A scene from The Factory at the Assembly Hall on the Mound as part of New Zealand Season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Factory continues at the Assembly Hall on the Mound until 25 August.
What a treat and a thrill this piece is: to hear genuine Polynesian harmonies sung with such precision and resonance is a rare thing in the Northern hemisphere. The setting of the Assembly Hall on the Mound is a perfect match as the wood carries the sounds so beautifully through the space.
This show tackles the tensions between idealism and materialism. Our heroine and her father travel from idyllic, yet poor, Samoa to make their fortunes in New Zealand, working in a factory to earn money to send to the rest of their family back on the Islands. They join an established migrant workforce in a garment factory. Issues surrounding migration are covered from both the migrant and employers’ point of view; the more ‘human’ issues of relationships and status are also explored through the father and son ownership of the factory and a blossoming romance between the son and the migrant.
This narrative is explored through extraordinary chorus/ensemble work and carefully woven themes delivered by the lead performers in solos, trios and with the ensemble all together.
The whole notion of the New Zealand Season in Edinburgh is to be hugely welcomed: especially when we see such a stunning piece as this.
Fiona Orr
* New Zealand Season/Kila Kokonut Krew
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/factory
Readers may also be also been interested in:
Edinburgh: The story behind The Factory – New Zealand’s first-ever Pacific musical – Interview
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