As the title suggests, this is a theatre piece about the construction industry. It’s performed at Te Auaha by The Awkward company (Whitireia graduates). Lack of a programme means not being able to specify names.

The action begins in semi darkness, the stage featuring a half-constructed shed where a slow moving elderly man takes a tumble while attempting to hammer in a nail.

Enter the building crew where head honcho Christo takes a roll call. “Who watched the game last night?” takes precedence over a eulogy for Pedo, who has died as a result of the forementioned accident.

Enter a health and safety inspector – nicely caricatured and duly made fun of. His intermittent appearances and bureaucratic rantings are one of the play’s highlights.

A new apprentice is on the way and when this person turns out to be a young woman, Dylan, we sense trouble brewing, Will she prove to be a spanner in the works? Bubbles, Spanko and Wanko aren’t sure whether to keep their distance or offer helpful tips about when to use the portaloo: “Don’t go in there after Brick”. Left alone, Dylan laments “Wish there was some way I could earn my place”.     

Builder-style repartee amongst the crew is another highlight, plus learning that Christo has dreams of creating a musical: Tiler on the Roof perhaps? There’s a hilarious team-bonding game. As for the health and safety inspector’s discovery of multiple violations of his beloved code and his threat to shut down the crew and their work – corruption is not where you’d expect it to be. The fun reaches its peak in a denouement involving a block of wood and a half hammered nail. The inspector and Dylan get their dues.

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