Watch the play Oh my!... Omai!
An opportunity open only until March 20 to see the performance of the play Oh my!… Omai by Titaua Porcher (premiere on the Tahitian stage in February 2023, booklet published in October 23 Au Vent des Iles)
Ma'i, also known as Omai, was one of the few Polynesians to undertake a journey to Europe in the 18th century alongside the first European navigators. Based on this historical fact, Titaua Porcher wrote a lively play. In this burlesque comedy, God brings him back to contemporary Tahiti to deliver a message to the inhabitants. On his way, he will meet a young man wearing his «boombox» on the shoulder, a transgender person, a dancer who does not master his own language. Laughter is born from the confrontation between these different universes. Will he succeed in making his message heard?
“God sends Mai back to Earth, telling him that men have gone mad and that there is chaos below. He tells him to go and deliver a message to the greatest sages he will meet,” explains Titaua Porcher, the director. This message will not be revealed here because “it would be too revealing”, according to the author.
“It is a confrontation between this 18th century man and today’s Tahiti through meetings and exchanges. Young people listening to their portable speakers, a passerby with traditional tattoos, a merchant from Chinese migration, a transgender woman who confides in the problems that her identity can create. Only a novelist gives this man time to help him in his quest. There are also incursions into the 18th century English court,” Titaua Porcher says.
... a reflection on the meaning of history, on the way we read history today. I hope there are several messages that everyone can find when they discover the play,” she says.
A play written and directed by Titaua PORCHER
Actors: Rehia TEPA, Taina FABRE, Shanna Pahoa MAHAGAFANAU, Philippe NEUFFER, Vaimoana NOLLEMBERGER, Mahine TEURI, Jeff TEUIAVAHIANI, Marguerite CHAUVIN, Marion ALPHÉ, Thierry SICARD, Sylvain DAMBRINE and Titaua PORCHER.
