Pacific Theatre presents The Stadium at Wellington Performing Arts Centre from September 12-15.

Tana Umaga is on a mission - the Aussies are planning to steal the hosting rights for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and we desperately need a new kind of Kiwi hero.

Don't miss this hilarious hit of the 2008 Auckland Comedy Festival, a unique performance in which Samoan clowning collides with classical Greek comedy.Pacific Theatre presents The Stadium at Wellington Performing Arts Centre from September 12-15.

Tana Umaga is on a mission - the Aussies are planning to steal the hosting rights for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and we desperately need a new kind of Kiwi hero.

Don't miss this hilarious hit of the 2008 Auckland Comedy Festival, a unique performance in which Samoan clowning collides with classical Greek comedy.The Stadium opens with Helen Clark calling a Reconciliation Conference to try to stop the bitching about who is going to pay for the World Cup stadium. But when Winston Peters reveals a massive conspiracy to have the World Cup transferred to Australia its all too much for Tana Umaga who suddenly goes berserk and attacks the conference delegates with Helen Clark's hand bag.

In the aftermath Tana teams up with Anton Oliver and together they initiate a search for a hero who can inspire Kiwis to beat off the Aussie threat.

As in the Aristophanes classic The Frogs, none of our living heroes are up the challenge. Tana and Anton are forced to descend to the Underworld to bring back a dead Kiwi who can inspire and the city in their hour of need. In the Underworld our beloved departed national heroes including Barry Crump, Katherine Mansfield, Te Rauparaha, Muldoon, Billy T James and Pharlap, face an ultimate reality TV game show. They square off in a series of competitions that include Survivor type team challenges and a cooking contest hosted by Gordon Ramsey.

The Stadium is a free wheeling re-write of The Frogs by Aristophanes - a play that was first performed in 405BC when the Athenians were desperately searching for an inspirational leader who could save them from defeat at the hands of the Spartans. The bizarre combination of Samoan clowning and classical Greek comedy creates a unique comedy style with outrageous impersonations of well-known figures, a wildly improbable storyline and crude, bawdy humour that encourages interaction with the audience.

STARRING: Canada Alofa Fale Aitu (Brownies) and Aleni Tufuga (Lena)
PRODUCER: Justine Simei-Barton
DIRECTOR: Sefa Enari
SCRIPT: Paul Simei-Barton

12-15 September, 8.00pm
WPAC: Wellington Performing Arts Centre, 35 Vivian St
Ticketek: www.ticketek.co.nz or 0800 TICKETEK
Cost: $12/8 (+ booking charges)

03/09/08