A new work by Dean Parker fizzes with witty one-liners that coalesce into a free-wheeling satire on the shallowness and depravity of Auckland's moneyed classes.
The multi-stranded narrative features a vaguely familiar story about the husband of a National Party MP using political connections to promote shady business deals but most of the action focuses on the increasingly intoxicated shenanigans at the Clevedon Polo Club.
Set against the frenetic debauchery of high society is the easy-going ambience of an inner-city flat shared by a promiscuous waiter and a street philosopher with a quirky take on Auckland's unseen geography.
By avoiding a dominant storyline or an easily identified main character the de-centred structure puts a brake on the audience's emotional engagement - but it is easy to sit back and enjoy the laughs which come thick and fast as director Colin McColl has the actors lined across the stage like a troupe of stand-up comedians.
The nine characters are all clearly delineated and a quality cast delivers high energy performances that often work against expectations.
Lisa Chappell's take on a right wing politician features hilarious put downs on the dreariness of left-wingers. Adam Gardiner exudes a love of life as a crudely acquisitive property developer while Katrina Wesseling brings energy to the frivolities of an aspiring socialite.
James Maeva is a suave, laid-back wine-waiter and his flatmate, played by Kalyani Nagarajan, finds a sense of irony in fragments of information gleaned from the internet.
The most sympathetic character emerges from Taylor Barrett's portrait of an amiable drunk who has rejected his privileged upbringing and clings to a romantic vision forged on an acid trip on Takapuna Beach.
What: Polo
Where: SkyCity Theatre
When: to February 28.
Learn more: www.atc.co.nz/whats-on/2016/polo