Black Ties, a rambunctious story of the union of two First Nations peoples, and the fraught coming together of their respective families, is perfect festival fare. Billed as a reimagining of the wedding rom-com from an Indigenous perspective, this high-octane, immersive co-production from Melbourne’s ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and New Zealand’s Te Rēhia Theatre, which receives its world premiere, is funny, smart and ultimately very sweet.

Black Ties. Photograph © Yaya Stempler

Directed by Rachael Maza and Tainui Tukiwaho from a script by John Harvey and Tukiwaho, Black Ties begins with the tentative engagement of Hera (Tuakoi Ohia), who is Māori, and Kane (Mark Coles Smith), who is Aboriginal. A spanner is quickly thrown in the works when the audience learns that Hera’s mother is firmly opposed to her marrying anybody who isn’t Māori, and it’s clear that Kane’s mother too will have to be won over to the idea of her son bringing home a girlfriend who’s not Aboriginal. What ensues is an amusing, perceptive clash of cultures, with the couple travelling to New Zealand and then Australia in order to seek their parents’ blessings.

The show’s first half is simply but effectively staged,...