Jonath­an Brugh’s one-man play The Second Test returns to Wel­ling­ton, this time play­ing at Circa.

The Second Test tells the amaz­ing true-life story of New Zea­l­and crick­eter Bob Blair, whose fiancee Nerissa Love was tra­gic­ally killed in the Tangi­wai dis­aster while Bob was in South Africa on tour with the New Zea­l­and crick­et team (also the sub­ject of an upcom­ing tele­film).

The play has a lovely New Zea­l­and fla­vour to it, com­plete with that under­stated Kiwi char­ac­ter that gives this sport­ing story a del­ic­ate feel­ing. Com­ing in the wake of the Pike River dis­aster, it’s a remind­er of how there are always per­son­al stor­ies behind every nation­al tragedy.

But it’s not all tragedy – there are plenty of com­ic moments, and Jonath­an Brugh cap­tures the high-jinks of a bunch of young dudes going on a big over­seas trip togeth­er. Actu­al home movie foot­age taken by one of the team adds to the sense of excite­ment the lads must have felt set­ting foot in the exot­ic coun­try.

Upon see­ing The Second Test at its first Wel­ling­ton run at Bats, Wel­ling­tonista and crick­et nerd Dan Slev­in remarked:

Brugh’s play is a mov­ing and beau­ti­fully acted treat­ment of the story. He plays dozens of parts (Blair & Love; crick­eters Rabone, Reid, Sutcliffe, etc; Prime Min­is­ter Sid Hol­land) and imbues them all with fine detail and a sweet com­ic sens­ib­il­ity. He brings, not just the game to life, but the era – a dif­fer­ent age.

Older mem­bers of the audi­ence enjoyed the nos­tal­gic look back at 1950s New Zea­l­and, crick­et (radio com­ment­ary via tele­graph!) and the Tangi­wai dis­aster, while for those of us not old enough to remem­ber that time, it’s an eye-open­er into the way things use to be – and a well told, bloody good story.

The Second Test
Circa Theatre
Runs until 23 Decem­ber