Listening entertainment with a message is behind ‘Fa’atino lou vala’auina’, a radio play written and directed by Fiona Collins with Sound Director, Naea Asolelei To’alepai.
Humour, conflict, love, jealousy, uncertainty, belief and courage are just some of the emotions which resonate through the characters who people this realistic glimpse into Samoan life.
The drama, which is soon to hit the air waves in Samoa on Radio 2AP and Magic Radio, and will also be available on MP3 and a Podcast, loosely translates to ‘Follow your calling’.
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“It discusses the challenges and impacts on the life of a woman, Laupele Makerita Tomasi, who is chosen by her village to stand as their Member of Parliament,” said Collins, who also plays the leading female role.
“I really like that we have our male characters talking about how strong our women are, and being supportive.
“It (the play) is trying to alter pathways and reach out to our young voters.”
Woven into the eight episodes of the story, which will be aired several times a week next month in October, November and then again in January, February (2016), is Laupele’s personal and professional background and the diverse reactions of her family and friends.
It is a story, also told through the voices and thoughts of the males in her world and reveals her upbringing and those who influence her life. The drama, which has been commissioned by U.N. Women and U.N.D.P., aims to encourage women’s involvement in the election process, says Suisala Mele Maualaivao who with Gatoloai Tili Afamasaga, are Joint Programme Coordinators.
“The play is one of four outputs to increase the political participation of women.” The others include working with political parties;
the training of women candidates and mentoring.
Suisala said that this is not the first time a dramatic approach has been taken as a way of getting a message across. “The Solomon Islands produced a radio play two years ago but after listening to it, we realized the Samoan situation is very different and we needed to tell our own story.” “Fiona Collins was the obvious choice to write the play.”
And while there is a lot of information about the elections in the dialogue, it is introduced seamlessly by the characters in their everyday conversations.
“It is also important to have this information available in this form because we will have between 5-10,000 new voters,” said Suisala.
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