An explosive collision between old school carpentry and contemporary sexual politics sends sparks flying in Tadpole Productions’ rollicking comedy of manners, The Pink Hammer.

Playwright Michele Amas cleverly engineers a scenario that has an authentic Kiwi bloke blackmailed into providing carpentry lessons for a lively quartet of women who are more interested in socialising than acquiring DIY skills.

The chippie, who has managed to remain oblivious to the decades of feminist advancement, finds the sanctuary of his shed turned upside down as the women casually deposit their emotional baggage all over his meticulously ordered work benches. [More] 

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A cast of four women and one man. There are not many plays about with a balance like that. More’s the pity, especially considering the makeup of the majority of theatre audiences. I’m in! 

It’s the first night of a women’s course in carpentry, run by Maggie in the garage behind her house in North Shore. The four women who have enrolled, and prepaid the $300 fee (that’s important), turn up. Maggie doesn’t. Perhaps you can guess where the man, Woody, comes in – there’s a clue there.

So, we have a bicycle-riding Irish expat, a Coatesville horse-breeder, a hormonally challenged nurse, and a social worker with more than a tendency to analyse and control – brought together by the Pink Hammer carpentry course. Ah, and Woody … According to Annabel, he’s intimidated, threatened; in Helen’s opinion, he’s as jumpy as a horse before gelding.

The characters are well defined from the outset and each actor does an admirable job of portraying them throughout. That’s to be expected with such a stellar cast, all of them superbly talented and experienced. Between them, Lisa Chappell, Paul Glover, Darien Takle, Louise Wallace, and Annie Whittle, together with their equally accomplished Director, Janice Finn, have chocked up so many starring roles for stage, television, film, and other arts-related appearances, that they could form their own milky way. To that you can add the expertise of playwright Michele Amas. I particularly enjoy Darien’s performance, but all are excellent.

Darien plays Louise (the nurse), and Louise is cast as Annabel (the social worker). Hmmm, could cause a slip-up, I predict ahead of time. Right!

In scene three Helen (the horse breeder) arrives with a sack-full of horsh – her equivalent to bring a plate – and from then on it all hits the fan. Figuratively, fortunately. Warning, minor spoilers: Annabel’s social work comes off track, Helen’s carpentry project gets hijacked, Louise recalls failing to administer the Heimlich manoeuvre countered by a memory of a more successful encounter with a large Cuban cigar, and Siobhan (the Irish expat) flattens her feathers. 

The set, Woody’s workshop-cum-mancave, is a great space for moments of comedy and drama to take place, though I feel it looks a tad too organized and tidy. 

Each of the scenes could be tightened to lose a couple of minutes – twenty minutes cut out of the script overall would improve it. But The Pink Hammer is a good night out. 

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