The show begins. An alien life form lies on the stage. If it were human, we would read its posture and loud wailing as signs of grief. The life form closely resembles an attractive 20-something woman dressed as if for a retro-80s dance party, complete with pink wig and sparkly antennae – and funnily enough, there’s a plot-twist based on just that similarity, but I won’t say any more because I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

The alien life form lying on the ground holds an image in its hand. Is there some connection? In our human way, we impose anthropomorphic patterns on the scene before us: looks like boyfriend upsets girlfriend; girlfriend unhappy, despite the fact that boyfriend is one of those grey blobby alien types, so possibly not worth getting upset over; extreme sexual dimorphism possibly a thing on this particular planet …  

Well, the alien, Ray, soon puts us in the picture, and we’re off on a conducted trip to earth, backed by an Arts Fund grant of extra-terrestrial generosity – or is it? – and Ray’s passion for 80s pop music, earth-style. Again not wanting to give the story away, let’s just say that Madonna comes up a lot, as an ideal, soundtrack and plot device. 

The ‘alien observer on earth’ premise is an oldie but a goodie – like a sort of literary SUV, you can take it just about anywhere. You get the outsider observations about life on earth and, in turn, you can observe alien behaviour in all its variety, to entertain, amaze, provoke – whatever the artist likes.

Given a galaxy of choice, writer/performer Harriet Hughes and director/script advisor Jen O’Sullivan are happy to work in terrain likely to be familiar to Wellington Fringe Festival theatre-goers. Finding a flat, getting a job, making friends, money woes, boyfriend ditto, Arts Fund hassles, can I afford to go to the concert, can you put a price on having a good time …? These are the sorts of things Ray has to deal with, which she does in a spirit of, mostly, buoyant optimism. 

Thoughts and Observations from My Holiday on Earth is a solo show, so it’s obviously important that we like the character of Ray enough to stay with her and wish her well for the whole 55 minutes of running time. Harriet Hughes brings a ton of energy and unselfconscious charm to the part. She also gets good use from a performer’s gift of a face that is mobile and expressive.

Fifty-five minutes is still a solid chunk of time, and Hughes cleverly breaks up the monologue into different formats – phone calls, interviews, audio diary entries – and adds videos and backdrop visual effects. Credit for the latter – the videos are particularly well-received – goes to Rosie Howells, Alice Ralson and Ross Druge. Flinn Glendall makes the lighting and sound all work without a hitch.

Is there a hint of first-night nerves? If so, it is only a hint, which Hughes can hopefully now put behind her after a near-full opening show to a highly appreciative audience.

This run of Thoughts and Observations only has two nights to go – Thursday and Friday – so all you pink-haired alien-lovers need to book now to avoid disappointment. 

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