Oscar Kightley

Oscar Kightley is a Samoan-born entertainer who grew up in New Zealand and has helped create critically acclaimed, award-winning work for the stage and for small and big screens. He is a Qantas award-winning journalist and has received the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award, an Arts Foundation Laureate and a Sir Peter Blake Trust Emerging Leader Award. He was appointed to the Council of Creative New Zealand, and received a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) medal from the Queen for his services to television and theatre. In 2016 he was named Senior Pacific Artist at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards and, in 2019, was awarded the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Oscar co-founded Pacific Underground and the Island Players theatre company, is a member of the Naked Samoans and continues to work as a performer, writer and director for both national and international projects.