and executive Sandra Kailahi, Kingston Production.
2023: Stand-Up Comedy Show - Up My Coconut Tree.
2023: Brutal Lives Season Two winner Best Pacific Programme NZ Television Awards 2024: Red, White & Brass – Auckland Theatre Company
2024: Pring It On – Strictly Brown, ASB Theatre.
Organisation/Company
Name: Studio 68 Films Limited
My Role: Director
Studio 68 Films Limited, founded in 2022, is a new company based in South Auckland that champions Pacific Stories for the Stage and Screen.
Sons of Vao
Artform: Theatre
Development Status: In Development (Currently in development towards a World Premier season with Auckland Theatre Company from 18 June - 5 July 2026 at the ASB Waterfront Theatre.)
Media Uploads
Trailer
Synopsis
“As kids, we laugh at our pains. We laugh at our hunger. We laugh ourselves to sleep.”
Vao is a warrior. A charming, handsome man, he carries rage in his fists and danger in his eyes. But, to his three sons, he is a god. “We follow his words and everything he does becomes the law in our young lives. Our lives belong to Vao.”
Spanning four decades, from village life in Niue in the 1970s to the suburbs of Ponsonby, this powerful story follows the brothers’ struggle to break free from their father’s destructive hold.
This play is directed by stage and screen legend Anapela Polata’ivao ONZM (Samoa: Vailoa Faleata, Vaiusu, Fagae’e Safune), who recently starred in the hit movie Tinā and directed acclaimed Auckland Theatre Company works Things That Matter and Red, White and Brass. Audiences can expect a powerfully told story.
A world premiere, Vela Manusaute’s (Niue: Mutalau, Hakupu) autobiographical Adam NZ Play Award-winning script is deeply personal. In parts, it is confronting and, in others, it uses laughter to mask the pain as the brothers emerge into adulthood, carrying childhood scars that affect each of them in very different ways.
Creative Team and Crew
CREATIVE
Playwright | Vela Manusaute
Co-Directors | Anapela Polata'ivao & Vela Manusaute
Production Design | Sean Coyle
Composer | David Long
Sound Design | Sam Clavis
Dramaturg | Stacey Leilua
CAST
Vao | Beaulah Kolae
To | Hannz Fa'avae Jackson
Seki | Bob Savea
Sau | Brett Taefu
Number of People in the Touring Party
7 - 8
Reviews and Quotes
“Moving and powerful.”
— Adam NZ Play Awards
Technical Rider & International Touring Info (if applicable)
- View/download document #1 here
