Emperor of the chooks

Scriptwriter Paul Jenden tells NIGEL GEARING why giving a young audience a dazzling good time could pay off in the long term

Napoleon is back. But you won't have seen him like this before. Veteran dancer, choreographer and scriptwriter Paul Jenden has turned Lloyd Jones' and Graeme Gash's colourful picture book Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer into a one-hour piece of theatre for, in his words, "kids aged 2 to 60".

Napoleon And the Chicken Farmer is the story of a Corsican chicken farmer envious of Napoleon's fame. He grabs the chance to become the object of his envy by entering a lookalike contest and wins.

"But he becomes dissatisfied with being Napoleon for just one day and neglects the chickens," Jenden says. "So there are no eggs for Napoleon's birthday."

Since 1991 the Wellington-based Maclary Theatre Production Company has produced literally hundreds of Hairy Maclary shows based on the books written and illustrated by Lynley Dodd. The company is jointly owned and directed by Jenden, Jan Bolton, Ann Mallinson and Dodd. This production marks the first time he has used another writer's work for children's theatre.

"Lynley's latest book happened to be delayed," Jenden says. "The publisher of Napoleon And the Chicken Farmer, Ann Mallinson, rather dramatically laid the rushes for this book on the table while we were in a meeting and I fell in love with the work instantly."

Turning the book into a collaborative multimedia theatre event will see six dancers, three singers and a piano accordion player take to the stage performing songs specially written for the show by Jenden and Bolton.

Vocals are by Jackie Clarke, Adrian Bell and Justin Pearce. Louis Solino, Jane Duncan, Kate O'Rourke, Shannon Dawson, Blair Wood and Jenden as Manoli the chicken farmer are the dancers.

"Putting on big shows for children is a huge financial risk," says Jenden. "In some ways we have pushed the expectation among children for high quality work and children's theatre is of a very high standard now.

"Writers like Margaret Mahy, David Hill and Lynley Dodd are producing very sophisticated art. This has helped people get over that 'if it's only for a children's audience then it's not a real audience thing'."

Getting the audience to the theatre and having those recruits enjoy themselves is the most important part of Jenden's philosophy. "I've seen so many dance companies fail. We all used to wear black underwear and be so serious. But when most people go to the theatre they want to be uplifted. We throw in a reflective moment every now and then, but mostly we concentrate on colour, brightness and entertainment. If you can give a very young audience a good time then hopefully some members of it will be so inspired they'll be producing shows for me when I'm in a wheelchair in the old folks' home."

A trend he believes has already started. Jenden was recently asked to be a judge in the Smokefree Stage Challenge put on by secondary students in the Wellington area. "The material was fantastic."

Lastly, performance art has got to be accessible.

"If you look at the success of movies like Shrek then you can see there is a different attitude to family theatre taking place," he says.

"How would you define that movie? Is it a kids' movie, a comedy, what is it? There is a lot of crossover taking place. That's in part due to children's theatre having such a great heritage."


PERFORMANCE

* What: Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer

* Where and when: Maidment Theatre, July 7-14, 10am, midday and 2.30pm; no performances on July 11