The Cabaret Festival is in full swing in a wintery Adelaide – and what better time to stay indoors and listen to gorgeous voices than when the mercury dips below double figures?
My first cabaret experience for the year was of the full-scale kind: the delightful musical journey The Factory. It tells the story of young Samoan Losa and her father as they leave their homeland for work in a textile factory in New Zealand. Things don’t necessarily go to plan as she falls in love with the manager’s son but slips away from her ambitions.
What works best in this piece are the group numbers, when all the factory workers dance together as one cheeky mass. Men and women feed off each other’s movements. The vocals are soaring and the music is funky and fun.
The Factory is a kind of New Zealand Les Miserables, commenting on class and race in the 1970s. The story is a little stock-standard and doesn’t necessarily add anything new to the genre, but I love to see Pacific Islanders on stage, expressing their culture.
The company, Kila Kokonut Krew, led by director Anapela Polataivao and writer Vela Manusaute, has always been a vehicle for artists to push the boundaries of what they can artistically achieve. We need companies like this to exist and grow. While their focus is the Pacific, the relevance and significance of their work is universal and they deserve an enthusiastic audience.
Kila Kokonut Krew are performing The Factory at the Dunstan Playhouse until June 14 as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
