Street for 14 years on and off . When asked if there was a moment in his life that confirmed he had to write , Victor wasn ’ t sure how to answer but said “ I do know that this is all I can really do .”
Victor always confi rms his Samoan / Scottish heritage . I asked how his heritage infl uences his work and if he feels a responsibility to represent his heritage and culture in his writing . Victor said “ being afakasi and especially being afakasi and growing up not knowing the Samoan culture was a huge influence on my work because I wanted that specific point of view represented ; being afakasi can be a very different experience from being socalled full blooded so I like to think I have repped for people who sit where I do on the spectrum . I feel a responsibility in that the white point of view is dominant and very available so I feel a responsibility to represent a different point of view .”
Victor ’ s ideas for his writing come from everywhere . “ At the moment I am doing a play that was inspired by a very random email ; another one was , funnily enough inspired by what I saw happening at a funeral .” He shares that “ ideas are the easiest part of the creative process for me . I have them all the time . The harder bit is taking that idea from beginning to end .”
For Victor he confi rms his motivation to write “ often comes from anger – something that makes me angry – and writing a play about it can be a way to deal with that anger .” And in terms of who he writes for , he confirms : “ I write what I feel compelled to write , as a playwright . I ’ m not populist in the sense that I can ’ t go ‘ I think a lot of people would like a play about such and such .’ The play has to come from within and I have to feel compelled to write it .”
I was curious about the inspiration for Victor ’ s writing . I have spoken with songwriters and
THE PLAY HAS TO COME FROM WITHIN AND I HAVE
TO FEEL COMPELLED TO WRITE IT . composers , who say that they look for inspiration in books or fi lms , i . e . from another art form , other than their own . I asked Victor if this was the same for him . He confi rmed that this was the case , especially with music . “ I will most often listen to the work of Max Richter who I had the pleasure of seeing in Edinburgh last year . I get inspired by a lot of things . Music can really inspire my writing , as well as photographs . For ‘ My Name is Gary Cooper ’ I had a few key images that I collected that helped me with the writing , including David Hockney , a fashion spread from Male Vogue and a picture from Vanity Fair of a super hot African American Olympian eating an ice cream in his speedos and a picture of Laurence Fishburne crying .”
I asked Victor about which piece of work he was most proud of and why . He answers , “ Probably My Name is Gary Cooper because of its complex structure , what it was saying and also the two productions of it ( in Auckland and Honolulu ) have been privileges to watch . Also Club Paradiso , the fi rst play I ever put on without funding . It was dark , it pushed the envelope , not everybody liked it but I was incredibly proud of it .”
Given Victor ’ s success and experience , I wondered whether there is an added expectation or pressure for his next work . Victor confi rms that for him , the expectations and pressures aren ’ t there , but that “ the pressure is simply to get paid to write full time ”.
At the moment , Victor is working on a play based on Jean Paul Sartre ’ s play No Exit , called Ua Uma , which is set in hell and a dark comedy called Fanny Burney ’ s Box . Victor is completely focused on his current residency , so when asked what is next , he confirms he ’ s “ in Dunedin until Feb 2017 and then …” 44
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