Buried treasure, magic and a fat ginger cat

Courtney Chittenden as the titular Greedy Cat and Nicole Thomson as Katie bring Joy Cowley's tales to life. Photo / Nick Clarke Photography

One is a raunchy New Zealand comedy about male strippers; the other is an adaptation of a children's story about pirates and buried treasure.

The X-rated Ladies Night may have little in common with Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island but the Outfit Theatre Company's decision to stage the children's classic these school holidays owes something to Ladies Night.

Sarah Graham, co-artistic director of Outfit, remembers seeing a production of Treasure Island at Palmerston North's Centrepoint Theatre when she was a pre-schooler. Her mother, Alison Quigan, better known as Shortland Street receptionist Yvonne Jeffries, was artistic director at Centrepoint.

"I'd seen heaps and heaps of theatre. I'd basically been going along since birth but I can still remember the excitement of this production, seeing the ship on stage and all the actors running through the audience," says Graham.

The same actors were performing Ladies Night each evening but told Quigan they wanted something to occupy them during the day. As school holidays were fast approaching, she suggested they stage a children's play.

Given a choice between Cinderella and Treasure Island, the pirate story - with strong roles for athletic male actors, loads of singing, dancing and rope-swinging hi-jinks - won out.

Last year, Graham and the energetic members of the Outfit Theatre Company chose Treasure Island to perform as their school holiday show. Young Jim Hawkins and his fellow mariners sail the seven seas racing the dastardly Long John Silver and his band of blood-thirsty pirates to find the hidden fortune on Treasure Island.

The swashbuckling adventure was so popular they're re-staging it again this year at the Auckland Performing Arts Centre (Tapac) in Western Springs. Graham produces the show while mum Alison takes the helm as director.

"Mine is more of a mentoring role than anything else," says Quigan. "Because Outfit works as an ensemble doing a lot of problem-solving themselves, I basically say, 'This is what you need to do' and they go away and do it."

Graham describes Treasure Island as more than a children's show, saying the humour is multi-layered and the actors are gifted professionals, meaning it's a treat for mums and dads, too. After all, they deserve to be entertained - they're paying for the ticket."

The theme of entertainment for families by families continues with Tim Bray Production's two shows. Joy Cowley's Snake and Lizard returns to the stage as well as a new production of Greedy Cat. The latter is a humorous adaptation of Cowley's series of stories following the misadventures of a gluttonous ginger cat.

Courtney Chittenden, who plays Greedy Cat, says being a fat cat means being fit. "It's quite a challenge to be a human and master the physicality of a cat," she says. "I'm helped by the fact that I have a very flexible back but even so, it means using muscles I don't usually use." Greedy Cat is directed by Amanda Rees and stars Nicole Thomson, Donogh Rees and Phil Vaughan alongside Chittenden.

Tim Bray's niece Alana Tisdall is now production manager for the company while her mother, Bray's sister Rosemary, writes the Teachers' Resource Guides provided free to schools that come to productions in the school and early childhood centre season.

A judge for the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, she also suggests stories which might be good for the company to adapt and stage.

"And my 8-year-old son, Caellum, sends me stories he has written that he suggests I could stage," Bray says. "Most of my nieces and nephews have appeared in the smaller roles in The Santa Claus Show over the years."

He says he couldn't run his company without family support. "In the end, the bulk of the work is carried out by professional directors, designers and actors with a shared vision of bringing children's stories to life. Our theatre company needs family support as funding and sponsorship is so hard to find to support what we try and do as a professional theatre company for children."

It is a sentiment shared by Phineas Phrog founder Sarah Somerville as she prepares for a busy few weeks. Her company stages The Little Mermaid at the Bruce Mason Centre but also has shows in Hamilton at the Fuel Festival, and in Invercargill and Dunedin these school holidays.

Somerville's mother, Lee, is a talented seamstress who designs and sews most of the costumes for Phineas Phrog productions while her brother, Matthew, helps out with set design.

"Mum has hand-sewn each scale on the tail of the mermaid costume. It is just beautiful and is a very precious costume indeed."

The stage version of The Little Mermaid remains true to the much-loved story of the mermaid, who lives in King Neptune's magnificent palace, plays with a loyal fish friend and sings sweetly but longs for something else.

She wants legs, to run on the sand and marry the prince of her dreams. But there is only one person who can help her: the infamous sea witch. "We've made this one a real musical with a lot more singing than usual."

Family plays a big part in the story of Aunty McDuff's Magical Trunk staged at The Edge as part of its TimeOut Theatre for Children series. It comes direct from Christchurch's Court Theatre and is designed for 5 to 9-year-olds.

On a rainy day, three friends escape their boredom and go exploring in their aunt's attic where they find a magical trunk - with secrets hidden within. What comes out of the trunk and the adventures the three friends embark upon is decided by suggestions from the audience.

It means no two shows are the same and the audience and the actors, all experienced improvisers, could end up cruising around the world on a plane or boat, becoming a princess or a knight defending a castle or riding across the Wild West as cowboys.

HOLIDAY THEATRE
What: Treasure Island
Where and when: Tapac, Western Springs, July 7-18

What: Greedy Cat
Where and when: PumpHouse, Takapuna, July 5-17

What: Snake and Lizard
Where and when: Selwyn Theatre, Kohimarama, July 7-10; Pacific Events Centre, Manukau July 12-14

What: The Little Mermaid
Where and when: Bruce Mason Centre, July 12-17

What: Aunty McDuff's Magical Trunk
Where and when: Herald Theatre, July 6-10