Step into the Hive: the first thing you might notice on theHot Brown Honey  stage is the giant honeycomb set piece– a majestic light-up structure that serves as DJ booth and stage backdrop. While finding your seat, you’ll be greeted by one of the six Honeys themselves, warmly welcoming you to the show while wearing yellow and brown tracksuits (that sport the show’s title on the back) and large afro-pick shaped earrings.

The six First Nations women (from Aboriginal Australian, Samoan, Tongan, Indonesian and South African backgrounds) of Hot Brown Honey have no interest in a fourth wall (or any divisive structure for that matter). Both the show’s director (and performer), Lisa Fa’alafi and performer Ofa Fotu welcome the audience before the show officially begins, and both proudly declare into the microphone, “This is live theatre, we can see you!” as a reminder that our passivity won’t get us very far in this world. At  Hot Brown Honey the audience does better when we lose the observer etiquette, root into our bodies, and open our ears, our hearts, and our voices. “Repetition is key” ...