| The West Auckland Cardigan Appreciation Society's BONNIE SOPER |
| Written by Sian Rafferty |
| Tuesday, 23 February 2010 13:47 |
 New Zealand has definitely cornered the market of heart-warming dweebs. We have a rich tradition of producing the most socially inept characters, who couldn’t possibly survive in the hard hitting real world. Of course some of these characters are internationally known – think ‘Eagle Vs. Shark’ or ‘Flight Of The Concords', while some are more locally known: Munter and Van from 'Outrageous Fortune', Gerald from Shortie; the list goes on. And ‘TWACAS' - that’s ‘The West Auckland Cardigan Appreciation Society' - has a whole cast to add to NZ's list of lovable losers. Because who else, would start a cardigan appreciation society? According to BONNIE SOPER who plays Lara (and who you may recognise as Morgan from ‘Shortland Street’): "You need to be free on Thursday evenings, have transport to get out to West Auckland, have little to nil fashion sense and self confidence, be socially inept but have a desire to improve and make friends. A love or appreciation for cardys would help but is not absolutely necessary." Yip – Lovable Losers.  So when Trish, Les and Tim (Kura Forrester, Jonathan Hodge and Sam Berkley), decide that their three person cardigan society needs a bit of spicing up, Lara and Bruce are inducted into the West Auckland meeting hall. Soper as Lara, is a good fit. She manages to pull off the fashion savvy (this is questionable), yet utterly clueless Lara, who looks like the cool girl - but is really struggling to find friends. Although Soper herself says she has never had a cardigan she would consider starting a group over, she did have one she really loved, which went with everything - but she lost it one drunken night and has never been able to replace. When asked why people should come and see this play Soper uttered three words - "Ben Van Lier" - and she was definitely right. Van Lier as Bruce, the ex-scuba diving instructor come dolphin trainer is hilarious with his utterly repulsive bogan-ness. Bruce shakes up the lives of everyone in the group with his money making schemes and intrusive questions, revealing the dark past of one of the members. Tim is also entertaining as a shy nerdy boy who suddenly faces the confusion of becoming an overnight stud muffin. Les and Trish round off the pack, and are equally funny and sweet as they stumble outside their comfort zones when the group’s delicate status quo is disrupted.  This play is definitely a triumph for the Catalyst Theatre Company, and runs at the Maidment theatre until the 27th of February. Covering sex toys to baby pet ducks and everything in between, it’s a play with many lessons in life for the five members of ‘TWACAS’. I have to say it’s worth the ticket price just to see the ‘TWACAS’ Idol rap by Tim and Les. Epic. |
