HUSH, Brown Girl Woke’s contribution to this years 16 Days Of Activism against Gender Based Violence on the theme ‘Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls’ premiered at the Samoa Culture and Arts Centre at Malifa on Wednesday, 6 December to an excited audience of youth and community stakeholders that included church members, ambassadors, representatives from regional organisations, students and parents.

The musical was based on 6 original stories prompted by Brown Girl Woke founder Maluseu Doris Tulifau and Program Director Yvette Alaalatoa Griffiths who guided the writing of original poetry by the BGW cast members and chose the score by contemporary pop stars as the thread that ran through the hour and a half production.

Said Tulifau, “Yvette and I chose pop music over Samoan music because that is what our youth are listening to. In the diaspora, there is a need to connect with our culture but in Samoa, the youth is listening to artists like Rhianna and Adele and Billie Ellish whose relatable lyrics they identify with.”

Important too to Tulifau was the inclusion of statistics from a formal study called Domestic Violence Research Final Report conducted by Mata’afa Dr. Desmond U. Amosa for the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture which describes the impact of domestic violence on the mental health of both students and teachers who witness low student performance in classrooms.

Continued Tulifau, “Teachers who witness students going through abuse have their hands tied. They’re told domestic violence is not a school problem but a family problem.”

According to the 2018 National Public Inquiry Into Family Violence, 9 in 10 Samoan women have experienced physical and emotional violence. 6 in 10 women have experienced intimate partner violence, and 1 in 5 women have been raped.

These statistics were featured along with media coverage of violent images and headlines of abuse in an audio video that depicted the tears and bruises of women and girls in the hands of perpetrators who are often family members.

“It was important to me that the reality of gender based violence was featured front and centre. We wanted the audience to be aware that the struggle is real but that creating a world free of violence against girls and women is also possible.”

The show began with the compelling voice of performance poet Daniel Koria booming above the video, reading poetry slam champion Ioane Otineru’s gripping ‘What About In One’s Home?’  

Is it okay to carry on? Is it okay to become the same monster you're always scared of? Is it okay to become the nightmare that always haunts your mom?

Such difficult questions were navigated skillfully by the visionary imagination of Samoa Performing Arts and Creative Excellence choreographer and director Valentino Maliko whose stellar direction pulled strong and impressive performances from the cast whose ability and agility showed overtime and commitment to the script of their own lives.

The physical and emotional strength of each dancer showed an ensemble united by conviction, confidence and a positivism that expressed and alchemized inner pain and silence into the voices and sound of possibility and hope that captivated the audience.

Scene after scene, the cast shone light on the complexity of contradictions and juxtapositions of those who are witnesses to  violence but choose instead to remain silent.

In a cyclical scene, a teacher, portrayed by the very powerful voice of the singer Abbey Heather instructs the students to sing a song of praise and to sing it loud and proud and yet, when it came to identifying and acknowledging personal pain and hurt, the silence became deafening.   

Jasmine Koria’s commanding poems “Ode To She Who Held Up The World” and “My Stories”, spoke of loss and yearning for love that is unseen complimented the sharp and raw questions posed by the dexterous poet and dancer Krystal Elizabeth Juffa in “Hold Your Breath” which spoke of being a sister whose bruises in her skin cut deep.

“They shock and scare me in my sleep. I can’t talk. I can’t walk. I’m ashamed. Depression. Anxiety. Fault and blame.”

But it was the cultural nuances, reflected in a siva, a poignant dance between a mother/daughter, Elisapeta Fepulea’i and Grace Vespa Pauga Greed whose story of intergenerational trauma was told with elegance and dignity with-holding their own tears as they glided symmetrically across the stage emitting sporadic sighs among the audience.

The remarkable agility of the dancers; Benjamin Lelevaga, Alofau Rile, Eseta Corrine Uili and Elisapeta Fepulea’i, Tamiano Olano and their dexterous ability to transform pain in “Talanoa” and “Rumors” was mesmerising and showed talent and creative energy that was refreshing.

“These kids are dealing with a lot of trauma,” said Tulifau. “But we believe that the arts and performances provide a space where they can shine and soar and heal.”

And soar they did.

HUSH is a work that needs not only an encore, but a season, perhaps a tour. It needs to be seen not only by women and youth but by more community stakeholders, particularly government agencies, churches, village councils, families and men whose inclusion in the conversations are pivotal to breaking the silences of gender based violence against girls and women.