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As part of the Kia Mau fest­iv­al this year I got to go and see the open­ing night of Taki Rua’s show Cell­fish, brought to Wel­ling­ton after a sea­son in Auck­land last year.

Cell­fish is intense.

A two per­son show, fea­tur­ing Car­rie Green and Jason Te Kare, Cell­fish is set in a Shakespeare class at a men’s pris­on, but is far, far more than that. The per­formers mani­fest the inmates of the pris­on, Shane, Foof, Irish, Mo and Tane, as well as their earn­est warden Ravi, through a series of char­ac­ter­ist­ics. Green mostly plays Miss Lucy, their Shakespeare teach­er, who says that, “Shakespeare saved my life,” and assures the men that it can help them too.

Foof can­’t read, but he’s will­ing to try hard enough. Shane and Lucy have past his­tory that neither of them can com­pletely touch. Ravi’s just doing his best to keep the men focussed on the les­sons.

It is an emotive odys­sey through Shane and Lucy’s pasts. An unseen pris­on­er, Big Nate, con­nects them togeth­er, and Lucy wants noth­ing more to sever that con­nec­tion as soon as she can.

Cell­fish is a story of lost aroha, lost lives, and people stuck in a sys­tem that does­n’t quite get them. With ref­er­ences to mod­ern media, as well as stor­ies past, Green and Te Kare pour their hearts out on the stage in a way that brought me to tears at points. Power­ful, vibrant, and with an under­ly­ing thread of Tik­anga Māori (played out most mem­or­ably in a vign­ette about Hine-nui-te-pō), this play is full of moments that really hit you in the heart.

Cell­fish is on at the Han­nah Play­house from now until the 15th of June. Tick­ets avail­able here.