Big monuments in small towns inspired the band the Plot Holes to write a Dunedin Fringe Festival show.
Singer and bassist Dylan Hanna, of Gore, said he and guitarists and singers Sydney Lehman and Anna Gilbert, both of Blenheim, and keyboardist Jonny Dyas, of Kerikeri, used their small-town experiences to create the songs in the show Welcome to Erection Capital.
''Erection Capital is this little town that constantly puts up different monuments to celebrate being the best at something - like Gore.''
The many monuments erected in Gore for the town to ''assert its identity'' included a giant trout, guitar and sheep, he said.
Hanna said although Gore was colloquially known as the erection capital of New Zealand, the show was set in a fictitious small town.
Lehman said the 80-minute show of film, song and spoken word could easily have been set in Blenheim.
''It's just small-town New Zealand or small-town anywhere.''
Hanna said the show was built around a song cycle detailing the experiences of a community where being tight-knit was a double-edged sword, where secrets were exposed, relationships became tangled and private traumas were played out in the public eye.
The word erection was used in the show name to draw attention and because it was a double entendre, he said.
''Erection Capital is the idea of ambition, but it's also a lot about sex, love and money.''
The show premieres at the Globe Theatre at 10pm tonight.
TODAY
Daily: Tracing Time, Dunedin Public Library.
Daily: An Open-Ended Beginning, Blue Oyster Art Project Space.
9am-4pm: The Road Less Travelled, the Margaret Freeman Gallery.
9am-5pm: Fringe Fishbowl, Elizabeth Dalton, ODT Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
10am-6pm: Never & Forever, Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
10.30am and 1.30pm: Rain, Moana Pool, 1st floor meeting room.
11am-5pm: Reels on Wheels, Museum Reserve.
11am-5pm: Colour Moves, Brick Brothers Gallery, 14d Dowling St.
12am-5pm: Drawl 2, Bellamys Gallery.
12pm: Fringe Picks, Meridian Mall.
6pm: Velcro City, The Playhouse Theatre.
7pm: Nick Rado -- How Did We Survive the '90s, Ombrellos.
7pm: Finding Hephzibah, Fortune Theatre Studio.
7.30pm: Carousel and Clothesline, King's and Queen's Performing Arts Centre.
7.45pm: Melody Moore, Playhouse Theatre.
8pm: Cherie Jacobson: The Diary of a Young Cynic, Playhouse Theatre.
8.30pm: ... Let's Talk About the Golliwogs, Ombrellos.
8.30pm: The Way We Fall, Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
9pm: Take Back the Hood, Fortune Theatre Studio.
9pm and 10.15pm: Streets and Lures, First Church.
9.30pm: The Ruby Lady's Harem: A Boylesque Showcase, Playhouse Theatre.
9.30pm: Festival Club, Carousel.
10pm: Welcome to Erection Capital, Globe Theatre.
10pm: Frickin Dangerous Bro, Ombrellos.
