This show purports to reveal the repressed feelings, big dreams and twisted fantasies held by a family of Timaru butchers. Such a descriptor does not mince words. Here is a drama that has all the ingredients of a Shakespearean tragedy. More about that later.  

Mincing takes place on a simple set of a central bench and two flanking stools. Enter the jolly family butchers of the eponymous title: Dad (Tom Sainsbury), Mum (Kura Forrester), son (Chris Parker) and daughter (Brynley Stent), who are twins.

Everyone’s got news. Mum wants to take a trip to Europe, Jimminy Junior, his entrance pointedly signalled by a backstage announcement “I’m coming out”, has show business aspirations necessitating a sojourn in New York, and Nicole is off on a business venture to colonial parts.

Master Butcher Dad, though somewhat bemused by the implications of all these travel plans, valiantly offers a toast – albeit with bubbles left over from a family wedding. After all, who’s going to put up the dough?

Little by entertaining little, a dark family secret emerges, and we get to learn details of the various plans our unworldly innocents are making. “We are family”, enthusiastically chorused by all four, acts as a prelude to what the audience now gets: snapshots of what befalls Mum, son and daughter as they experience the vagaries of their chosen journeys. Most hilarious of these is Mum’s encounter with an admittedly stereotypical Italian male, but all the funnier because of it.

There are lots of character changes involved, and lots of wonderful wigs to go with them.  

The minds that dreamed up Mincing are characterised by a crazed creativity. Combined with a fine ear for plot development, clever dialogue and a denouement that would have Shakespeare turning in his grave (truly), Mincing is a brilliant realisation of comedic talent.

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