Taki Rua presents a boldly experimental piece of theatre that is as intriguing and idiosyncratic as the title, taken from a little-known book that has been acclaimed as a neglected classic of New Zealand literature.
David Ballantyne's 1968 novel bears some resemblance to the work of Ronald Hugh Morrieson as it delves into the seedy underbelly of small town life seen from the perspective of a boy on the cusp of adolescence.
The interpretation is a labour of love from a talented team of theatre practitioners and with no one claiming a writing credit, it exemplifies both the virtues and the pitfalls of devised drama.
The visual dimension is superb, with a hand-held video camera creating a surreal sense of spatial disorientation by throwing close-up viewpoints of the on-stage action on to the sharply angled surfaces of Kasia Pol's set.
John Gibson's soundtrack creates brilliantly evocative textures with electronically distorted voices interwoven with natural sound and fragments of 1960s pop songs. There is also wry humour in the use of wildly exaggerated Wagnerian motifs to signify the villain of the piece.
