Lightbulbman is a noir hip hop musical comedy. An improbable superhero (Jacob Tamaiparea) who’s lost his mojo, must regain his superpower (‘the blink’) in order to defeat his arch nemesis, Shoes, a cruel soup kitchen manager with a demonic laugh, a cheese-cutter cap and a plastic BB gun.

Rangi Rangitukunoa plays the Lightbulbman’s sidekick and confidant [whose name escapes me, sorry, so he will henceforth be referred to as ‘Sidekick’], as well as the proverbial villain Shoes, and José, a maniacal monkey. Oh, and the voice of Lightbulbman’s personal god Ice Cube who manifests through a small portrait and imparts pearls of wisdom in our hero’s hour of need.

A wonderful live soundtrack is provided by the ‘Brothers Mainwaring live hip hop band’, with drums and electric guitar teasing out suspense music, backing beats for Tamaiparea and Rangitukunoa’s linguistic gymnastics, and sound effects: there are several nicely choreographed comic book-style fight sequences, accompanied by bendy strings and drums doing the thwacks, pows and tchocks.  

Lighting (and just as often the absence of it) are used effectively to illustrate Lightbulbman’s living in the shadows. His problem is that his bulb is blown, and he is therefore unable to light up and ‘blink’ (disappear and reappear in a different place – wherever he is most needed). The superhero has lost confidence. But, thanks to the encouragement of his friend and the advice of his guru, Lightbulbman has his first illuminating idea in ages, then flashes of inspiration start coming hard and fast…

The entire show is set in Shoes’ soup kitchen, where Lightbulbman and Sidekick piece together the mystery of the disappearing monkey and work out how to overcome LBM’s electrical problem.

Spoiler warning:
It turns out it’s all in his mind (as is Sidekick’s bin phobia); not to mention LBM’s phobia of speaking in the first person, and his fear of time (chronophobia?) – which makes the story into a surreal and sometimes confusing dreamscape.
Warning ends

Nostalgic flashbacks reveal the secret of how he became the Lightbulbman and the truth about what happened José.

Tamaiparea and Rangitukunoa deliver a hilarious and punchy script with physical and verbal agility. They never miss a beat of comic timing, and easily get the audience laughing. Tamaiparea’s lexical talent makes up for his occasionally stiff acting – the melancholic side of his protagonist is slightly less than convincing.

My only gripe is that ultimately the storyline isn’t satisfying; for all its points of interest – loads of laughs, dramatic suspense and some classic characters – it needs a few plot rumples ironed out. I didn’t understand the villain’s motivation: why does he need to defeat Lightbulbman?

Also, it’s suddenly Lightbulbman’s fault that José was murdered, but here too, I fail to see why. Was LBM supposed to materialise and save the monkey from his fate? Part of it is that there’s so much information in the snappy dialogue, and the narrative jumps around a bit, so that you don’t get time to digest it all.

The whole thing has the feeling of a random, heavily nuanced and absurdly intense nightmare – an effect which I don’t mind in the least, though it left me in a daze trying to decipher it all.

This odd but highly entertaining little show is only on for the rest of the weekend, so catch it before it disappears back into the shadows!

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