Space Race takes a laugh-a-minute look at New Zealand’s race with “the Yanks” to get to the moon in 1969, … [It] stars Simon Ward – the guy from the Tower Insurance ads, among other things – as mechanic-cum-inventor Laurie Marshall, who sets about building a spaceship out of tractor parts, kitchen utensils and “corn beef grease”.

Set in the small Manawatu town of Sanson, it also introduces us to bloke-about-town Phil Pickles and his bumbling mate Kev, who ridicule Laurie’s spaceship in favour of championing Sanson’s other big tourist attraction, namely “Manawatu’s quaintest tram”. But Laurie is made of bigger stuff and he builds his rocket. [More]
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Laurie Marshall (Simon Ward) lives with his Nana, is the local tractor repairman and in his spare time invents new and un-thought-of gadgets in the shed at the bottom of his garden. When he hears of the plans over the wireless that the Americans are to launch a rocket into space, he hatches a plan to get his home town of Sanson on the map by getting a New Zealander there first. 

The whole town gets behind him, but it’s not without its nay-sayers, tall poppy bashers and a nosey CIA agent to boot. And then, of course, there’s the ladies league who insist on making sandwiches for the trip. 

Apparently based on a true story, this story of Matamata’s best-kept secret of the race for the moon makes for a charming tale of No.8 wire inventiveness. The script is well paced and weighted towards telling this in as colloquial a fashion as possible. It gets a lot of mileage out of interesting characters who inhabit the township. I’m guessing there was some judicious cutting made to many other inhabitants of the town during the writing process, as there seems room for a few more scenarios to be explored in the story.

I didn’t really feel the female characters in the piece were particularly strong. Kathleen (played by Josephine Stewart-Tewhiu), the love-interest / strong-willed ‘modern’ woman, doesn’t really get much of an introduction and we’re asked to accept that Laurie has fallen for her simply because of her understanding of hydrogen fuel-based systems. Nana and the Ladies League also become nothing more than pepper-pot caricatures once they’ve served their narrative function.

In support of Ward’s honest, warm straight-man, Stewart-Tewhiu, and writers Nic Samson and Joseph Moore play colourful multiple characters, seamlessly integrating their personas and tackling the rapid costume changes with aplomb. The occasional transition between scenes clangs with the pace, but even here much comedy is found. 

Thomas Sainsbury’s swift direction makes sure focus is switched appropriately where needed, gags given their full dramatic beats without resorting to comedic ‘schtick’ and the busy contingent of props are handled and removed with ease. 

The setting is simple, rough and functional – were there more time for packing in during a busy festival season, a more interesting garden shed aesthetic could have been achieved. 

At just under an hour, this is a fun show that mostly lives up to its promise. I’d like to see this group of young actors expand this truncated work to something that could stand up outside a festival environment and deliver an even broader spectrum of characters with a little more depth to the emotions and ideas explored. 

But, after all, this is a comedy festival, and this show certainly gets plenty of laughs out of its material.
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