Who likes pies?  The members of the Hamilton District Council love pies, in fact that’s all they eat, actually that’s all ANYONE ever eats in Hamilton, according to The Pied Piper of Hamilton.

Most of the audience will be familiar with the tale of the Pied Piper and this fresh take on the old story keeps all the best elements and adds some fun and games of its own.  The Pied Piper of Hamilton is part of the Nickelodeon Kids’ Comedy Season and is the follow up to previous Theatre Beating production such as Happy Hour for Miserable Children and The Magic Chicken.

Five young actors (Bernie Duncan, Lara Fischel-Chisholm, Jacob Tamaiparea, Liv Tennet and Gareth Williams) play an array of characters. With speedy costume changes behind their basic stage set, the actors become rats, city council members, pie factory workers, Hamilton’s children and even a taniwha. 

Bernie Duncan stands out as the Piper himself and a Monty Python-esque Simple Simon, as well in his pantomime-style role of the voluptuous mayor’s wife.  Jacob Tamaiparea is a very smooth rat, Lara Fischel-Chishom makes a very earnest brain-box, Liv Tennet captures her child’s character with vivid energy, and Gareth Williams will have the kids giggling (as well as himself) in his roles as the greedy Roger and Unfortunate the rat. 

There is nothing slick about this show, but that’s part of its charm.  At times the delivery was a little speedy, but it’s no easy task to maintain a balance between fast-paced comedy for kids and measured delivery of jokes.  There were plenty of laughs for the adults, in fact most of the jokes were for the adults, but the extreme characters and physical tom-foolery had the kids giggling. 

The Pied Piper of Hamilton is definitely best suited to children aged between 6 to12 and is about an hour long, just the right length.  Afterwards I talked to audience members of all ages, and they said they had enjoyed it very much.  One young man gave it a rating which I’ll pass on to you:  8/10.  I think that’s a pretty good score, don’t you?
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