Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 9. April 24 1978
Larf Street Theatre Group
Larf Street Theatre Group
Larf was born in October of last year, when a group of actors and others interested in theatre decided to form a political street theatre group. Many of those who joined were actively involved in the protests against the SIS Bill and felt the most effective way to express their opposition was through street theatre.
Towards the end of the year other meetings were held - ideas were shared — and a plan was concocted to tour the country over summer. However nothing came of this, people left Wellington over Christmas and energy dropped.
On Christmas Eve the Moonists (a militant religious cult) held a street march opposing "the Communist threat to N.Z.". A small group of Larfers, one wearing a Gorilla mask, another dressed as Lenin, another dressed in red, all marching to beat of a drum, posed as "the Communist threat".
Larf went into hibernation over the summer. But in late January there was another meeting, we had grown in numbers — more energy and more ideas. We split into smaller groups to work out ideas and then brought them back for the whole group to work on. Over a fortnight we had created a number of sketches and were ready to perform them. "Miracle Man" dealt with Muldoon's "economic miracles". "Joe Worker" with unemployment in N.Z., "Ordinary Bloke" with apathy in N.Z., and "The Weird Sisters" with abortion and the violent Catholic lobby behind SPUC.
We performed all over Wellington, in a park, at the University and out in the streets. Larf learnt a lot from this first flurry of activity, much about working together and what worked and what didn't in performance.
Since then we have taken part in protests against the Abortion Legislation and a visit by South African Rotarians. We have sunk our fangs into beauty queens at the Miss Wellington contest. We have also done some sketches on worker-boss relations for a delegates meeting of the Cleaners Union.
The group doesn't take direction from any one person. We have no leaders. Different people have different abilities and so different people direct as the situation requires.
The group's membership fluctuates, sometimes four or five people work on a piece, other times fifteen or twenty people work together.
Our performances are loud, usually funny, and include song, dance, and mime. Few of us are professional actors, but we aim to entertain and arouse people in our own theatre, the theatre of the streets.
Paul Wilson