THE UGLY DUCKLING
The Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
02/10/2017 - 14/10/2017
Production Details
Hands Up to See Ducklings!
There’s going to be a real quack-up these school holidays. The Ugly Duckling is flocking to The Court Theatre as a fully-fledged puppet show.
Families won’t need to be egged on to enjoy the story of a little duckling who doesn’t fit in and struggles to find his place in the world. This heart-warming tale is performed by a cavalcade of colourful puppets operated by three talented performers.
Director Daniel Pengelly hatched the idea of working with puppets early in the planning process. “Every kids’ show is a chance to create something new and fun for the audiences to enjoy – it gives us opportunities to create moments of magic,” says Pengelly. “This is a fun, quirky show and using puppets has added to that joy. I can’t remember the last time The Court did a puppet show and it is a really magical experience to watch.”
Rather than ruffling feathers, the fresh approach to this children’s show is proving a lot of fun for the creative team. “There’s heaps of physical action and comedy in this show – I told the cast to start channelling the Muppets,” says Pengelly. “I want the parents to enjoy the show as much as the kids.”
The Ugly Duckling hatches on 2 October: recommended for ages 3-7 but suitable for everyone.
The Court Theatre
2-14 October 2017
Mon. – Fri. 11am and 1pm.
Sat 7th – 11am only.
Sat 14th – 1pm.
Relaxed Performance: 11am Saturday 14 October
Daniel Pengelly was Associate Director at The Court Theatre from 2014 – February 2017. He has directed many exciting and innovative family-friendly shows for The Court, including The Forge’s Summertimes production Robin Hood; which was his swan-song at The Court before becoming Creative Director at Centrepoint Theatre.
All three cast members are graduates of the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) and have enjoyed the opportunity to stretch their wings with puppetry.
Albany Paseta plays the Ugly Duckling. Paseta recently appeared in The Court’s touring school production, Matatihi: Maia’s Journey of Bravery, where he operated a giant full-body puppet to portray a giant eagle ‘Pouakai’. “A duckling is a little easier on the shoulder muscles,” Paseta says.
Rebekah Head, who most recently appeared on The Court’s stage in last year’s The Little Mermaid, is the most puppet-savvy cast member. Head started working with puppets in 2015 and spent much of this year as a full-time puppeteer at Whoa! Studios in Auckland before returning to Christchurch for The Ugly Duckling. While Head enjoyed her time at Whoa!, “It’s nice that I don’t have to hide under the stage and crawl around in this show,” she says.
Ben Freeth has held a variety of roles at The Court since his on-stage debut in The Mikado, performing in several kids shows and musicals; as well as working behind the scenes as an operator and stage manager for road safety touring show Crash Bash and Assistant Stage Manager for Hudson & Halls Live!. Freeth loves how “a puppet immediately captures a child’s imagination – and attention.”
All the puppets for The Ugly Duckling are designed and constructed by Stephen Robertson. Robertson is best known as the director and choreographer of numerous highly successful summer musicals at The Court, but began his career making puppets – a skill he revised when directing Avenue Q for Showbiz in 2013. Robertson will return to The Court Theatre to direct Chicago later this year.
Pengelly notes that The Ugly Duckling’s message of discovering self-confidence has been echoed by the cast in the rehearsal room. “We started off with unfinished puppets and performers who weren’t confident puppeteers, and now we have this beautiful, funny, magical show where everyone has come together to help it take flight.”
CAST
Ugly Duckling Albany Paseta
Mel Rebekah Head
Drake/Frog Ben Freeth
PRODUCTION
Director Daniel Pengelly
Puppet Design/Construction Stephen Robertson
Set Designer Nick Lowry
Lighting Designer Giles Tanner
Sound Designer Tom Harris
Stage Manager Brylee Lockhart
Properties Manager Christy Lassen
Theatre , Family , Children’s ,
More fun than the movies
Review by Grant Hindin Miller 03rd Oct 2017
The entry music is up-tempo and cheery. A green-glowing set greets us – a rockery around a pond – with trumpet like lilies and velvet green moss. The lights go down, a duck appears, not just any duck, a large white fellow called ‘Ugly’. He’s reflecting on his life and how he arrived at his growing sense of alienation.
We learn that this pond isn’t just any waterway – it’s on the banks of the Avon River and Ugly sleeps on duck-down duvet and ‘reeds’ at a favourite library. Ducks have to watch out they don’t get ‘frogs in their throat’.
The production is awash with puns and topical references – something for all ages. “You should come and stay at our place – there’s a housing crisis don’t you know”; “What’s the change in government going to do – the pond will stay just as it is now – dirty and unliveable.”
This is a puppet show but not normal puppets. For one thing these ducks are big. As Ugly, Mel, and Drake, Albany Peseta, Rebekah Head and Ben Freeth embody their avian personas with warmth and verve. A couple of other characters fly or hop in – including, from overhead, a defecating duck (bombarding fur balls) and mean old Mr Ribbett, a dubious frog landlord. It brings home to me that the one essential attribute of theatre performance is energy.
There’s audience participation, song, and a number of multi-dimensional jokes, but at heart there are the timeless questions: when is it time to learn to fly, and how to fly; what is really important in life; can birds be friends with birds who look different from themselves; what is acceptance about – and when is a duck not a duck?
The mysterious cosmic ‘birth of Ugly’ is a highlight and also the snippets of song and vocal harmony. I should mention the ‘wave of emotion’ – no I won’t elucidate, you have to be there – and the good news is that you still have time to go: it’s on for the entire school holidays.
The Ugly Duckling is a warm furry performance with large puppet ducks and a curmudgeonly frog. The kids love it, enter into the action, warn the players on cue, one or two get to help out on stage – and I tell you this puppet show is more fun than the movies.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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