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Members of an Asian theatre group hope a play set in the country's poll tax era can prompt audiences to rethink their attitudes towards immigrants. Revolving around the struggles of a Chinese family seeking a better life in New Zealand, Pork and Poll Taxes returns to Auckland after its sold-out premiere five years ago. A hefty poll tax was levied on Chinese immigrants arriving in New Zealand from 1881. The tax wasn't abolished until 1944, with the government only formally apologising for it in 2002. Set in the 1890s, the production centres on an immigrant named Jiu Choy, who came to New Zealand to pursue a new life after paying the tax and leaving his wife and children behind. The play delves into migration, racism and shifting family dynamics associated with separation, choices and varied beliefs of what is regarded as a "better life". Director Chye-Ling Huang said poll tax was a "really dark time" in New Zealand's history, with immigrants being invited to come and work in the gold fields but treated poorly. "Sadly, we've seen how relevant it is in the last few weeks of our political history," Huang said, referring to remarks New Zealand First leader Winston Peters made to China-born MP Lawrence Xu-Nan in Parliament in July that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called racist. "It really tells the story of something that we see repeated again and again, where we welcome immigrants into our country when they're useful to us. "They have a certain place if they play by the rules and have a certain role, but their lives are so disposable to the government that is running the country." Darren Young, who stars as Jiu Choy in the show, felt fortunate to be given the opportunity to play the lead role. Young is a descendant of a Chinese immigrant who once paid the poll tax upon arriving in New Zealand. Young's grandfather came to New Zealand when he was 15 years old, paying £100. "I didn't know anything about the poll tax when I was young, and it wasn't spoken about in the family," Young said. "It wasn't until I was a lot older that I heard about it and then did a bit of digging into what it was." Young said even though the show is set in the late 1800s, the themes of the show still resonate strongly today. "People are seeking a better life overseas, who just want to be safe and secure, and who want the best for their children, and are also facing challenges like racism and prejudice," he said. "What happened in New Zealand back then still happens today." Young hopes the show can make people appreciate migrants and the challenges they've gone through a little bit more. Talia Pua, writer of the production, said she came across the topic while she was in Year 13 at school researching a monologue for drama. When the poll tax was raised from £10 to £100 in 1896, the Cantonese would refer to it as "the pig trade", likening the payment to selling yourself like a pig, hence the "pork" part of the show's title, she said. Pigs were also used to symbolise the fall of a family from being prosperous in Chinese culture and being dehumanised, as Western cultures viewed pigs as dirty and beastly, Pua said. Being a daughter of migrants, Pua was surprised to learn about this part of history. "I feel like my experience of belonging or feeling like a New Zealander would have been helped had I known that there were people who had come before me, and who had sacrificed so much and had carved a way for newer migrants to come in," she said. Directing the show when it was performed in 2021, Pua plays Jiu Choy's daughter in the show this time. She said although the poll tax most specifically relevant to Chinese migrants, the struggles the family faced were applicable to any migrant group. "The poll tax becomes a symbol for every kind of injustice that any migrant has had to face," Pua said. "I think it is still scarily relevant to what we're facing today in a world that's so divisive and is really trying to push people out. "That's really, really sad." To improve on the last edition, Pua dived deeper in the poll tax history and found scripts of a parliamentary debate in the late 1800s talking about the "Chinese problem" that are set to be featured in the show. "It's very telling, but also very scary about how similar some of these things that they're saying are things that people are still saying now," she said. "I think I want audiences to be thinking about like 'What could we have done differently? What is still the same now? What can I do? "What are my attitudes towards these people? How can I be kinder?" Huang said she hoped audiences came away from the play "feeling a deeper sense of empathy and understanding for immigrants, especially those who suffered under the poll tax in the 1800s". She said the play dealt with a lot of themes around choice, fate, and how political and societal forces might ruin or help in any given circumstance. "I also hope that people can consider what their role might be in the upcoming arguments or discourse around immigration," she said. Pork and Poll Taxes will be performed at Auckland's Herald Theatre from 16-19 September.