Auckland Arts Festival: Solo show could do with more laughs

Mangere Arts Centre. Photo / Supplied

Like The Man Who Planted Trees, this is also billed as a family show from Scotland. However, it's rather different, and the Catherine Wheels Theatre Company has set itself a difficult challenge: to tell a serious story, without props, set or costume, through the exertions of a solo storyteller (Andy Manley).

As befits a story about bullying (written by Rob Evans), much of the audience is seated on four mats, as in school. Pressures pushing two friends apart are realistic and conveyed convincingly, although my 10-year-old co-reviewer thought the show could have done with a bit more humour during its 75 minutes.

The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk
Where: Mangere Arts Centre, again next Saturday, then Concert Chamber, Town Hall, March 23 &24