Writer-director Moana Ete and Kapitall Kids Theatre (KKT) are to be congratulated for producing an entirely original play for children that doesn’t come pre-branded with the title of a well-known folk tale or favourite children’s book. It’s a risk few companies are prepared to take, marketing-wise, but creating a play from scratch does bring special benefits.

Racecars Vs Cupcakes brings play to the play in a way no book could do. In its exploration and challenging of gender role stereotyping, it invites the audience – children mostly – to get actively involved in playing out make-believe actions that make their experience much more meaningful and memorable.

The premise is that two 10 year-olds – Nancy (Cassandra Tse) and Tom (Jared Kirkwood) – are planning a tea party to which they’ve invited some famous people and Tiffany (Olivia Kelsey), their best friend from school last year, who has moved on to KKT Intermediate this year.

Nancy dreams of driving racecars and challenges Tom to a race, for which the audience provides the sound-effects. Guess who wins. But Tom’s special skill is baking, and cupcakes are his specialty.  

Both are delighted when Tiffany arrives but, showing distinct signs of early-onset teenage judgemental disorder (my label), she is scathing of their childish ways while attempting to be mature and sophisticated, as dictated by peer-group pressure and media images of femininity. Because they admire her, Tom and Nancy accept her demand that he should wear a pirate hat and she should wear fairy wings.  

Tiffany is also a tidy-freak. Getting kids up to help, and getting the rest to call out which toys should go into the girls’ or the boys’ box, she proves how entrenched the stereotyping is.

But when the next guest turns up – TV celebrity chef Jamie Oliver no less (Kirkwood) – he is much more drawn to what’s in the girls’ box, not least the tea set, given his eagerness to try Tom’s famous cupcakes. He gets the kids involved in making lavender tea.

As for American model Danika* Patrick (Tse), she is right into race-cars, and when Tiffany balks at changing a tyre, she involves the girls from the audience in proving they can do it – using hula hoops as wheels.  

The children accept the conventions of play instantly. While the child characters are at older primary and intermediate level – and their peers would relate to them strongly – younger children, including pre-schoolers, have a ball with this play too.  

All three actors interact skilfully with their audience and delineate their characters extremely well, thanks to a script that authentically captures their ages, stages and speech patterns. The singing is not as strong or sophisticated as in the other holiday shows around town but it serves its purpose and the kids are very ready to round off their experience dancing with the cast.

Racecars Vs Cupcakes is bound to inspire creative play at home and may well liberate some young people from limitations about what they may or may not do in their make-believe or real worlds.
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*Danica in real life – and yes, “she is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing” (Wikipedia) as well as a model. 

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