We don't get many musicals from across the Tasman Sea. The Factory, billed as "New Zealand's first Pacific Musical'', is also the first musical author and co-director Vela Manusuate has brought to this country. And it's a very personal story for him. It draws on his memories of life as an immigrant from Nive, an island in the South Pacific between Tonga and Samoa, and a tribute to the courage and hard work of those immigrants, who were striving to make new lives for themselves in "the land of milk and honey''.
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Manusuate's father and aunt came over first, settling in Ponsonby on the North Island, and worked in a bed factory.
"When they had saved enough money we came over in 1979 - me, my mum and two brothers."
When he came to New Zealand at the age of nine he couldn't speak English and communicated a lot with mime at first.
"I was the smallest boy on the field and learned how to be a clown to be accepted in the playground."
When he was 14, Manusuate left school when his father was sick and went to work in the bed factory for a year but found the long hours - 7am to 5pm - hard and returned to school when he could, helping out with part-time jobs such as selling newspapers.
"New Zealand was not a friendly place for my people to arrive in the day,'' he says.
"Now that I look back, we had it hard."
But despite the challenges, he persisted.
"I finished school - I think it's important."
He also discovered an interest in amateur theatre - "to see people clapping was really cool, you feel the love" - and when he finished high school he auditioned for the New Zealand Drama School. He needed to be persistent.
"The first time, they didn't want me. Second time - 'No'. Third time - they didn't want me. The fourth time, someone dropped out and they decided to let me in. I got in when I was 24."
When he graduated, he found it hard to find work as an actor and realised he needed to write material for himself that reflected his own culture and interests and founded a theatre company, Kilo Kokonut Krew, in Auckland.
"My first play, Taro King, in 2002, went really well."
.It was about a man working in the taro section of a supermarket. Manusuate had to borrow money form his wife, fellow actor Anapela Polataivao, and others to get it going: the workshop had 26 actors - "I wanted to aim higher."
But it went well and other works followed - including, in 2013, The Factory, which he is co-directing with Polataivao. The show premiered at the Auckland Arts Festival and has been revamped for this tour.
"it's ready for the world!"
Manusuate says, "It's set in the 1970s when New Zealand opened the door to Pacific people to come and work."
It's about a young Samoan woman, Losa, who arrives in Auckland with her father, Kavana, to start a new life. They get jobs at the textile factory where their cousin Misilei works but conflicts begin to arise.
Co-worker Mose is a staunch believer in the Polynesian Panther movement and encourages the workers to strive for more than just working on the floor of a factory owned by a Palagi (European). He promotes education and revolution in the face of government oppression.
Losa enjoys her new life of cinema and social dances and new opportunities and Kavana tries to remind her of why they are there: to make money to send back to the family in Samoa. But then she falls in love with Edward, the son of the factory owner, Richard - and neither father is happy.
And the story goes on from there.
"The main idea for me is to be heard,'' Manusuate says.
He wants to celebrate Polynesian culture and have the contribution of Pacific Islanders to New Zealand's economy in the 1970s recognised. But he also wants to entertain.
"It's a great night at the theatre - a story with love, a story with heart. a Pacific story."
The Factory. Written by Vela Manusuate. Music by Poulima Salima. Directed by Manusuate and Anapela Polataivao. Kila Kokonut Krew. Canberra Theatre, June 24 and 25 at 7.30pm. Tickets $30-$63. Bookings: canberraticketing.com.au or 62752700.
