REVIEW: Hilarious, space themed show takes off in all the right directions

Iosia Tofilau, Jono Freebairn, Benny Marama and Briar Simpson in a scene from Destination: Earth. Photo / Abby Dalgety

The Details

What: Destination Earth! Written and directed by: Courteney Mayall, music by Dr Jeremy Mayall

Where: The Meteor, Hamilton

When: July 4-8.

Tickets: https://themeteor.co.nz/event/destination-earth/

Reviewed by: ABBY DALGETY

The Meteor’s July school holiday kids’ programme is back with a new show from the experienced creative team of Courteney Mayall and Jeremy Mayall.

A hilarious, educational, space-themed production, it’s apparent that Destination: Earth! was written by a parent who understands how to keep the interest of school-aged children.

The audience was immediately engaged with interactive multimedia elements featuring songs, videos, dance and live-action escapades.

The fast-paced storytelling meant my 6-year-old was fixated through the entire show, only stopping to inform me she was a ‘bit suspicious’ of the space pirate’s antics.

I was impressed with the standout performance of Iosia Tofilau as Ydob. His charismatic performance had the audience dancing in their seats.

Meteor Kids show veteran Jono Freebairn as Ebag held the show together with an enthusiastic interactive performance which caused constant shrieks of laughter from the audience.

Briar Simpson played Tnat, a giant slug wearing a human suit for the first time. She had my 6-year-old convinced she was a space pirate, no small acting feat.

A key aspect of the show was the attention to detail. The illustrations and set design were fun and the multimedia elements were all cohesively designed to a high standard.

The original music was catchy and fun without being overly annoying (which can often be the case with a production aimed at kids). The lyrics were catchy with fun choreography to top it off.

Destination: Earth! is amusing, informative, silly and lots of fun across all age groups.

It is hard to fault a show which left the sold-out audience singing along with the earworm ‘all aboard the SS Meteor’. Highly recommended.