Many gardens have a gnome sitting among the flowers and shrubs but few would have one like Norman the Gnome, the central character of the Improvisors show Gnome on the Roam.

That’s because Norman can walk and talk and goes on adventures and can inveigle the audience to help him with lots of suggestions of where to go and what to do when he gets there.

Norman lives at 22 Fictitious Place in Wellington with the Armbrewster family.

When the Armbrewsters decide to go on holiday Norman goes with them, with the help of Nuff, the Fairy at the bottom of the garden – Fairynuff – and Dog.

It is here the Improvisors come into their own, working the audience to feed them suggestions, which they base Norman’s adventures on. At the opening show, Antarctica and the South Pole was the holiday destination.

Greg Ellis, Ian Harcourt and Richard Falkner, accompanied by Morgan Samuel on keyboard and Uther Dean on lights, create a wonderland of characters and situations in the icy deep south with confidence and humour, keeping the audience, both young and old, totally engaged, even onstage at times, with Norman’s adventures.

There are songs, too, with each verse created from ideas from the audience which all combines to make a unique holiday show.
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A gnome alone at home is likely to get bored, as does Norman, perched on the edge the goldfish pond at the bottom of the Ambrewsters’ garden at 22 Fictitious Place Wellington. But when he is taken on holiday – to become the subject of novelty gnome photos on Facebook – the planned trip to Auckland goes awry and he ends up … in Antarctica at the show I see, thanks to the small boy in front of me.

The Ambrewsters turn out to be amongst us and must call for Norman whenever their name is mentioned. The audience also gets to decide what else is in the garden and what you might miss if you went away, sing the chorus of the ‘If You Wanna Go Home and You’re a Wandering Gnome’ song – while the actors invent spontaneous verses about what Norman might miss – help the Airline Captain with the safety procedures, decide what populates the exotic new clime Norman finds himself in and (at this performance anyway) manipulate the actors into playing out a physical activity.  

Common to all performances, along with Norman (played for us by the ever-voluble Greg Ellis), are Fairy Nuff, who weaves whatever magic is needed to keep the story moving along, and Barry the baggage handler, both played with impromptu wit by the wondrously ectomorphic Ian Harcourt. And the Airline Captain, played this Monday afternoon Richard Falkner. (Cast line-ups change throughout the season.)

The third actor gets to play whatever is suggested by the audience, hence Falkner brings extraordinary physical and vocal dexterity to a dog, a walrus, an orca and a penguin. He is a huge asset to the team.

And adding musical accompaniment and sonic moods is Morgan Samuel on keys, while Uther Dean on lights is also ever attentive and responsive to the needs of the unfolding story.

It all get summed up with a holiday snaps sequence where the two others respond instantly to Norman’s descriptions and Norman interprets the poses they adopt. Ingenious.

Alongside the other holiday shows on offer, Gnome on the Roam is probably especially attractive to children who feel they’ve outgrown fairytales, and have the imagination and natural creativity to offer good ideas when asked.

Because this is an improv show, we are an essential part of the part of the process, and getting to see our input come alive on stage makes Gnome on the Roam especially satisfying.
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