It's a 40-minute one-woman play, written and performed by Dianna Fuemana and directed by Hori Ahipene. The play premiered in New Zealand and centers on a Pacific island woman raised by her Niuean grandmother, but it is by no means geographically or culturally unique.

Fisi, the troubled heroine, lives with Jason. Honored that he singled her out from all the other schoolgirls, she is content to be his "missus" and claims to love him despite his jealousy and angry beatings. "You don't know what it is to be me," she declares, "So you can't judge me."

Fisi is guided by the spirit of her Nan, the grandmother who asked for one more baby to love, and by a friend, Gina, a tough and brassy character with little patience for Fisi's domestic troubles. But even Fisi has limits and ultimately acts out against her abuser.

Mistreated young women regularly crop up in popular theater in shows as diverse as "Carousel," "Oliver" and "Man of La Mancha." So while Fisi crouches in pain from her last beating, proclaiming over and over that "It doesn't hurt, we half expect a song to follow. However, this heroine escapes to private fantasies where she plays heroine to her favorite film star.

Ultimately, the interest in "Mapaki" doesn't come from the plot - which wouldn't manage to fill out even a B movie – but in Fuemana's quicksilver performance and her chameleon shifts among the three principal characters.

The most compelling character is Fisi, tentative and painfully shy, perpetually cringing from the next blow, but singing a Niuean lullaby. Only when she is driven to extreme action can she change behavior, and then only in a momentary act of rage.

Gina is drawn in wonderful contrast – loud, outrageous, and grandstanding – seemingly only interested in parties and good times. Fuemana's quick flips between the two characters add extra dimension to the performance.

Also intriguing are repeated scenes in which Fuemana circles the small playing area almost at a run, delivering overlapping lines and both characters argue the next course of action.

Jason also appears, and Fuemana plays him as an intense young tough, alternately boasting of Fisi's loyalty and pathologically jealous that he may lose it.

The short play has some gentle moments as well. We both meet and leave Fisi curled tightly in a fetal position on a small bench. The spirit of Nan comes to her at night and comforts her again as a small child. And Fisi sings in a childhood language she has since forgot – seemingly the only activity that gives her peace and stature.

"Mapaki" is an interesting playlet – certainly not a major work, but well-crafted and performed.