Kidzone Giggles Live!
Te Papa: Soundings, Wellington
14/03/2011 - 19/03/2011
Capital E National Arts Festival
Production Details
Bringing the characters and crazy situations of the TVNZ show Giggles to life with the help of giant projection screens, exciting technology and talented performances this show uncovers behind-the-scenes secrets and plenty of laughter. This is fun Festival fare for the whole family.
About TVNZ show Giggles
Giggles is a local sketch comedy show for pre-schoolers, designed to provide visual and auditory stimulus that will enrich children and make them laugh out loud. Featuring regularly on TVNZ’s Kidzone, each episode is a combination of hilarious sketches featuring a cast of recurring characters in crazy situations.
Kidzone Giggles Live!
Soundings Theatre, Te Papa, Cable St
Mon 14 – Fri 18, 10am, 11.30am and 1.15pm as available, call Capital E to confirm on 913 3740
Saturday 19 March, 10am
Bookings: Capital E 04 913 3740
Tickets: $16.50 each or $33.00 each for 3 shows
www.Capitale.org.nz
The show is made possible through the support of TVNZ
Credits
Naughty Fairy – Kate McGill
The Pirate – Allan Henry
Ted the Technician – Paul Harrop
40mins
Green screen fun for diehard fans
Review by Hannah Smith 15th Mar 2011
The Giggles is a TV show for preschool age children. Giggles Live is, surprise surprise, a live show version in which the audience of kids join forces with the Silly Pirate and others to prepare a special episode of The Giggles for TV. Naughty Fairy has captured many of the sketch show characters and put them in a cage in the clouds – now the show can only be made with help of audience volunteers!
Neither my companion or I have ever seen The Giggles on television, but it was clear that many of the kids in the audience had as they yelled out catchphrases at the tops of their lungs.
The show revolves chiefly around the classic “Look behind you” gag and the various tricks one can play with a green screen – beyond that there is precious little going on. It is up to the energy and charisma of the actors to buoy us through, and while the cast of Paul Harrop, Kate McGill and Allan Henry are all very talented and some of my favourite performers in Wellington, it felt like they were pushing this one uphill.
Not that the children seemed to mind. The kids in the audience were engaged throughout. They roared, “Naughty Fairy, Naughty Fairy” and “She’s behind you” at the tops of their lungs, and were all swift to volunteer to take part in events – though once chosen, the child volunteers had a tendency to lose their nerve and become paralysed by stage fright.
In essence, the kids seemed to have a good time, but kids get accompanied to these things by adults and there are no gags in here for the grown ups. I’d take a child who was a really diehard fan of The Giggles; otherwise I’d leave it alone.
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