This year, Capital E National Theatre for Children’s Story Studio Live has taken the judicious step of minimising the touring component, containing three performers in Avalon Studios (Lower Hutt) and offering an interactive experience for schools (years 3 to 8) that dips into the history of Aotearoa.

Previous Story Studio Live shows toured the whole shebang around the motu. It kicked off in 2018 with a script developed by four mentored students aged 12 to 18, producing an inventive and lively blend of storytelling and performance abetted by fun-to-watch live sound-effects (aka SFX or Foley) creation. In 2019, storytelling workshops in schools with children aged 11 to 13 explored themes of cultural identity to create a show that blended fun with deep, important and heartfelt messages (to quote reviewer Jo Hodgson).

2020 was cancelled due to Covid and in 2021 Story Studio Live bravely resumed nationwide touring with another workshops in schools-developed show about climate change which interacted with its young audiences to (as Jo puts it) used the “aspects of learning through theatrical play are essential for growing our kids in a positive way so they have the capacity and facility to make a difference in their lifetime.” Tautoko to that!

Story Studio Live 2022: Aotearoa, devised by the company,reaches back to the imminent Te Takanga o Te Wā and Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories that will be part of all kura and schools’ marau ā-kura and local curriculum in 2023 (released in March 2022 to give kura and schools time to plan for implementation).

The school hall – I’m at Thorndon School for a show attended by a younger cohort of ākonga (students) – features a large screen and a tech desk with all the gear needed for the internet and/or satellite connections that will facilitate live interaction between the ākonga and studio-based performers. On the floor at the school, working the desk and hosting the show is Tadhg Mackay.

Ākonga sit on the floor flanked by two Kaiako (teachers). Casually gracing the screen in their greenscreen studio are the performers: Natasha McAllister, Mycah Keall and Jthan Morgan who will prove to be wonderfully versatile in this livestream performance and the sketches – some pre-recorded – that make up the show, directed by their co-devisor Carrie Green.

By way of a warm-up, Tadhg gets the ākonga interacting with the performers via a microphone embedded in a sponge rubber cube that’s happily tossed about as required. Jthan, Mycah and Natasha readily respond to requests to act out puppets, the FBI, explorers lost in the jungle, a tree … before the focus turns to local history. The show proper has begun.

Being in Wellington/ Pōneke/ Te Whanaganui-a-Tara, its many names are canvassed before ‘Breaking News’ brings us a report of the battle between two taniwha, Whātaitai and Ngake, that created the harbour and topography we know today. Doubtless each region will be treated with its own ‘Breaking News’ legend.

We get a sketch about the ‘discovery’ and re-naming of Aotearoa by Abel Tasman and Captain Cook, interacting with whale-riding Tane who disappears below the waves in a clever bit of greenscreen magic. Another sketch depicts an earnest discussion between three self-important Victorian gentlemen about what to call its islands – and we all know how creative their decision was.

Three ‘Famous Places’ segments, dotted throughout the show, see Captain Cook, Queen Victoria and Hone Heke interviewed about all the places names after them, the point being made that Heke just gets a few streets.

Meanwhile interactive segments include Cool Thing About [insert the relevant suburb/ town/ city/ region], a Where Am I? quiz show, discovering the meaning of te reo Māori words, including place names, plus a bit of NZ Sign language.

There is a police chase where one of the kaiako is suddenly on screen in close-up, and a story of Kupe that, in the process of reaching how Aotearoa was named, casts both kaiako in key roles on the journey – to the huge delight of ākonga.

Hone Heke offers an uncharacteristically gentle wero about maybe changing the town called Russell back to Kororāreka before the well-stimulated audience is left to make their own histories.

Studio Technicians Isaac Kirkwood and Nicholas Batey, and Studio Stage Manager Michael Clark, complete the highly skilled team who ensure the show is highly engaging from start to finish. With Story Studio Live 2022: Aotearoa, Capital E proves once more how invaluable the performing arts can be in teaching right across the curriculum.

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