The information below provides a description of what to expect when attending The Girmit at the National Library of NZ, and details of sensory aspects of the show. Please be aware that it also includes descriptions (spoilers) about the story and content of the show.
Show Information
Performers:
- Lead role, musician and singer: Nadia Freeman
- Mr Arakati (Sales Representative): Michael McKeon
- Drummer and backing vocals: Harshaa Prasad
The Girmit shares the history of indentured labour in Fiji. These people were called the Girmityas.
When you arrive to show your ticket you will be greeted by Mr Arakati, the ticket collector and usher for the event. Mr Arakati will be acting in character as a salesman. He will pretending that you are signing up to work for a programme called Destination Plantation. He will invite you to sign up to the working agreement. You do not have to sign the agreement, but if you do it is simple for fun and not a legal agreement.
Mr Arakati will ask you to wait for the rest of the audience to arrive so that you can have your induction. Once most of the audience have arrived a marketing video for Destination Plantation will play on the TV monitor. After the video, Mr Arakati will usher you in to the auditorium to begin your voyage.
Please go through the door and take a seat close to the stage to enjoy the rest of the performance.
Once the audience is seated, lights will dim and a Karakia will play. Following the karakia Nadia and Harshaa will enter the stage. Nadia will stand behind her synthesisers centre stage, and Harshaa will sit on the floor behind her Tablas (two small Indian hand drums).
The audience will hear pre-recorded narrations by four Fijian Indian actors. The narrators each provide examples of how the recruiters in India convinced them to sign up to work on plantations in Fiji. These types of narrations will be interspersed throughout the show. After each set of narrations, Nadia will perform a song or poem using electronic instruments and sometimes using objects that she uses to build a soundscape. The sounds she makes with objects will be looped, have effects applied, and become part of the music. Harshaa will sometimes accompany the music with drumming and backup singing.
The story goes over the 56-day journey by boat, the Girmitya’s arrival to Fiji, the hardships they face on the plantations, why many ended up staying in Fiji and the impact their lives had on future generations. Between songs, Nadia places sugar bags on the stage, forming the shape of a rectangle that is 3 metres by 2 metres. This rectangle is the footprint of the lodgings that a family had to live in.
Event details
Location: The National Library of New Zealand, entrance on Aitken St (near Molesworth Street), Thorndon Wellington.
The main entrance on Molesworth Street will be closed. Please enter via the glass doors on Aitken Street. After you enter you will find a ticket desk.
Accessibility:
The National Library has one wheelchair you can use. Please contact the National Library via phone on 0800 474 300 prior to the 27 of February to arrange this.
The auditorium is compatible with hearing link technology. Please contact Nadia on iammissleading@gmail.com to arrange this.
Transport: There is limited parking. We recommend leaving using public transport if you are able. Wellington Train Station and Bus Station are a short walk away.
Time: The doors will open at 5.40pm. The performance will start at 6pm. The performance is about 45 minutes with an open discussion and questions afterwards until 8pm.
Please arrive before 6pm. If you arrive late, the Usher will advise you to enter quietly and sit in the back row.
Lighting
There will be stationary coloured lights used during the show they will be turned on and off at different times.
There will be moving images projected on the wall behind the performance area.
Sound
There will be amplified music with bass. There will be a live drumming on a tabla (small Indian hand drum).
Before the second song, Nadia blows a conch shell, which has a loud horn sound. She will hold it up in full view before blowing it.
Audience Interaction
Before the show commences the ticket collector and Usher, Mr Arakati will be in character as a salesperson engaging with audience members as they arrive.
Triggers
The theme of the show is about slavery. The show does not go into great detail on human rights abuse, but some of the narrations and lyrics in the songs depict and indicate the working conditions the indentured workers went through e.g. with lyrics like ‘we were given a metal collar to wear’ and ‘whips assert blood and dirt’.
If you feel affected by the content of the show, the following website provides a list of contact details for a range of support and mental health services. https://mentalhealth.org.nz/helplines
Want to know more?
If you would like to know more about this performance before the event, please contact Nadia on iammissleading@gmail.com before 27 February 2025.
Miss Leading Productions 