Erin Harrington reviews The Flight Before Christmas, this year’s annual Little Andromeda Christmas show, written by Cally Castell and Rebekah Head, directed by Hillary Moulder, presented in conjunction with Tusk Puppets, on Tuesday 11 December 2023.
Little Andromeda’s Christmas shows have become a mainstay of the holiday season. Previous productions have been knockabout scripted farces featuring a bit of local stunt casting, and low-resource, high-impact works that combine multiple short monologues. Turns out that that’s easy mode. This year, for its fifth annual production, the theatre has levelled up, presenting an original, hour-long, fully-realised book musical, complete with a muso, three actors, two singing puppeteers, and song and dance numbers packed with gags. The Flight Before Christmas, written by Cally Castell and Rebekah Head, directed and choreographed by Hillary Moulder, and with puppets from Tusk Puppets, is as weird and chaotic as the silly season itself. It’s a wild climb up the absurdity curve that will please those interested in complex wordplay and those here for crass props gags in equal measure.
Itinerant airport pianist Bobbi (MD Andy Manning), their keyboard wrapped in tinsel, acts as our narrator and accompanist, augmenting some pre-recorded instrumentation. We’re in the Penguin Air departure lounge at Auckland Airport, which is in full holiday shambles mode. Businessman Peter (James Kupa) really, really, really wants to catch up with his handsome real estate agent as they finalise a sale. Pass-ag nana Julie (Juliet Reynolds-Midgley) needs to go pinch some grandkids’ cheeks and throw some shade at her son. Marketing graduate Kiera (Reylene Rose Hilaga) has no life plans beyond going home and turning everything around her into digital content.
Due to some slipperiness with documentation, the three passengers find themselves unable to get on the last flight to Christchurch. Their only option is to stow their emotional baggage and succumb to the whims of Penguin Air ground crew, Annabel the aggro chicken and Kevin the crooning dog (performed impeccably by puppeteers Rebekah Head and Tōmairangi Paterson-Waaka). The animals promise the humans some salvation, a ticket home, and maybe a visit from the Christmas Penguin, if they simply complete a few Christmassy tasks – with help and a bit of hindrance from some other puppet friends / antagonists. This gives the show a useful episodic structure that builds towards a ludicrous, anarchic climax.
It’s quite something to see a show of this size jammed into Little Andromeda’s tiny space. It would benefit from a lot more literal wiggle room, especially as departure lounge chairs take up a lot of the limited stage space. Nonetheless, Moulder, the cast, and the technical crew do a lot within these constraints. The cast are consistently excellent, walking the line between committing to their characters’ emotional truths and wink-winking at the show’s obvious ridiculousness. The compact, colourful set reveals surprises, and the lighting and sound design is densely packed with gags. Songs range from full revival gospel numbers and ribald belters to a reflective meditation on holiday grief. My favourite is a shoe-shuffling buddy song as Peter lays out his affection for his real estate agent, giving us the show’s clearest emotional character arc and some of the best sight gags (and choreography) of the night.
At the end of the show my first thought is ‘that was really dumb’, but that’s meant as a genuine compliment. Does everything land? Not quite, but in a world full of very safe productions, it’s great to see a show that is so unabashedly strange and manic, and that really commits to the bit. I look forward to going back a second time later in the run. The Flight Before Christmas is an ambitious undertaking with a clear final message that will pair well with Christmas work drinks, seasonal cheer, and holiday malaise alike.
The Flight Before Christmas runs at Little Andromeda from 12-23 December.
Flat City Field Notes 