By William Kadi
Columnist

“Even if it’s only a small role…like I only have one line to say, I give my hundred percent,” Elsie described her passion for performance arts.

From Sunday School skits and memorizing a Bible verse she shared with the congregation of Wesley United Church during her childhood days to working closely with one of New Zealand’s highly decorated creative minds in theatre and film, Elsie Polosovai shares her passion for performance arts and theatre.

Her formal education journey began at Choiseul Bay Kindergarten, Saint Nicholas Kindergarten, Thumbelina Learning Center, through to Vatuwaqa Primary School, Tangaroa College, and University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Being the eldest to Choiseul (Lauru) and Malaitan parents, Elsie contests as Miss Lauru 2024 for the Miss Solomon Islands Pageant (MSIP).

For the 23-year-old, her key advocacy in this year’s MSIP is women’s healthcare, however, this interview intends to draw out the personality and character of Miss Lauru 2024 through the space of drama and theatre, the dream, the actual tragedies, the battles, the center stage, the roots, the podium, the limelight, and the next scene – to the future.

Elsie’s story sums up Solomon Islands and Melanesia as a person, in finding her place among the community of people around the world.

Sunday School Days: Skits and Verses

“My first experience in public speaking and performance was from my Sunday School days…There’s one time I remember memorizing a Bible verse and speaking it in front of the congregation” she recalled while explaining how much admiration she received then. “For me, I never thought of it as something big…I just thought…yeah, I’m gonna do it…even if it’s only a small role…like I only have one line to say, I give my hundred percent”. And that’s just how the seed of artistry in drama and theatre grows – enjoy it and give it your all, the art will flourish.

Moving Around: Exposure and Challenges

Moving around with her parents from Solomon Islands to Fiji, back to Solomon Islands, and eventually to New Zealand there’s not much coverage we did, but it’s important to capture the exposure in different spaces and environments at an early age.

“It was very hard, settling in at first…cause even if the area where we stayed it’s mainly Pacific and Māori, it’s quite…new to see Melanesian people…so there’s a lot of tension…in school it was me and my brother…intermediate was really hard…” she described her early experiences moving into the new neighborhood in Auckland…new school, socio-economic aspects, and very different weather conditions.

Confronting Microaggressions, Colorism, and Racism: Black, White, – Melanesian?

“I thought racism was just white and black, but I realize it’s not”.

These sentiments came from the struggles and experiences she faced while in Intermediate School and through to High School and being surrounded by majority students of Pacific Islands with Polynesian heritage and Māori.

“High school is even harder…that’s when it got worse a little bit, like the bullying, racism…it just piles up…I had to question myself as ‘what’s wrong?’…I was just the center of everything…the only dark…only Solomon…a lot of them have never seen Melanesian people”. These shared experiences also led us to discuss microaggression, colorism, and racism even in Solomon Islands where she pointed out that these maybe remnants of colonial times.

Breaking The Stigma: The Speech

It was in year 9 that her opportunity to break the stigma came, and she grabbed the bull’s horn with both hands – slaughtered!

“In year 9, I won a speech competition in school” she explained the key event which helped her to break the stigma that’s being building up for sometimes already.

“The topic was ‘CULTURAL INTERACTION’…so I was like, this is my time…this is my time to shine,” the Miss Lauru 2024 MSIP contestant referred back to taking the podium in front of her school.

“It came out really strong because it came from somewhere…it wasn’t just a topic”

she exclaimed and recalled to how the speech actually made her peers started to think differently and open up more to her, wanting to know more about where she came from and all that – breaking the stigma. But also, this speech would open the door to creative and performance arts space for her.

Theatre and Drama: The Art of It

David Riley – that’s the guy who played a critical role in developing the art of it! “David suggested to me that I should do drama…I didn’t know they offered drama in our school…it was a luxury…” she acknowledged and explained that David, a writer and drama teacher in the school approached her sometimes after winning the speech, introduced her to the subject of drama, which forms the base of her theatre and film exposure.

Snowballing Opportunities and Challenges: A Brief Snapshot

She attended a summer course on live theatre organized by the Auckland Theatre Company under a scholarship for students in low socio-economic areas which she says, “I’m sure David spent from his own pocket because I don’t remember filing out any sponsorship application and there was about 12 of us enrolled in the course and only 2 sponsorships available, but there were 2 others who said they got sponsored”.

With drama in her High School portfolio, she’s able to open as a performer on the screening of the film VAI where she was invited by the organizers of the screening event and that’s where she met Matasila Freshwater, one of the directors to the film – as a trilogy. “That opening, people really remembered” …and later down the years, she worked with the same writer and director in the short film Hiama, under the Teine Sa series.

Elsie explained Hiama as: “…a short film but it’s a big achievement…coming from where I started out…it’s a big moment”.

These experiences snowballed and paved the way for her to later join Massive Theatre Company, where she cemented her place in the performance arts and theatre space.

It was in Massive that another pivotal personality – Samantha Scott, founder of Massive and former director of the NZTV series Shortland Street during its formative years in the 90s. “I really worked hard in high school ‘cause this is how I earned my Saturdays to go to training” – meaning drama and theatre practice.

Noting the challenges she had to balance with family, studies, and theatre, she highlighted that “it’s just that we have a lot of explaining because validation from parents is so important for us as Islanders”.

Elsie explained that she dropped drama in year 13 and worked closely with Massive, but also took up another role in school as head girl.

Blending The Arts With The Sciences And The Law: Uni-Days

“Sam Scott from Massive Theatres has that broad connection in New Zealand…” Elsie explained how her theatre background and network enabled her to be employed under ‘Outstanding Performances – New Zealand’s largest provider of professional role-players, delivering customized training simulations and assessment role-plays for clients across Aotearoa.

She also managed to perform client or witness roles with the Law School programs, while enhancing her theatre and arts skills and knowledge taking courses along with her Bachelor of Science Studies.

Where To From Here: Challenging The ‘Hula Girl’ Imagery

Elsie hinted that there’s a new film she’s in that may come out early next month. “It’s a documentary that’s based on the dusky hula girl” she described the yet-to-be-released documentary challenging the Pacific imagery of women which was a heavily entrenched misrepresentation, seeing the Pacific women as more Polynesian of a character, created by the Western World.

Referring to the imagery she pointed out that “it’s non inclusive…it’s a glamor…it’s almost a sexualization of Pacific women…and us Melanesian girls, we’re seen as more tribal and not fitting into the beauty standard that they’ve set for Polynesia…but it’s because they have the avenues…also going back to the start when people didn’t believe that I was from the Pacific…”.

Paying her ode but also critiquing the New Zealand Arts space, this is her view: “I think the New Zealand arts space has a lot of influence in the Pacific so I’m very happy to be involved and influence it…but there’s a challenge that I came across…it’s the challenge of tokenism…picking out Melanesian, Solomon, for their diversity box…that challenge I learn how to navigate it…I really need to check that it’s genuine, authentic…but I feel like, moving forward, it’s getting away from that tokenism aspect – that’s how I see the arts space is moving towards. They actually making more spaces for Melanesian voices, artists…but I still want to see more Melanesian writers, more Melanesian storytellers…more Solomon Islands storytellers…cause we want representation, we want our stories on screen but who’s gonna write it for us? – I think we need to do the work ourselves”.

With some final remarks Elsie opined that “now we are actually coming up, it’s important that we come up in a good light, we set out a good image for people to remember us…I think it’s really important to bring the art into every space including the law space, healthcare…customer services…people don’t really value your artistic background until it benefits them…but that’s expected…and this is part of why I came back to join the pageant, apart from contesting, this is my opportunity to expand my perspective…I have the luxury to be trained and no youth here have, and I understand and recognize that…to be on the ground, it’s huge to me. It’s not a pity thing…now I know what I can do, that’s why I come back…I really want to come and work at the arts space, and see it grow…besides the pageant and my advocacy for women’s health and that”.