Auckland Theatre Company, in collaboration with FCC and Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival, presents the world premiere of Victor Rodger’s The Boy from Vaiala, an extraordinary story inspired by the life of the late Pasi Daniells Silva, at the ASB Waterfront Theatre from 2 – 14 March 2027.
Father of three, maître d’ to the stars, raconteur, champion rock ’n’ roll dancer and drag performer, Pasi Daniells Silva was a character born for the big stage.
As he approaches his 90th birthday, his nephew Levi presses him for the stories from his faaabulous life. Family secrets surface alongside tales of survival, loss, and close encounters of the celebrity kind.
Liza Minnelli. Rock Hudson. Judy Garland. Shirley Bassey. According to Pasi he has met them all. But how much of it actually happened? Who knows - that’s part of the fun.
Based on Victor Rodger’s ONZM (Sāmoa: Iva; Scotland: Broughty Ferry) conversations with the man himself, The Boy from Vaiala is an affectionate love letter to a man who lived one helluva life. Born one of ten children in the Sāmoan village of Vaiala, Pasi became one of the first Sāmoan men hired by Sydney’s legendary Les Girls, performing as Delilah Jones. He sashayed from Vaiala to Vegas, Hawai'i to Wellington where he founded the famed Purple Onion drag and strip club.
Inspired in part by the film All That Jazz, inhabiting the worlds of both Grindr and God, The Boy from Vaiala is not a straight biography, nor totally fictional, but a joyous interpretation of one man’s story. Semu Filipo (Sāmoa: Fetausi, Safotulafai. Vailoa, Palauli. Tokelau: Fakaofo, Nukunonu, Atafu) steps into Pasi’s glittering shoes and show-stopping outfits with an utterly hilarious and deeply touching performance. He leads an eight-strong cast, including Nyssa Collins, Mario Faumui, Justice Kalolo, Stacey Leilua, Richard Sikuea, Seiyan Thompson-Tonga and Dylan Thuraisingham.
Victor Rodger is one of our most prominent and provocative playwrights (Black Faggot, My Name is Gary Cooper).
“A writer whose voice is unabashedly his own, deeply authentic and subversive...” – Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Panel.
He reunites with acclaimed director Anapela Polata’ivao ONZM (Sāmoa: Vailoa Faleata, Vaiusu, Fagae'e Safune) for this world premiere (the last ATC production they worked on together was 20 years ago – My Name is Gary Cooper). She returns to Auckland Theatre Company after a successful year directing Sons of Vao for ATC and Silo Theatre’s A View from the Bridge. Anapela was recently named an Arts Foundation Laureate, taking home the 2026 Roger Hall Theatre Award.
Jonathan Bielski, Artistic Director & CEO of Auckland Theatre Company says “We are delighted to be bringing audiences this endearing story as part of Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival which will be created by two of our most beloved and influential Pasifika theatre-makers, Victor Rodger and Anapela Polata’ivao. Following on the heels of a string of incredibly successful Pasifika theatre productions, including Sons of Vao and Red White and Brass we are set to laugh, cry and fall in love with Pasi.”
One part celebration, one part tribute and entirely faaabulous, The Boy from Vaiala honours the most unlikely Sāmoan man of his generation.
THE BOY FROM VAIALA
By Victor Rodger
2 – 14 March
ASB Waterfront Theatre, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland
Creative Team:
Director: Anapela Polata’ivao
Associate Director: Goretti Chadwick
Set Designer: Sean Coyle
Lighting Designer: Filament Eleven 11
Costume Designer: Lindah Lepou
Sound Designer: Matt Eller
Cast:
Nyssa Collins
Mario Faumui
Semu Filipo
Justice Kalolo
Stacey Leilua
Richard Sikuea
Seiyan Thompson-Tonga
Dylan Thuraisingham
The Boy from Vaiala is presented by Auckland Theatre Company, in collaboration with FCC and Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival, with support from Creative New Zealand’s Festival Commissioning & Presentation Fund, managed by PANNZ.
Tickets on sale from Thursday 22 October at atc.co.nz
