In a "dark comedy of denial, miracles and community service", the Naked Samoans will reunite on stage once again for ‘The Last Temptation of the Naked Samoans’.
After selling out their Herald Theatre shows at the 2025 NZ International Comedy Festival, the group - Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Mario Gaoa, Shimpal Lelisi, Robbie Magasiva and Laheto Ah Hi - have announced a one-off show at Q Theatre.
“A lot has changed,” Oscar told Robert Rakete and Jeanette Thomas.
“We had to look at the way comedy has moved. There’s so much comedy out now so for us at first it was like ‘can we still do something relevant? Can we still make our people laugh?’”
“Technology allows more people to get angry at you and express those opinions,” Oscar added.
“But in the end we thought 'No, you know what guys? We’ve got some fans and people who’ve watched us grow up.' It's for them and we’ve just got to bring it like we do and be purely the Nakeds and true to ourselves.”
When asked if this would be their last show, Oscar couldn't say for sure.
“We have been discussing it like it’s that,” he admitted.
“But as we reach a certain age, we’re like ‘we’re all still alive’. We have such a good time, we’re like, ‘okay we’ll do another one’.”
“Never say never,” Oscar finished.
“We might not see each other for a while,” said Robbie, “but as soon as we get together, it’s all there, we connect.”
“[Oscar] is a trailblazer. He’s set the standard. He’s that guy we kind of follow and he’s always there,” Robbie expressed.
“I think [Robbie] is one of our finest actors,” replied Oscar.
“We make jokes about objectifying him,” Oscar laughed, “but we all kind of found each other."
“I love Ro. Just the way he commits and attacks even if he’s terrified on the inside of what we’re doing, he’s like ‘nah I’ve got faith’... and we get there in the end.”\
The Naked Samoans will perform their Q Theatre show on Wednesday 28 May.
