‘For my father’ is the latest theater show by PNG Playwright Andrew Kuliniasi, he is the writer who brought you the “He is Victor” and “Meisoga” which were both successfully staged in 2021 and 2016/2019 respectively.
Andrew is 22 years old and accomplished and published playwright, actor, producer and director who has been in the arts industry for 10 years.
He had produced renowned play, as well as produced alongside film director Spencer Peter Wangare on his latest film Black Python.
He has acted multiple stage performances at the Moresby Arts Theatre, with Pascoe Promotions, Next of Kin, and most recently starred as the youngest supporting character on Screen Craft Australia’s it Takes A Village.
This show is an independent production tackling difficult societal issues we face in PNG today.
It sheds light on how the effects of childhood trauma and abuse can affect us as adults and portrays a family that is struggling financially as they prepare to meet the cultural obligations that surround the death of their father.
“It’s as in depth and intimate look at the Haus Krai tradition and the cost the living pay for the dead.
‘For My Father’ premiers this week 1-4 September at the Moresby Arts Theatre.
It’s a Papua New Guinean expectation to have a Haus Krai and what we do for our dead when they’re gone.
“The inspiration for ‘For My Father’ is really everywhere, its what every single Papua New Guinean has gone through or has had to go through”, states Andrew.
“The question we ask in the play are: What if you can’t do a haus krai because of money or your financial situation? But also what is the purpose of the kaus krau when the person who was alive wasn’t a good person to you? And so it is a show that is very , very rooted in those two questions”, added Andrew.
“And I am very excited to be doing theatre in a new and exciting way, theatre in the round which is the first time that I am experimenting with this style of theatre and I’m also very excited for the debut of my co-director Ziggy Yominao who is making his debut as a director but also is an up and coming force in the director’s chair. Ziggy has worked very hard on this show with doing the bulk of the directing and provided the creative advice as the writer and we work well together as team,” concludes Andrew.