I’ve never seen the movie and feel ashamed to say the first time I read The Man from Snowy River was the day before I went to review Spare Part Puppet Theatre’s new production. I probably won’t bother with the film, but I must say that I found the poem to be a jolly good read and just a little bit exciting.

A.B. Banjo Paterson’s poem, The Man from Snowy River says ‘Australia’ as much as Waltzing Matilda, Tim Tams, Iced Vo Vo’s and Vegemite. So it is no small task to ‘re-imagine’ this icon of the Aussie bush for the younger little vegemites who cling with their parents to the cities on the continent’s coast. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre gave this challenge a fair crack of the stock whip and did not disappoint with their pun–filled production of The Man from Snowy River.

Paterson, like most of the Australian population, was mainly an urban dweller. He was criticised in his time for romanticising the Australian bush. Writer Mark Storen has addressed this criticism by placing the action in a supermarket with produce as miscellaneous stockmen and shopping trolleys as brumbies, although I think brumbies are probably easier to manage than the average shopping trolley.

The poem comes to life through the fantasies of the lead character, Shane (Shane Adamczak) the supermarket trolley wrangler/shelf-packer who dreams of being Shane the bushman! As the show unfolds, he and various other characters take up the recitation of the poem and the legend of The Man from Snowy River emerges.

Shane’s dreams of the bushman’s life come true after he reads Paterson’s poem in Moo Idea magazine (yes, with a cow on the cover instead of a celebrity.) Suddenly, like an escapee from the cast of Equus, Michelle Anderson appeared centaur-like with shopping trolley, a bucking, rearing manifestation of the colt from Old Regret. Then out of the aisles and supermarket stations they came, Clancy of the Overflow (Michael Barlow) as the bull from the butcher shop sign, and Snowy (Michelle Anderson), a delectable My Little Pony puppet with flowing pink mane from the freezer section. What followed was a delightfully subversive take on the classic verse that didn’t skimp on any of the adventure. There were lots of innocent jokes and sight gags to keep the very young engaged and more than enough in double entendre to keep the adults amused. I’m sure the many funny moments will only grow as the performance matures. There were wise–cracking food items, an intrusive voice–over as well as romance of an inter-species nature with Clancy the bull and Snowy the pony. Or is it just the relationship between a stockman and his horse? The play was also an absolute pun–fest!

Puppetry provided a lot of the adventure moments with great use of shadow puppets as well as miniature puppets to animate the chase sequences through the Snowy Mountains. However, one of the best effects was achieved by projecting the lurching shadows of shopping trolleys onto the backdrop making the imagination see galloping brumbies instead of metal caging. The sight of Shane riding his shopping trolley high above the supermarket shelves as the Man from Snowy River ‘never drew bridle till he landed safe and sound, at the bottom of that terrible descent’ was simple but unforgettable.

Shane Adamczak did an admirable job as Shane, The Man from Snowy River. Physically he is pretty much a match for Banjo Paterson’s hero, ‘something like a racehorse undersized.’ I hope that his slick shopping trolley–riding action doesn’t encourage too many copycats in aisles at Coles and Woolworths. Michael Barlow carried off Clancy’s multitude of meat jokes with great aplomb and Michelle Anderson made a very convincing equine.

Jiri Zmitko’s revolving set design was fluid in its adaptability, going from supermarket aisles to Snowy Mountains fantasies. Although there was a point during a set change when some of the sections did not move as smoothly, causing some sight line problems for the rest of the show. Hopefully this was just an opening day hiccup and will be remedied for the rest of the season. One particularly impressive puppet was that of the crowd of shoppers — basically a sea of heads with moving jaws, elegant in simplicity but so effective.

Lee Buddle’s score was another triumph as it effortlessly carried the narrative through mountain ranges of mood. Buddle’s compositions have been a mainstay at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre for years and probably one of the reasons that the company has had so many successes. Graham Walne’s lighting design was suitably evocative.

The funniest moment on opening day was when Shane mused, ‘What do you get when you cross a sheep with a kangaroo?’ A little voice from the audience answered uninvited, ‘A woolly jumper!’ It’s great watching performers try not to corpse.

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