I, Louise Tu’u, have a long and varied background as a performer. When I was a was a small child, I sung and acted in church. After moving, at the age of eight, I learnt to play the flugel horn and the trumpet. In high school I picked up the viola. I kept playing both instruments in bands and orchestras until I was nineteen. Theatre became more exciting for me.
As a Samoan, church performances were not voluntary. You have to do it. Whether you like performing or not, you improve. Then there is the strong and mostly unspoken understanding that you had better do it the right way, especially for events like White Sunday/Lotu Tamaiti. The expectations of your aiga/family, au lotu/parish and everyone else watching you are high and usually unreasonable. so the idea of me, not showing up or even worse, flubbing my lines or music is diabolical. There were real consequences for doing the latter, involving smacking, emotional abuse and hidings which now thanks to former Green MP Sue Bradford, are illegal. The right option of my drawing below of, “the show must go on” is a reality, with the drastic exception of death (Melodramatic yet true).
It’s been over a month since I posted about not delivering, as promised, on my e-book for Pasifika actresses, wanting to get into commercial acting – see my last post. I expressed my shame and guilt at not completing, especially as I had publicly shared that I was going to sell this and had also asked professionals for their tips, which were to be included in my e-book.
Since then, I’ve been on a break and come back to share my latest update.
In my work of helping people finish unfinished creative projects, one of the first things we talk about after establishing what the project is, is why do you want to do the project. I wanted to help other Pasifika actresses get into more commercial acting and enjoy the experiences, expansion of acting craft and knowledge of the film and television industry in general.
I recently realised that this e-book would prove much more useful in a course or chapter in a book, as the narrow group I am targeting, are more likely to be interested in a broader subject, like being a Pasifika actor in New Zealand.
So, I’ve decided to go with the left option on my drawing and flag it i.e. leave it for now and maybe resurrect it later. My expectation of myself for this project now is to reflect.
Thank you for all your messages of encouragement and alofa. It’s heartening to know people can relate and share their caring with me. Fa’afetai tele lava x
If you want to finish your creative projects or brainstorm creative ideas for you, here’s how you can work with me.
We Should Practice 