SHOULD We Stay or Should We Go? (Bats) Nancy Kniveston and Brad McCormick are in love but there is a problem. One is a Brit and the other a Kiwi and they each want to settle as a couple in their homeland. They need help and are asking audiences to make the choice for them. In return we see a show that is utterly charming, laugh out loud funny and makes us think about why we aren’t among the one million New Zealanders who are now expats.
Words are overrated and mime underrated is my conclusion having laughed myself silly watching Moving Stationery (Bats). A new office presents a minefield of challenges to Sigmund, but he overcomes them all with lateral thinking and some help from the audience. There is something Chaplinesque in the performance but even the master didn’t think up the balloon and tea bag trick. Brilliant and utterly delightful.
The cast and audience have to have their wits about them watching The 37th Situation (Bats). George Polti described 36 dramatic situations that he believed categorised all dramatic stories. This play portrays each of those situations, from Rivalry of Kinsmen and Involuntary Crimes of Love, to An Enemy Loved. Some of the vignettes last seconds, others minutes, and the order is decided randomly which keeps the cast on their toes especially with the multitude of props used.  It’s ingenious and a thought provoking look at the role and possibilities of theatre.
At the Museum of City and Sea, a refreshingly different theatre space in this year’s Fringe, Sea Stories, a folk tale feeling story uses different areas of the museum as a set. The idea is excellent and full of possibilities. At times that potential is realised – when young Freya’s fisherman father is thrown overboard their use of sound, space and puppetry is superb. Unfortunately the story itself just isn’t compelling enough, and moving around just to be crammed into small spaces is uncomfortable and distracting.