Dianna Fuemana
THE PACKER was written and directed by Dianna Fuemana in 2003 during her Master of Theatre degree at the University of Auckland. Playmarket published THE PACKER and her most recent play FALEMALAMA in the 2009 New Zealand Play Series. Dianna is an acclaimed playwright; her plays have been staged in New Zealand, Australia, Greece, United States, Hawaii, Canada, Niue, America Samoa and the UK. MAPAKI was her first professional piece for theatre, the first of five works produced and written for the stage since 2000. Dianna is currently working on the screen adaptation of THE PACKER entitled SOLO.
THE PACKER
An extremely broad farce, something like an updated version of Plutarch’s city comedies.
Salient Magazine, Wellington, 2003
Fuemana’s writing is fresh and well observed, flowing easily in and out of scenes and jump-cutting seamlessly from one character’s perspective to another. A tightly conceived coming of age comedy.
The Melbourne Times, Melbourne 2003
Social satire or humanist drama, it doesn’t really matter. It’s an entertaining and alarmingly accurate slice of a particular youth culture that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The List, Edinburgh 2004
Fuemana has a nice ear for dialogue… laugh-out-loud moments in the clashes of different characters’ dreams and desires.
NZ Herald, Auckland 2004
Fuemana’s one night out in Auckland is wonderfully written – is there a more archetypal line in contemporary New Zealand theatre than Brad’s “Bro man, it’s the bro’s bro”?
Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney 2008
