Butterfly effect: Thom Monckton's acclaimed show Caterpillars is crawling to New Zealand

Caterpillars collide in Thomas Monckton's acclaimed show Caterpillars.

There's a certain symmetry in conducting an interview about a theatre production that has no words on a Skype link with one-way audio.

Fortunately, I can hear Kiwi physical theatre practitioner Thom Monckton, now based in Helsinki, Finland, and I am able to send him a list of questions, so the whole interview doesn't have to be conducted via mime and interpretive dance — although I suspect he might have enjoyed that.

The highly expressive Monckton — described by one reviewer as "the socially outcast reclusive love-child of Rik Mayall and Mr Bean" — worked with his partners in the physical theatre and circus company Kallo Collective to create the family theatre experience that is Caterpillars.

This weird and wordless exploration of the life cycle of the caterpillar, combining slapstick and silliness with flitting butterflies, jumping eggs and giant swaying flowers, is on at the Auckland Museum these school holidays, alongside its Secret World of Butterflies exhibition, and will be performed by Mim and Danny Syme, co-directors of Christchurch circus company and school Circotica.

"Non-verbal, physical theatre work requires a story that is quite simple, and that's why we thought about the life cycle of a caterpillar — it's recognisable to everyone, even young children, and we could play with that storyline quite easily and make it humorous without going too far from the actual cycle," Monckton says.

A scene from Thomas Monckton's Caterpillars.

Without a traditional spoken script, the show is more "choreographed or devised" than "written". Monckton worked with the collective's artistic director, Jenni Kallo, to create the show from the basic idea of the caterpillar story being brought to life "by two puppeteers who are really quite hopeless at puppeteering".

The show has been well received by audiences in Europe, Australia and Asia, with Monckton's current base of Finland being a particularly good test bed.

"Usually, if you can get a Finnish audience laughing means it's going to work overseas as well. The Finns are notoriously reserved — well, that's their reputation anyway, they can be very warm."

Monckton says the wordless, physical nature of the show, which he describes as "sweet", is part of its broad appeal. "It's universal not only because it's wordless, but because it brings everybody together. That's the beauty of physical comedy — children and adults can giggle alongside each other. It can be quite a cathartic experience to share that humour."

Whereas much of Monckton's physical theatre work is for adults — including fringe festival favourites Moving Stationery and The Pianist — he says a younger audience adds a layer of unpredictability. "Their responses are so beautiful — standing up and going along with the show and being butterflies themselves. We have had one of the caterpillars mobbed by kids however, which was slightly traumatic for the performer."

Monckton grew up in Patea in Taranaki and trained as a circus performer in Christchurch before heading to Europe and studying at the world-renowned Jacques Lecoq physical theatre school. Most recently he has been based in Helsinki, enjoying being part of its vibrant arts community.

"The arts scene here is great, in particular the circus scene," he says. "Artists here have a very pragmatic approach — there is an expectation that they will be able to produce their work, which I think is really important and influences the way they work.

"In New Zealand it can be difficult to be an artist, especially a circus artist, when you don't have the confidence that your ideas can actually be executed, and that can affect your confidence and the way you go about working. It's very different being part of a community that makes work and assumes that there are the means for it to be produced."

• Caterpillars, Auckland Museum Events Centre, October 2–5, 11am and 2pm, tickets from $25. Secret World of Butterflies exhibition, Sainsbury Horrocks Gallery, free with museum entry.