The Packer at the Herald Theatre

By SHANNON HUSE

This play needs to come with an advisory warning. "Gentle themes and explicit humour unlikely to offend mature audiences" would pretty much cover it.

Written and directed by Dianna Fuemana, this is a one-man show performed by former Neighbours star and youth theatre graduate Jay Bunyan.

It is being marketed as a gritty exploration of Westie life, complete with comment on sexual politics, drug-taking and cultural clashes.

Fuemana has even been compared with British doom-merchant Ken Loach. That's a shame, really, because it misrepresents what is essentially a slice-of-life comedy.

There is still plenty to offend Destiny Church members, with teenagers taking P and parents who can't keep it in their pants. But The Packer is more gentle than gritty.

Set in Henderson, it has Bunyan in a variety of roles, including the title character, Shane, who is stuck in a dead-end job packing boxes and looks after his alcoholic Australian mum. The high points in his life are his loudmouth wigger friend Brad, and the sexy and smart Niuean girl Pina, who has just moved in next door.

Bunyan is a charismatic performer who does a fine job of physically inhabiting the various people he plays. He nails the accents and mannerisms of each in a tight performance with skills honed in seasons in Melbourne and Edinburgh.

The Packer is staged simply. Jay wears street clothes, including his generation's ubiquitous trucker cap, which he uses well as a prop for each character.

The set consists of stacks of brown packing boxes and the lighting is basic to the point of being almost unnoticeable.

The one stand-out design feature is the playful nightclub music provided by New Zealand band Rhombus.

Fuemana has a nice ear for dialogue, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments in the clashes of different characters' dreams and desires.

She takes the audience on an enjoyable ride, but the climactic twist in the tale promised by the publicity does not eventuate.

The Packeris a fast and funny blat through Auckland's western suburbs and inner-city streets, but it would benefit from a little more V8 grunt in the storyline.