As teachers well know, children are engaged most successfully when presented with creative, interactive and highly visual activities.

In Kapital Kids Theatre’s The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the young, and not so young, audience get all this and more in bucket loads.

It is rare to find modern children’s shows as interactive as this one, yet writer director Moana Ete has put together a production that ticks all the right boxes for a highly successful children’s show.

It is not a classy or sophisticated production that relies on fancy costumes and lots of props but, with three highly talented performers, it engages its audience from the opening moments right through to the end.

The Aesop fable of the boy who cried wolf once too often has been updated and given a New Zealand setting, specifically rural Manawatu. Travis the Trickster (Ngahiriwa Rauhina) has been grounded and made to stay and look after the farm because of the tricks he plays on sister Lola and best mate Gary (both played by Catriona Tipene) and his dad and nana (both played by Barry Mawer).

But no matter what they do, Travis won’t apologise. That is until they play a trick on him and he is made to see that being a prankster is not necessarily a good thing to be after all. The simple but entertaining tale with a moral is told with minimal dialogue, lots of rap-type songs and loads of audience participation.

And it is to the credit of the actors and their confidence, especially Rauhina, that they are able to communicate with the young audience so easily and solicit reactions that are as entertaining as the performers.

In many ways the audience are as much a part of the action as the actors, which is what children’s theatre should be about. It is why this highly entertaining show is a must-see for all children and their parents these holidays.

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As I drive away from The Boy Who Cried Wolf I hear a discussion on radio about Duncan Garner’s peddling of an unsubstantiated rumour about a Labour leadership coup. And when someone asserts, “The world is different now, this is how we get our news,” I think no, there may be new technologies for delivering news but what hasn’t changed is the credibility question. The moral of this tale is as relevant now as it ever was.  

Writer / director Moana Ete has done a splendid job of relocating Aesop’s fable to contemporary rural Manawatu – and yes, the point is well made that there are no wolves in New Zealand. Except maybe when one stows away on a cargo ship from Alaska … You’ll have to see the show to see how that comes up.

Ngahiriwa Rauhina has a winning way as Travis the Trickster, who has been grounded for the holidays for playing a mean trick on his little sister, Lola – exuberantly played by Catriona Tipene.

Tipene also doubles well as TT’s best mate Gary Goodman, whose friendship gets sorely tested by Travis’s compulsive trickstering.

Barry Mawer completes the cast as TT’s Dad and Nan – Bruce and Nancy – an adept performance somewhat marred by his tendency to play to the front row sitting at his feet, thus treating the rest of us to the top of his head.

What works especially well about this highly interactive production is the way the audience is compelled to think through the implications of TT’s actions, despite his attractive personality. Much of the time at this premiere performance audience loyalties are volubly divided – about whether TT needs to apologise; whether it’s OK to play tricks when not everyone is having fun; whether it matters if people no longer trust you …

It therefore becomes imperative that the moral is convincingly delivered, which adds to the drama and entertainment value. One could even claim this is a show that has the ability to change young lives for the better.

In noting how well it all plays out, it also seems fair to acknowledge the obvious value of early childhood education these days, and its carry-over into holiday programmes. In all three shows I’ve seen these holidays in Wellington so far – The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Kids Comic Heroes and now The Boy Who Cried Wolf – attended by a combination of small family groups and larger holiday programme groups, the children have without fail been confident, attentive, eager, responsive, aware, intelligent and considerate while having a great deal of fun. It is great to see them embracing – and being embraced by – theatre with such creative joy (and I’m sure the same applies in other places too). 

In this case the young audience is fully engaged in the story and there is no doubt the message finally finds its mark. What a delightful way to learn life lessons!

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