Pork and Poll Taxes is a play written by Talia Pua that explores a Chinese family in the late 19th century torn apart by poverty, violence, and racism. The story begins in 1891 with Jiu Choy (Darren Young) leaving his wife and family in China to seek a fortune and a better life in New Zealand. Rather than finding an easy way to riches, he is forced into a life of hard work to pay off loans he took out to move. His wife, Shui Ching (Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant), fearful of joining him, sends her son Kam Loi (Dennis Zhang 张全) to New Zealand while she remains with her daughter Yuk Chun (Talia Pua) and mother-in-law Ah Ma (Xiao Hu).
Back in China, Shui Ching and Ah Ma come into conflict with one another and also face hardship through local village raids and the threat of famine and floods. Jiu and Kam Loi, meanwhile, put on a brave face dealing with condescension and at times outright hostility from white settlers in New Zealand.
The play explores the impact of colonisation on people who were not indigenous but who nevertheless felt its effects. New Zealand initially encouraged the arrival of cheap labourers, such as miners, from China, but then over time changed course and decided these new immigrants were a threat. How many times has that been repeated over the past 180 years?
The tactics were punitive and cruel. In 1881, poll taxes of £10 per person were imposed on Chinese people entering the country. A decade later, this increased to £100 which was a huge financial burden.
Yet the dream of a better life never dimmed.
What I liked about this play was its universality. Human dynamics play out right across the globe and throughout history. Tensions within the family, the desperation of the poor, the rapacity of moneylenders and the violence against ‘otherness’ are not unique to any society.
This is a well-written and superbly acted play that is not afraid to expose the ugly side of history and immigration. But Pork and Poll Taxes also shows us that the world is not entirely bleak. Courage and a sense of hope will get people through difficult times even the darkest of times, however filled with grief. People can have a better future and that only happens if we expose the past and learn from it.
PORK AND POLL TAXES
16-20 September 2026
Herald Theatre – Auckland
