Review: Dog tale a delight, no bones about it

One upon a time, there was an old dog who actually wanted to learn new tricks.

Sadly, the egotistical ringmistress at the dog circus wouldn't allow it.

Dog was restricted to running and jumping and playing with hoops and doing cartwheels and balancing on a ball and juggling and riding a unicycle.

That was nowhere nearly enough activity for the smartest dog in the whole world, so he started to misbehave.

Then, horror of horrors, the ringmistress fired him on the spot.

To find out what happens next, you need to see Peter Wilson's Tale of a Dog, which was presented by Capital E National Theatre for Children at the Lake Wanaka Centre yesterday.

It's a delightful story aimed at those with physical and mental ages up to about 7, so it was perfect rainy-day entertainment for me and the hundreds of kids who packed into three performances.

The action comes fast and physical in front of a colourful and functional circus-tent set.

Ringmistress and dog take turns upstaging each other as the tricks get more ambitious and the slapstick gives way to some seriously athletic acrobatics.

There's fun with shadow puppets, ropes, and a ladder and a trapeze, and of course, there is an obligatory bone chase.

Thomas La Hood's spotty Dalmatian learns to always follow his dreams, and ringmistress Karen Edelenbos learns the value of co-operation, so everything turns out all right in the end.

-Tale Of A Dog played at the Lake Wanaka Centre on Thursday, April 30. Review by Nigel Zega.

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