TALE OF A DOG
Tararua Tramping Club, 4 Moncrieff St, Mt Victoria, Wellington
17/04/2021 - 30/04/2021
Production Details
Three of New Zealand’s top international clowns – David Ladderman, Fergus Aitken and Fraser Hooper – give us a fun-filled slice of circus life, with the added flavour of some classic KidzStuff treats.
Did you ever want to run away and join the circus? Well now it is time to let an old dog teach you some new tricks and help him on his journey of discovery to the moon and back. Dog is a much loved, energetic pooch, full of new ideas and clever tricks to amaze his circus audiences. However, the moody ring master is determined to keep Dog tied down to the old ways.
So, get out your leads and come for a walk with KidzStuff, on a paw-shaking, belly-scratching, barking-mad tale that is bound to leave you begging for more.
Collectively, David, Fergus, Fraser & Amalia have over 100 years experience of performing to audiences all over the globe!
David is an actor and variety artist with over 20 years experience. He studied at Ballarat Academy of Performing Arts and CIRCO ARTS in Christchurch. David combines his specialist skill of ladder walking, children’s theatre and dazzling street performing to play our clever, lovable ‘Dog’ in Tale Of A Dog. This will be David’s 1st KidzStuff show and we are very excited to have him on the team.
Fergus is an actor, mime, physical theatre performer, tutor and director with over 35 years experience! He originally trained with Robert Bennett in Mime International and at the Desmond Jones school of mime and physical theatre in London. His well-loved character ‘Mr Fungus’ is a Wellington icon. Fergus was recently seen as Dad in the KidzStuff production of Hansel & Gretel.
Tararua Tramping Club, 4 Moncrieff Street, Mount Victoria
When: 17th– 30th April 2021
Monday – Friday 10am & 11:30am
10am shows only on Saturdays!
Tickets $12.00 pp, Children under 2 Free
$7 Special Preview, Saturday 17th April 2021
Bookings: www.kidzstufftheatre.co.nz
Theatre , Family , Clown , Circus , Children’s ,
35 mins
A simple tale very well told
Review by John Smythe 17th Apr 2021
Although the prolific Peter Wilson died less than a month ago, his treasured legacy lives on. Three separate productions of plays he wrote and originally directed are in Wellington playing this first week of the school holidays:
KidzStuff Theatre’s Tale of a Dog (reviewed here);
Capital E’s revival of Seasons, opening at Circa Theatre on Tuesday 19 May;
Little Dog Barking’s Rainbows and Fishes, opening at BATS Wednesday 20 May.
Much like the Dog of this Tale, KidzStuff Theatre is moving on from its old trick of telling traditional children’s stories of old, albeit revamped with local flair. This is the first Peter Wilson play they’ve done – and it delights its young audience and those who bring them.
An affable Ringmaster (Fergus Aitken) welcomes the audience as they arrive and a Dalmatian Dog (David Ladderman) interacts with the children as they settle on the mat space down front. A good feeling is established in the room before the show proper begins.
It is the all-seeing Moon (Fergus) – rising above the red-curtained Dog Circus stage, with a tent-kennel off to the side (set design by Amalia Calder) – who tells us the 30-year-old Dog Circus is struggling. Just one dog is left, the others having got tired of the same old tricks and left.
Unknown to the Ringmaster, however, the lone Dog has developed some new tricks – but when the Ringmaster finds him playing the piano from twinkling to classical he firmly forbids it as part of his ‘tried and true’ traditional format.
It’s not that unicycling and dancing aren’t fun to watch, it’s just that’s poor Dog has doggedly done them for years … It builds to a point where he gets the sack – literally no bones about it as far as the Ringmaster is concerned. On his last night Dog dreams of a massive bone but of course it’s not there when he wakes. And off he goes.
Of course the Ringmaster trying to do the show on his own is a fizzer … Now it’s worth noting Peter Wilson did not go in for audience participation, preferring, quite validly, to entrance his audience with the focused magic of theatrical storytelling. But today’s young enthusiasts didn’t get the memo and right from the start they’ve been quick to tell the Ringmaster where the Dog is. And now – with a little help from the back, they shout out that he needs to bring to Dog back!
Not to perform the same old same old routines, though. Negotiations ensue, a new show is performed – and wouldn’t you know, the Ringmaster even rediscovers some juggling skills he’d long forgotten! When he and Dog juggle sparkling spinning clubs together, my young companion is especially impressed!
Directed by Fraser Hooper, Tale of a Dog is a simple story very well told by two expert performers well capable of delivering the circus component the climax requires.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Comments