Public Service Announcements

Every three years, New Zealand holds a general election (I know!), and every three years, to mark this, Circa Theatre puts on a show called Public Service Announcements, in which they generally poke fun at the whole party politics and electioneering process. As part of Nicola’s ushering duties, we went along on a Thursday night to see what it was all about. 

The show has a plot, sort of, revolving around Chloe Swarbrick’s defection to Te Pāti Māori. Mostly it’s about the jolly japes of party politics, with a few contemporary references thrown in. Without knowing the minutiae of New Zealand politics, it’s difficult to explain why James Shaw is being presented as the sensible one of the Green Party, or why waka-jumping* is such a heinous crime (in the eyes of some). Ginger Chris (or Chris With Hair), zooming about the stage on a skateboard, is portrayed as being mates with Bald Chris; and there is Judith CollinsGPT as an AI bot. Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters also get walk-on parts.

It's a bit hit-and-miss, with lines being thrown out left, right, and centre in the hope that some of them stick, rather than being funny all the way through. There’s the traditional digs at the in-fighting of the Green Party, Te Pāti Māori, and the minor minor parties. In the end, it’s all a laugh, if only in parts. Don’t take it too seriously.

 

 

* Known as “crossing the floor” elsewhere, i.e. joining a different political party.