The First Asian A* B* up and running.

Place of birth / Lieu de naissance: TAKAPUNA, NEW ZEALAND

We are two performances into our eight-show season of The First Asian A* B* by Renee Liang. In a show of provincial loyalty, I went onto Trade Me and bought a second-hand 2009 North Harbour rugby jersey as a costuming decision. Its size is L, about 1.5 sizes too large for me, but it works well enough.

John Smythe has reviewed us for Theatreview, concentrating more on the script and story construction than the performances. Laurie Atkinson from the Dominion Post attended opening night; there may well be a review in Monday’s newspaper. (Edit: Dom Post review indeed appeared on Monday.)

In each performance, three folk (Renee, Ben & Paul) are visiting from Auckland and two (Fern and myself) live in Wellington. We’re currently sharing BATS with Death By Cheerleader, another rugby-themed show from Auckland. Last night, cheerleader Amy Waller gave me the beginnings of a lapdance in my second-row seat. All in the service of theatre, boys, all in the service of theatre.

My role in this season is really that of caretaker musician. Andrew Corrêa provided live music for the inaugural season at the Basement in Auckland, and two days after the Wellington season ends, the guys have a few performances at Auckland schools with Andrew once again. While I can’t diverge too radically from the cues as Andrew did them, I have been able to add some of my own touches: Samoa-ifying the ukulele playing; going slightly further over-the-top in the training montage; and hamming up God Defend Synth Zealand at the beginning. It’s fun.

You should come to BATS Theatre to see us. Six shows remaining, we run until Saturday 1 October. Starts 6pm. Don’t be a dumbass.