Stories with the capacity to engage three generations of family members are few and far between – anyone who’s ever sweated over choices for family film night can attest to that. Even with the tsunami of content provided by modern platforms, it’s near impossible to please everyone these days.

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik is that rare, generation-bridging crowd-pleaser. The straightforward nature of the narrative coupled with the masterful use of analog and digital storytelling devices is perhaps why it not only engages, but delights the all-ages audience of Hāwea Flat Hall.

As a venue the community hall was a knowing choice by the Festival organisers. Set among crop fields and craggy Central Otago hills, the hall has a relaxed simplicity and school-camp excitement about it that fits the performance to come. It kind of feels like concert night on the last day of camp: the suppertime biscuits are out and that one scene-stealing kid is about to perform the bit they’ve been working on.

We are focussed on a large white circle in the centre of the stage which will at various points be used by the solo performer, Tom Watts, as a screen, a frame for the action taking place behind it and a set for puppetry sequences. While the circle carries us through space and time to tell Alvin’s story, it also acts as a motif to underscore the importance of human connection.

The post-disaster setting of Alvin’s story appears cautionary at first — particularly given the extreme weather events of late. Seas have risen, billions have died and those who are left live on farms atop skyscrapers and mountains. However, the climate catastrophe is rarely foregrounded but rather sits behind the characters, accepted as an inevitability.

Although humanity’s role in the decimation of the planet’s natural systems is alluded to at times, the narrative belongs to Alvin and is centred around his brave quest.

In a last-ditch effort to save the human race, our bobble-headed hero journeys down through the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place for us to live. It is the recent loss of his wife that drives Alvin to accept the perilous mission, and a desire to follow her soul down to the underworld to be together once more.

As a character, Alvin is endearing and amusing, brought to life by the deceptively simple puppetry of Tom Watts. We become so absorbed in Alvin’s excellent dance moves (undersea disco! Synchronised swimming with sea creatures!) that it’s easy to forget that his head is simply a polystyrene buoy, his body a white glove encasing dexterous fingers. 

But the fact that we are witnessing a performance is never disguised, which is all part of the charm. We see the manipulation of the puppet, hear the switching on and off of Alvin’s headlight and track the performer’s transition from main character to supporting character, from voice actor to projectionist. Yet somehow our disbelief remains suspended, probably because we are participants in the performance too. 

The DIY aesthetic of the production belies a sharp understanding of narrative tools which are layered in a compelling way to move the audience through the story. Notably, a rich, high-quality soundscape draws us into Alvin’s undersea world, complementing the hand-drawn animations and analog elements. Musical tracks are expertly selected to break tension and provide light relief as Alvin pursues the weighty goal of his adventure. 

Seeking to understand how the multimedia parts of the story fit together is partly what unites the audience in our delight. This is evident as kids, parents and grandparents rush to talk with creator and performer Tom Watts at the end of the show. They want to know how the lighting effects are created, what the Alvin-puppet feels like and who built the tiny undersea skyscrapers.

But it’s also the sweet, uplifting nature of the story and the endearing simplicity of its message that connects the audience and makes for a timeless performance. First produced in 2009, the show has had some minor tweaks along the way – including some technical updates to its animations which were originally made in Flash (!) – but is as participatory and heart-warming as ever.

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No surprise then that this story of a little person, Alvin Sputnik, enchants audiences all over the world.  It is exceptional and what theatre is all about. 

Performed by Tim Watts with delicacy and finesse, Alvin – his puppet body a simple ball with an inner light, his legs and arms Watts’ nimble and expressive fingers – ventures out and down into the deepest depths of the sea to find his dead wife and at the same time save the world.  Global warming has turned into a global furnace and this earth of ours is almost totally submerged with only the very tallest buildings remaining as pinpoint island homes in an endless sea. 

A message is sent out from Earth Headquarters seeking a person of courage who will predictably lose his own life but save mankind by finding and releasing a huge bubble of air inside a volcano at the bottom of the ocean. Alvin, grieving his wife and wondering what to do with the rest of his life, decides to volunteer.  Various efforts have been made prior to Alvin’s last ditch attempt.  One of them, “drinking the ocean dry” is predictably, an EPIC FAIL!  

The masterful combination of live music and sound, drawings appearing and disappearing on the screen, the interplay between ‘live’ puppet and drawn puppet without missing a beat, all with split second timing, is amazing.  A combination of silhouettes, little drawings and sweet songs – notably the touching ‘Please don’t leave me tonight’ and the deliberately out of key ‘Down and down, down he goes’ are delicious – are captivating. 

There is also humour: Alvin kicks the sand with his feet, muses “Aw shucks,” and does an ‘eat-your-heart-out John Travolta’ series of cool moves to a disco ball that miraculously appears.

Best encapsulated by the child in the audience who reaches up, higher and higher to touch the bubbles that float gently from the stage into the auditorium, we also have magic, lots and lots of magic.

The whole is quite wonderful.

As with any good folk story, there is a serious moral message. We see images of hermetically sealed buildings on the seabed, all their lights still blazing; drowned people floating amongst the living creatures of the ocean and the flotsam and jetsam of ‘a civilisation’ in amongst the waving weeds. 

All credit to Tim Watts for his creative genius and to Chris Isaacs, Arielle Gray and producer Nic Clark.  They have given birth to a special character in Alvin Sputnik; one I will never forget. 

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Alvin Sputnik is a fantastic show that deserves full houses. Myself – and my 8 year old daughters – were entranced by this 45-minute piece from start to finish. It’s a wee cracker of a show that’s ingeniously creative, wonderfully specific, and will appeal to both sides of the brain in a way that not many shows do. 

With one performer in a lycra diving suit, a projector, round screen, ukulele, some clever hand puppetry, some battery-lit props and a fantastic soundscape, this play is theatrical magic. The planet is dying due to water levels rising; our hero Alvin has his own tragedy to endure.

So with a duel mission to save the planet and relocate his own personal joy [spoiler alert; finding his dead wife’s soul – ends] Alvin takes on the deep sea underworld. There he is pushed to the limit, but in unexpected ways. Along the way he finds both what he’s looking for and what humanity needs.

But there is a cost. The narrative doesn’t shy away from big themes like death, danger and destruction, yet it gently massages these subjects into comedy and acceptance. Tim Watts expertly holds these matters in front of his audience and glides through them with creative depth. 

Watts exhibits great connection with both his characters and the audience, has fantastic animations and uses excellently well-placed storytelling. It’s funny and quirky, but very connected and real.

I found the work very moving. Do not miss this one, especially in its Auckland season at the Herald Theatre this week (Thursday, 3 November – Saturday, 5 November).

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This review kindly supported by The James Wallace Arts Trust http://www.wallaceartstrust.org.nz/

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