New Zealand is in Cricket World Cup finals mode and Tim Bray is 75 not out. Not runs, but productions.  I wonder how Bray and his team felt on the opening night of that first production in 1991 … Excited, I’ll bet.

I wonder, also, if Bray thought on that occasion that 25 years and 75 productions later he’d still be presenting top quality professional theatre for children, still employing the very best actors and creatives and still providing an introduction to the magic of live performance to another generation of Kiwi kids.

Greedy Cat is an excellent choice for an occasion like this. Bray is accustomed to adapting and producing Joy Cowley’s work and some of the fiddly little issues of the past are simply not evident in this production. Cowley is a literary writer for little kids so turning her narrative into text is no easy task. The erudition of Cowley for kids sees her consumed with rhyme and rhythm, quirky characters, humanised animal personalities and always, always, fantastic visuals. Lovely though this is for bedtime reading, it lacks some of the key ingredients necessary for good theatre which makes Bray’s success with this script just that much more laudable.  

Finding a serious protagonist isn’t always the simplest of tasks when adapting kids’ fiction, especially if the characters happen to be animals or fantasticals but in this account Bray makes the profoundly plump puss fulfil this role without affecting our unbridled love of the mischievous moggy. 

We’re met, on arrival, by a stage with three giant letters in different colours topped by an assortment of equally large comestibles. The letters spell ‘C A T’ in cartoon lingo and they’re absolutely enchanting. ‘Rachael Walker’, I think to myself quietly in the rowdy dark, and I am correct. This Walker set has all the hallmarks of this exceptional designer: it’s immensely attractive and, as the show plays out, proves to be incredibly practical as well.

All theatre needs space for movement, for action playing of one sort or another and, where necessary, to give physical meaning to the text. Rachael Walker never fails to deliver on these tenets and she’s aced them all – again. It’s not just the giant letters, though. There’s a red table and chairs which also play into the visual delights of the cartoony concept, some excellent props and the ‘C A T’ letters contain many hidden delights. 

Actors appear and it’s immediately apparent that the costumes, designed and made by Chantelle Gerrard are exceptional as well. They’re functional and vivid, support the overall design concept and enhance the picture-book-come-to-life creation that is at the heart of Bray’s excellent production.  

There’s no point in creating work of this nature if it can’t be seen and to this end Bray has engaged, as lighting designer, the brilliance of Michael Craven – why not employ the very best? – and his work is ably made real by Jaz Davis who handles the sound operation as well. 

A Tim Bray Productions show without music would be like a clown without laughter and this facet of Greedy Cat is in the remarkable hands of keyboard genius Jason Smith. His accompaniment of the action and contribution to character is quite simply outstanding and the success of the show owes much to his exquisite timing and talents. 

Now to the cast – and what an equally astounding bunch they are. Bray’s cartoon concept needs big, fast and sassy playing and, as anyone who has tried to work like this will tell you, it ain’t that easy. It’s even harder to make the work look effortless but these actors do so and with oodles to spare. 

The incomparable Donogh Rees plays both the radically absent-minded Mum and the sharp-as-a-tack, doesn’t-miss-a-trick, elderly Aunt Ann. They’re as different as chalk and cheddar and equally delightful. On the surface they’re as real as right this minute but beneath the seeming spontaneity is a craft well-honed and an actor totally on top of her game. The voice is in great nick – t his can be said about all the cast with the exception of Pippianja Tui Jane but more about that later – and we hear every word without any sense of over-work or effort. 

Katie, erstwhile owner/servant of the great, gluttonous greedy-guts of the story’s title, is played with great skill by Katie Burson. Getting beyond the stereotype of an actor playing a child isn’t a simple task but Burson does it really well. She’s supported by a vastly empathic stage family and together they present the epitome of the perfect family (with a few ‘pencils in the hair’ idiosyncrasies). 

Last, but certainly not least, in this human family, is Phil Vaughan who plays Dad – and everyone else. The programme underplays his contribution by simply listing his characters as ‘Dad / Shopkeepers / Judge’ but it’s much, much more than that. Vaughan is a smart comedian and instantly likeable. He’s the Dad we all wish we’d had: patient, funny (in a bizarre way but aren’t all Dads?), generous and there when you, or you cat, or your Mum, most need him. He’s a responsive actor, too, with craft to burn, and he needs it because a number of his ‘shopkeeper’ characters augment the text of this otherwise slight story, and the parents of the littlies for whom this work is made need it too.

Mum and Katie go shopping for goodies for a family birthday and they’re fortunate to find a shop that sells everything they need and, even better, has a specialist in charge of each unique foodie treat. There’s the sausage maker (Vaughan) who tells tales about his sausages only to have them pinched by the mouser. There’s Pierre, the French patisserie man (Vaughan in chapeaux) who produces innuendo-filled sticky buns only to have them pilfered by the tubby tabby. There’s Andy in the cap (Vaughn again), the Eastender who predictably produces potato crisps only to have them purloined by the felonious puss. Then there’s Efron, the gay fruiterer, with his ‘yes, we ain’t got no bananas’ showstopper – it’s Vaughan in yet another hat – and Greedy Cat, once again, departs with the spoils.

Finally there is Sebastian the chocolatier whose love of his own products alone matches the greed of our furry feline – and thus ends Vaughan’s sextet of magnificent merchants. He’s stunningly funny, physically adept, vocally nimble, and the result is many, many minutes of absolute hilarity appreciated by the whole audience but, in particular, the large number of parents, grandparents and caregivers, many of whom have become regular participants in the traditional Tim Bray opening performance.

I promised to come back to Pippiajna Tui Jane and her sublimely realised Greedy Cat so here we are. She might not have had any lines in a conventional sense but her cantankerous creature has no difficulty making himself understood. Gifted with a superb sense of mimicry, Pippiajna Tui Jane mews, snarls, purrs and yowls her way through the performance ingratiating us into servanthood even when we don’t want to go there.

We’ve all known cats like this covetous creature: they’re both delightful and a massive pain in the butt, and this actor embodies every physical and vocal characteristic imaginable. It’s a super performance and the applause for cast, crew and cat at the conclusion of the evening is heartfelt and genuine. 

In retrospect this is the best Tim Bray Production of all the ones I’ve seen; the most complete. The creatives on the technical side have done wonderful work, the actors are magnificent and the whole comes together splendidly.

Our son – age 12 and for many years the proud owner of all the Greedy Cat books – says he’s really enjoyed the show but it’s probably pitched at kids a bit younger than him. I suspect he’s right. He has appreciated the theatrical stuff – the lighting, sound, set, Jason Smith’s prodigiously good keyboards and the excellent performances – but the narrative hasn’t quite grabbed him. It certainly grabs the ‘up-to-tens’ though (and it should be remembered that our son sees a lot of pretty adult theatre and is currently rehearsing the role of ‘The Magic Carpet’ in Aladdin at his school which rather changes everything. No, I don’t know how you play a magic carpet, but I dare say I will in a few months. Watch this space).

For me, I love Greedy Cat and everything about it. I suggest you will too. Grab a bunch of willing kids, book soon, and rock on up to The Pumphouse. You’ll have a meow of a time!

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