A south Auckland based theatre troupe called The Black Friars has created the first ever production led by Pacific student leaders from ten high schools.
The show, Southside Rise, highlights true stories of struggles Pacific youth face in New Zealand.
Co-director Denyse Su'a said seeing the students unite to bring the show together is an example of breaking the negative stereotypes around students from south Auckland.
Ms Su'a said the drive behind the show has been defining leaders in the young Pacific students' lives.
"I don't need to sit here and tell you that south Auckland gets a bad rep in the media and people kind of have their opinions of what south Auckland is, but if you go into south Auckland and you ask the people what it's like, they love it and so it was about realising that leadership, it doesn't look like the big CEO, leadership can look like our older brothers and sisters who work seven days a week or our mamas who work in the kitchens."
