Kura Forrester’s comic alter-ego, Bronson Atarangi from Auckland’s Mount Roskill, is as genial and generous a bus-buddy as you could hope to find on a London to Amsterdam ‘Tiki Tour’. He’s good in a crisis too.  

Bronson’s positive but self-effacing nature becomes apparent in his gratitude that we have chosen to come to his korero at BATS’ Heyday Dome, not to mention the three best things he has discovered in Te Whanganui a Tara, aka Pōneke or Wellington, on this his first ever visit.  

But it’s ‘Overseas’ he is here to tell us about, with the welcome assistance of operator Scotty Cotter who adds the odd burst of music and even some flash lighting effects to help evoke place and mood.

Not that Forrester and her director Jessica Joy Wood ask us to imagine we are on the actual bus, or wherever. As five of Bronson’s fellow travellers are personified and events unfold, we are always in the theatre and, in true stand-up style, Forrester often comments from a performer’s perspective.

The simple but effective device of the tour guide and bus passengers introducing themselves on the bus’s mic establishes their characters and reveals that Bronson’s companions are less than half his age (46).

Brittany Bryhanna Sinclair (21), the tour guide, hails from Australia but has acquired some tell-tale touches of London accent. It is she who sets up the ‘fun game’ of each passenger telling three really interesting things about themselves.

Carl Jr from Tuscaloosa Alabama is escaping his Trump-loving, “fag-hating” Daddy, who gave him – guess what – for his 21^st birthday. This will be a self-discovering trip for Carl Jr.

Lena Afiasi, the Jesus-loving Samoan woman from Cannons Creek, Porirua, is also destined for a life-changing encounter.

Zsuzanna from Hungary is all smiles to compensate for her total lack of English language – which makes for an almost surreal series of encounters with her. What we discover about Zsuzanna at the end proves an object-lesson in not making assumptions about people just because they don’t speak your language.

It turns out Bronson has brought along his 19 year-old son, Takiwai, who is even more of an innocent abroad than his dad and destined for [spoiler averted].

Bronson’s wide-eyed observations concerning a ‘bakery’ in Paris are juxtaposed with Carl Jr’s attempt to explain the fizzy drink culture of Tuscaloosa. A discotheque in Barcelona sees Lena bust out some dance moves that are not to be confused with anything other than her cultural norm. And advice from a well-meaning Brittany reveals entrenched attitudes we are left to deal with.

In Budapest it’s Zsuzanna who treats the travelling companions to the wonders of a ‘Sparty’ – immersive partying an a vast hot water spa – and this is where things come to a head, culminating in the aforementioned crisis that Bronson sorts out in kapai Kiwi style.

As they say their goodbyes, the life-changing outcomes emerge and Bronson gets to deliver a delicious waiata. On reflection what has seemed like light-hearted character comedy turns out to have had some timeless yet timely things to say about humans being at large.

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