The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged) at the Herald Theatre

Greg Cooper, Ben Barrington and Mark Hadlow in the Complete History of New Zealand. Picture / Dean Purcell

Long gone are the days when history involved rote-learning old dates, names and military battles. Now it can be deconstructed and reconstructed through modern or post-modern eyes - depending on your class, age, gender or ethnicity.

But Mark Hadlow and friends are going for another kind of revisionist history in The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged).

They make it funny and brief while neglecting none of our most sacred moments or cultural icons: the Edmond's cookbook, Buzzy Bees, rugby and early TV game show The Money  or the Bag.

Hadlow, Greg Cooper and Ben Barrington consider everything from the country's tectonic formations to the coming of the Maori, European colonisation and the economic reforms of the 1980s and early 90s.

Writer/director Craig Cooper, who collaborated with his brother Greg and Carl Nixon on The Complete History, says they wanted to present history in a way that might have hooked them into the subject: "We wanted to have a fun rather than reverential look at New Zealand's history and present it in a way that was accessible and light-hearted but accurate - to find a way so it wasn't dusty and boring."

Along the way the writers achieved for themselves what they hope to do for audiences - they became fascinated, engrossed and proud of the accomplishments by New Zealanders at home and abroad.

Their personal "all-time big moments" include our being the first country to give women the vote, our role in the development of refrigeration, the formation of organisations such as Plunket and the work of scientists like Sir Ernest Rutherford.

This involved melding them with everyday "Kiwi kultcha" - so Captain Cook is offered The Money or the Bag, international wars are fought with a rugby ball, Sir Robert Muldoon and Sir Roger Douglas do the Timewarp again and the cast makes a pavlova on stage.

History has repeated itself somewhat - Hadlow directed the first production of The Complete History in Christchurch eight years ago. Back then it did the rounds of the South Island but this is the first time time it has been brought north, and new material has been added to cover the past eight or so years.

Hadlow says the role has given him a greater appreciation of the demands of getting through so much material in a short time. The production has dozens of costume and prop changes.

"It might feel to me as if history is catching up with me when my knees and back start to give out at the end of a day's rehearsal, but I actually don't think I've got the most difficult job," says Hadlow. "I think it must be hard for Greg who has had to forget everything we did before and re-learn it."

Cooper simply nods quietly and looks world-weary.

It is also a new experience for Barrington. At 1.9m, with a shaven head, Barrington usually plays villains (like a menacing late-night train passenger in last year's The Return) in serious dramas. This is his most major stint in a comedy production.

"It's fun - a lot of hard work but really good and I've learnt some new stuff, too."


Preview

* What: The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged)
* Where and when: Herald Theatre, Mar 8-18