FORGET Sir Ed: it’s time to celebrate the untold stories of New Zealand history, like that of nineteenth century Kiwi balloonist Charles Lorraine, who used to jump out of the basket and perform gymnastic stunts en route to the ground. Then there’s the Taranaki highwayman. We’ve all heard of the gold rush, but what about the great New Zealand uranium rush of 1955? Satirist and comedian Andrew J. Lumsden, who graces our screens as Te Radar, collected hours of unusual Kiwi stories for his one-man show, Eating the Dog. It’s back for a return season and celebrates great New Zealand failure; a comedic romp with some of our lesser-known characters. It’s presented through a Radar monologue, and is accompanied by Powerpoint.
He went for the unsung heroes, the people who tried to make a difference but failed spectacularly.
“They grabbed me,” Radar explains, adding that he avoided popular Kiwi heroes.
“I didn’t want to reinforce the belief that there’s only a handful of New Zealanders who shaped our history,” he says, “Take Charles Lorraine, the balloonist. What he did was so ludicrous, and no one has heard of him.”
It’s entertainment, but it’s also to initiate discussion about New Zealand’s rich history, which Radar says is not widely celebrated. Some of the stories found their way to him.
“At least three or four of the stories came from photographs that tickled my fancy so I followed the path to find out more,” he says.
From obscure history books and a collection of online databases, Radar uncovered colouful characters including engineers, mayors and politicians. He admits his stories are male-orientated.
“It’s because when New Zealand women said they were going to do something, they actually went and did it, whereas the men always said, “I’m going to do THIS!” and then it never happened. Nothing’s changed,” he laughs.
Powerpoint is useful for displaying the show’s 120 images, including paintings, maps, film clips and woodworks.
Wellington audiences are particularly diverse, says Te Radar, “Last time there was a young couple with dreadlocks and glitter on their faces seated by a lady in her twinset and pearls and her husband in a tie. They were all laughing.”
He stresses that the show is for all ages, and if you’re not laughing too hard, you might just learn something.
Eating the Dog, Downstage Theatre to October 1.