Since 2009, the Basement Theatre’s annual Christmas show has firmly established itself as one of the most consistent delights of the Auckland theatre scene.
Each year is like receiving a new present from the best up-and-coming comedians and theatremakers, a guaranteed surprise that reinvents itself every year into something sillier than what came before.
Yet rarely is the Christmas spirit as present on stage as it is in this year’s entry to the Basement canon, Jingle Bellethon Telethon¸ from creators Janaye Henry and Bea Gladding – who take on acting and directing roles respectively
It’s Christmas Eve, and a ragtag group is trying to stage a charity telethon to highlight the magic of Kiwiana in order to ensure “Kiwi kids” don’t cross the ditch to become “Aussie adolescents”.
Batanai Mashingaidze portrays the frazzled stage manager trying to keep the show together, but can’t stop feuding with her wife and the show’s sound operator (Henry).
A strong plotline is rarely the focus of these shows, but Bellethon has a looser storyline than most. The telethon element is used largely to set up a series of largely unrelated sketches, under the guise of the show’s acts or advertisers.
It’s here where the show truly shines, letting the talented cast let loose their full comedic range. Jaackie Black’s unsettling magician is an early favourite with a dark and genuinely unexpected twist to close her set, while Henry pulls double duty as stand-up Peter Cruise, bringing the crowd into the action while working through multiple emotions at once.
The stranger the show got – most notably a recurring bit about Chrisco hampers – the bigger the laughs, and more of those moments would have helped Bellethon shine further.
The story-driven moments still generated plenty of laughs, but a bigger cast than usual for the Basement Christmas shows - seven actors, plus the traditional surprise guest, often all on stage at the same time – meant the juggle of giving everyone their moment and trying to move the chaos-driven story along left little room for much more than story.
Batani Mashingaidze (right) holds things together as the Jingle Bellethon Telethon's beleaguered floor manager. Photo / Supplied
Mashingaidze does a stellar job though as the one trying to hold this all together. Sean Rivera’s mostly background role as the struggling musical lead was also quietly one of the funniest roles, particularly during a brief interaction with Brady Peeti, who steals the show as Riah Karaoke, the show’s headline act who ensures she remains the focus even as everything else falls down around her.
And special credit goes to set designer Misoh Rachael Choi for the felt-covered set and props, a bizarre element at first that only got funnier with each new unnecessarily crafted prop that emerged from the wings.
There is ultimately enough here to satisfy long-time Basement Christmas fans and first-timers alike, with exaggerated jokes on the Christmas season and riffs on New Zealand culture to hopefully inspire more people to take up this annual tradition in the years to come.
