I love a murder mystery. Despite the simplicity of the plot, this one keeps me guessing until the denouement. However, murder is not the main theme here. We are being told a tale of career angst taken to extremes, in melodramatic style. The murders are by-products of the collapse of an edifice, as four friends fall out – and fall apart.

The main strength of this performance is the acting of Hellena Faasili, Amelia Newman-Woods and Cate Sharma. Their pinpoint comic timing in particular indicates exhaustive rehearsal. All are strong and believable.

Sharma does stand out, with moments of true comedic brilliance. Her puppetry – especially the voicing – is deceptively skilful and very funny. Caricatures are usually underwhelming, but Sharma’s French painter is delivered with perfect timing and is therefore hilarious. The best comedic moment is her character’s unhinged, last-ditch attempt to impress the famous director in the audience, resorting to a quickly-aborted striptease that is anything but seductive.

Newman-Woods also impresses from the opening scene. Her eye contact with the audience expresses steel-eyed, forced good humour as she determinedly scooters around the stage. In a melodrama, it is nuances like this, hinting at character depths beneath the melodramatic archetypes, that transform melodrama into sophisticated adult entertainment.

Faasili is the ‘straight man’, holding things together as much as possible, so their nuances are revealed slowly. She anchors a stylistic transformation in the production, from melodrama to drama, from murder mystery to the neurotic disintegration of a group of friends.

The production features puppetry and dance. Both are used as comic devices, and as the plot unfolds they also signal the transformation in style of their delivery. The set and lighting designs (Faasili and Rebekah Ward) are simple and effective. Attention to detail is exemplary, with prop blood being transported onstage and applied without me noticing, despite my being annoyingly detail-focused and sitting in the front row of The Stage at Bats. The sole technical glitch is a cupboard door that does not open fully, hiding one of the puppets from half the audience. The support actor (and stage manager), Shemaia Dixon, shows true commitment, being dragged by their feet off the stage, face-down.

The concept of this story feels like a collaboration that grew organically from improvisation. That is implied in the publicity material supplied by these Te Herenga Waka ākonga. While not a criticism of that mode of development, in this case the concept feels underdeveloped. The stylistic transformation could be crisper and more pronounced. It dwells too long on the murder mystery-melodrama. My companion and I grow impatient with the extended exposition of the motives for murder. We would like to see those character nuances develop earlier and further, ending by breaking the melodrama entirely, to a depiction of real humans feeling unexaggerated emotions. This would increase the engagement of the audience, and provide an opportunity for the actors to demonstrate greater breadth and depth.

What we are given is a powerful comedic performance by all the leads, and the beginnings of a powerful concept. We look forward to more from these performers, both as actors and writers. Once again, Wellington and NZ Fringe demonstrate their unrivalled status as Aotearoa’s primary nurturing ground for theatrical talent. Newman-Woods, Faasili and Sharma are ones to watch.

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