In the middle of a quiet hallway behind a theatre in West Auckland, there's a small square door at the bottom of a wall.
Open it, peer inside and you'll see a mysterious network of tunnels appear in the gloom.
You can't walk through them. The only way to navigate your way through is by crawling on your hands and knees.
Make a mistake and you'll find harsh wooden beams hovering above, ready to make a dent in your head.
The only comfort are squares of carpet laid down to stop the bruises.
Opening that door into Never Never Land is exactly how the four puppeteers at Henderson's Whoa! Studios - Paul Lewis, Rebekah Head, Jon Coddington and Lucy McCammon - start their day.
"We kind of work in a playground," says Coddington, who plays Buzz. "We haven't even started what we can do here. We're still in our infancy."
Since Whoa! Studios' opened at the tail end of 2016, the puppeteering team have entertained thousands of families as part of the complex's live theatre shows featuring a cast of crazy characters, including Buzz, Jazz and Custard.
Their fifth show, Buzz's Fright Night, begins these school holidays, and it sees the return of Dr Gloom, the theatre's comical big-nosed villain, and his bumbling sidekick Colin.
Each puppeteer is required to fulfill multiple tasks each show, racing around through a network of tunnels, ladders and stairs to reach the stage's various puppeteering spots.
"It's really hard work. I get really hot doing energetic stuff, I come out a big sweaty mess," says Lewis, who sometimes plays dual acting and puppeteering roles.
"You're holding your arm up constantly," agrees Head. "It definitely takes its toll."
Each show lasts about an hour, entertaining 150 kids and their parents in Whoa!'s state-of-the-art theatre, backed by original songs, 3D projections, and quality lighting and sound.
Because of the pace they have to move, injuries are a common occurrence.
"There are lots of bumped heads," says Paul Lewis, who plays Custard and helps create new characters and puppets.
"It's very easy to make a mistake and bang your head. I have the memory of a goldfish now."
He's joking. All four of them are almost always joking. There's a good reason for their constant cheer: they're among the only fulltime puppeteers at work in New Zealand.
"I'm still waking up every day and pinching myself," says Coddington, who'd been doing "the odd theatre project" before auditioning for Whoa!
"It's a fulltime puppetry gig ... when this came along, [I was] stoked."
Each puppeteer says they've become particularly fond of their own puppets. "We thought we might take over from each other. But we're proprietorial about them," says Lewis.
Head agreed. "If you were to pass that character on to someone, it's like, 'This is Jazz, she likes it when you do this' ... You feel protective of them."
With their heads under the stage, the quartet can't see the audience - but they can see themselves work thanks to screens under the stage.
They judge their success on the noise coming from a theatre packed with happy children.
More theatre shows are mapped out until 2019, but Whoa! isn't settling on just stage productions, with plans to shoot a "world class" feature-length movie and TV shows in the studio using the cast of Custard's World.
The puppeteers say they're ready for the extra workload - but that means their backstage tunnels might get used for something else: a bit of a break.
"It's really good for naps, actually ... the carpet's really soft," laughs Head.
Lewis agrees: "I often nap under there. It's quiet and it's cool."
LOWDOWN
What: Buzz's Fright Night, a new stage production for kids
Where and when: Whoa! Studios, West Auckland, from September 30
More information: www.whoastudios.co.nz
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