The Great Piratical Rumbustification brings the magical and supernatural world of Margaret Mahy superbly onto stage by the Tim Bray Theatre Company.
Tim Bray QSM has adapted the original story and directs the performance in rollicking fashion. The company he founded is certainly the leading producer of children’s theatre in New Zealand.
The musical score is by Marshall Smith, who has provided this for recent shows by this company. Songs adapted from the original story are by Christine White.
Margaret Mahy was a prolific writer and she produced 40 novels as well as over a hundred picture books with a variety of highly regarded artists.
She has had the highest honour in children’s literature conferred on her by the International Board of Books for Young People. The Hans Christian Anderson Award for lasting contributions to literature.
The distinction between adult and children does not need to be made as good writing does not honour any boundaries.
In receiving those high accolades, she is regarded as one of the world’s most original re-inventors of language through her poetic imagery.
She wrote her first story when she was seven. Eventually it got published on one of her collections of short stories.
The ability to conjure up parallel worlds and populate them with dream people and let the imagination roam free is what children do naturally, and what adults strive to retain.
That is what Art is for.
Woody Guthrie was a prolific Folk singer and songwriter who wrote hundreds of songs and was famous as a social activist. The iconic image is him with his guitar emblazoned with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists.
He wrote scores of children’s songs and published at least one book of them. He did equate freedom of thought with magical thinking. Have a listen to his greatest disciple Bob Dylan singing Froggy Went A Courtin’.
This is the story of pirates. They are cast as itinerants who live outside the realm of ordinary folk, follow their own roving destiny but have a deep sense of honour and what is inherently right of wrong.
You could also think of them as Gypsies.
A sense of danger but also excitement. Pirates are thrilling and when presented theatrically, they have the air of the supernatural.
A prelude to the opening show tonight is a parade of young children who fill the stage dressed in pirate costumes.
They are close to matching the superb costumes of the Players, designed by Vicki Slow.
The Terrapin family is Dad (Dylan Underwood), Mum (Kat Glass) and young Oliver (Kazim Khan).
They live in a tiny home (that was prescient from Mahy), signalled by the fact they need to climb across their tables and chairs to get around. A nice visual gag.
They are studying pirates at school and Oliver’s imagination has been lit up.
All it takes is simple staging with key props. The set is not cluttered.
They move to a bigger house. The family can expand physically and mentally.
The parallel story developing is the presence of pirates in town itching for a big party. They are as rowdy and rambunctious as the characters of Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream (Bringing It All Back Home 1965).
We meet Sir John (Christian George) who has the alter-ego of Terrible Crabmeat. There is Orpheus Clinker (Terry Hooper) who is a pirate in disguise.
He ends up as the baby-sitter for Oliver one evening. As is the way with synchronicity and the supernatural, the rambunctious get their Rumbustification.
There is smooth comedy timing in the staging directions. I notice that the young audience are mostly quiet and captivated. That is no mean feat to keep them enthralled for an hour plus.
The Great Piratical Rumbustification plays at the Pumphouse Theatre in Takapuna until 11 May 2024. Book your tickets HERE.
Rev. Orange Peel
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