Te Radar in Eating The Dog

Anyone who springs onto a stage carrying a bottle of Emerson’s Pilsner is going to attract my attention quickly.  Te Radar announces that the 500ml version of the beer is a good compromise – “part Once Were Warriors but a bit metrosexual”.  Having met Richard Emerson, the brewer of the fine drop, he would smile at the metrosexual bit.  He is more like the good Kiwi bloke that Te Radar dedicates the next two hours to.

So, Eating the Dog.  Not brunch recipes I assure you.  For a history fan who likes exploring the eccentricities of human nature, this show was tailor-made for me.  Te Radar introduces us to a rich and hilarious history of some of our greatest idealists, inventors and great Kiwi blokes.

Take Thomas Brunner’s exploration of the South Island.  A colourful vignette was delivered of Brunner’s endless diet of seaweed and fern roots, which no doubt features on top Wellington menus these days.

Consider notorious New Zealand criminals.  We met the oddly facial featured Burgess gang and the Taranaki Highwayman;  prior to Taranaki having a highway.

The great Uranium Rush of 1955 was a doozy with two likely blokes, Mr Jacobson and Mr Cassim declaring the second largest uranium deposit in the world on their West Coast doorstep.  West Coast marketers of the day saw fit to create uranium flavoured ice cream.

This well researched and visually documented potted history of New Zealand’s characters instilled pride, and reinforced what it really means to be a New Zealander.  Of course Te Radar isn’t Te Radar without the odd segway into real life.  His description of him pig hunting for his series “Off the Radar” was a visual thinker’s feast.

His delivery on stage was a shaggy haired strut coupled with staccato storytelling;  non-stop, hilarious and some damn fine history.  A must for every proud New Zealander.

Te Radar’s Eating The Dog – 29 June to 10 July at Downstage.

Jennifer

P.S.  No dogs get harmed in this show.