Dads, lock up your power drills. Mums, lock up your carrots.
There are kids all over Wanaka wanting to emulate the antics of a man who has just taught them how to turn the humble vegetable into a passable wind instrument. Passing Wind is a serious business for musician and instrument maker Linsey Pollak.
But his show is warmly funny, entertaining, educational and inspirational, especially for the hundreds of children who learn how almost anything can be modified to create music.
Pollak makes his point with balloons, kitchen gloves, garden hoses, irrigation fittings, watering cans, furniture and, yes, carrots. So if your pre-teens suddenly start taking an interest in vegetables, don't think you've finally made that long-awaited breakthrough in the healthy eating department.
And on no account let them get their hands on a power drill.
• The late Graeme Tetley's last play, Riverside Drive, is a high-speed rollercoaster ride through morality in the '50s.
Tetley lines up religious fervour, adult hypocrisy, overzealous authorities, the brash new world of media and plastic politics, and pits them against the growing tsunami of youth rebellion. Director Sara Brodie lines up a cast of dozens of enthusiastic amateurs and shows what can be done with unlimited goodwill and a lot of hard work.
The result is a spectacular kaleidoscope of colour, sound and emotions, peppered with some excellent effects and many lines that show Tetley's ear for dialogue was as strong as ever. It's an extraordinarily ambitious production, both in scale and aim, and to everyone's credit it covers a huge amount of territory with a large degree of success.
The central story stays true, following the relationship of two young teens, played with sensitivity by Mattias Inwood and Jordaine Wilson, and for that alone, Riverside Drive is worth a visit.
