Pirate Kai production goes ahead at Toitoi in Hastings in red traffic light setting

Actors Danny Priestly, left, and Andy Brigden, right, will play Kai and Noodles in the production of Pirate Kai at Toitoi Hawke's Bay Arts & Event Centre on Saturday. Photo / Supplied

The Keirunga Theatre Collective production of Pirate Kai will persist through the red light with a performance at Toitoi Hawke's Bay Arts & Events Centre this weekend.

The planned tour ran for 19 shows, but has now been reduced to one on Saturday, 10am at Toitoi, due to the red traffic light setting restricting audience sizes.

Show director Juliet Cottrell said the show is for 3 to 10-year-old children and is about a brother and sister, Kai and Noodles, played by actors Danny Priestly and Andy Brigden.

"Kai is the older brother, and he's doing the serious things like the cooking and the cleaning and growing cabbages, and Noodle is a little bit more playful and adventurous. It's encased within a child's imagination and she encounters a pirate ship coming into the bay, crewed by two stunning, gorgeous puppets."

She said the production used 25-year-old puppets from the original show in Australia.

This version that toured New Zealand was made 10 years ago in collaboration with the original creator and has a Kiwi spin.

Cottrell said the support they had received from Toitoi to make the weekend show happen was incredible.

"For my two actors who have been working tirelessly over the summer rehearsing, getting it to the point where it is a stunning, stunning piece of theatre, for them to be able to do one show is just brilliant."

She said all of the tickets for Pirate Kai shows at other venues were valid for the show on Saturday, provided ticket holders replied to an email sent to them to confirm their attendance.

Seats are limited to 100 people as per red traffic light regulations.

The audience members are invited to come dressed as pirates, with a mystery prize for the best dressed pirates.

Toitoi commercial manager Glen Pickering said the venue had done work earlier to prepare for the red traffic light setting.

"We've got a whole lot of measures and protocols in place from the work that we did in September that allows us to transition through to having events here that are under the 100-seat limit."

He said the venue was used to adapting to changes from the past two years of restrictions, and it was important to hold the show for the organisers.

"They've obviously put a lot of time and effort into Pirate Kai, they're a really important youth organisation in Hawke's Bay and it's really important for us to support art and artists through this change"