Karen Healey reviews Hooves & Chooks, a double bill at the Lyttelton Arts Factory, presented as part of the Lyttelton Arts Festival, Friday 3 July 2026.
This joyous double-bill night of comedy dance and cabaret, opens the 2026 Lyttelton Arts Festival on a cold Canterbury night.
Hooves, from Rebound Dance, led by Fleur de Thier, is not so much focused on showcasing technical dance precision and spectacular ability, although the timing on some of these formations is impeccable, and I’d love to see that horsy Fosse number again. It’s more about the joy of being a social animal with a distinct personality in a body with strange flaws that makes weird noises, and also about the joy of being a horse.
This gorgeous, uninhibited dance troupe performance showcases the fun in playing pretend, in an absolutely unpejorative sense, for grown-ups who aren’t embarrassed to whinny and toss their manes while they prance and gallop. This generous unself-consciousness is a wonderful gift to the audience, who respond with enthusiasm to the multiple group dance numbers, commentated by our dapper host.
I, an inveterate pun hater, find some of the broad wordplay humor of the scripted parts more groan than giggle-worthy, but the audience in general don’t share my hoity-toity sensibilities. And I’m all in on the lovely variety of bodies engaged in movement, from a company that firmly believes dance should be accessible to everyone. There’s no demand for the rigid perfection of a ballet corps. Instead, we get a herd of individuals working together to create something wonderful.
The props and costuming are in keeping with this approach of unified variety. For the opening number, everyone’s in black pants, shirt, and vest, but with their own closet-raided variations on the theme. When the horses start show-jumping, it’s with wooden hobby horses, each decorated to match the horse’s established personality quirks.
It all has the vibe of a primary school performance where the kids spent a happy afternoon with glue and pipe cleaners to create props for their end of year show–and again, this is a compliment. The effect is that of a community at play, and that’s infinitely cheering on a cold winter’s night.
Chooks, by the Chooks Cabaret group from the Feminist Clown Posse, has a similarly welcoming feel. It’s a cabaret variety set-up on a theme, with single and group performances strung together by our gregarious hostess, a down-to-earth and earnest A&P organiser with secret dreams of Broadway glory. “Cats” worked, right? Why not “Chooks”?
And so, this group of chook farmers-cum-netball team put on a show in Paddock no. 7, complete with meat raffle, and I get to enjoy smart comedy by clever people.
It’s hard to say what I like most. The fabulous rendition of “Maybe This Time”–by a Silkie begging for her last shot at blue ribbon glory–that Sally Bowles would have applauded? The sharply funny and hilariously gross mime act by a chicken-cum-butcher? The brilliant send-up of a Dita Von Teese style burlesque show, where the performer anoints herself with garlic and pours wine into a giant roasting dish, before losing some layers and basting herself with a lemon-shaped sponge?
No, it’s the comic monologue from a femme fatale chicken breast on the supermarket shelf, tempting unwary shoppers like a siren. So delicious! So potentially dangerous! But is it her fault you haven’t learned how to handle her safely? (This costume involves a nude body suit and probably an entire roll of Gladwrap, which I want to applaud all on its own.)
By the end of the piece, when four more performers in a single silver sequinned blanket have wrapped themselves around her, while belting a Shirley Bassey-inspired song about salmonella, my cheeks hurt from grinning.
There are a few flaws and fumbles–a scene set-up that drags a bit, the odd sound cue gone astray–but nothing catastrophic or detrimental to the overall performance. The lighting and sound are great, with spotlights helping to give more cabaret intimacy to the large LAF stage. Again, the props and costuming are superb, with glitter and flounce aplenty. I’m particularly fond of the frothy headpieces that tilt and bobble perfectly with each motion of a chicken’s head.
After the netball team take their bows, the audience spills out into a frosty evening, warm with laughter. It’s a great start to what promises to be an excellent festival.
Chooks and Hooves ran from Friday 3 – Saturday 4 July 2026. More information about the festival can be found here.
Flat City Field Notes 