Vela Manusaute is a writer/director who came to New Zealand in 1979. He became the first Niuean to graduate from Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School in 1996. Vela was a joint recipient of a New Generation Award in 2014 for Kila Kokonut Krew, alongside his partner, Anapela Polataivao. In 2015, Vela won Best Direction at Auckland Fringe Festival for Girl on a Corner by Victor Rodger. He also won Best Direction at the FCC Awards for Victor Rodger’s Club Paradiso in 2016.
What do you do when you’re a drama graduate with no job? You create your own. Theatre maker Vela Manusaute writes on the Kila Kokonut Krew, chasing the dream and changing the narrative.