Below the Worms: Puppets, music and magic at BATS Theatre

An award-winning theatre show is set to enchant Wellington audiences this weekend.

Below the Worms, created by S.L.U.G (Society for Little Ugly Girls) Theatre Company, debuted at the New Zealand Fringe Festival 2025, winning the Parkin Development Award, with S.L.U.G named Most Promising Emerging Company.

Te Ata Tu Patelesio, of Tokelauan, Māori, Cook Islands, and Sāmoan heritage, is co-creator, producer, and performer in the show at BATS Theatre’s The Dome.

Patelesio says the story follows two children, Sunny and Max, whose backyard is full of magic.

“There’s puppetry, there’s live music, and it’s a physical theatre experience. You feel the world shifting around you,” he tells Tofiga Fepulea’i on Island Time.

Patelesio says the show started while he was at drama school with friend and co-creator Sugar Rea-Bruce.

“She asked me to make something together for her third-year project,” he said. “So we saw it off as a development with a couple of mates that we asked to jump on. It was rough, but it was all right.

“The first collaboration in that first season was a battle for both of us, trying to figure out our artistic voice and how to work with one another. One of our big learnings was both actors and writers trying to direct each other - I think it’s a struggle for anyone.”

This season brings new direction from Alison Bruce, a multi-award-winning actor and Sugar’s mother.

Bruce calls the production “an adult’s child’s show”: playful, nutty, and touching. “It’s a children’s view of the world, a little window into how children deal with stuff they don’t understand, like adult issues they don’t yet understand.”

The versatile team includes a chorus playing hounds and worms, live musicians, and designer Grace O’Brien, who created the set, props, and puppets.

Patelesio credits family and community support. “Even if there’s not much funding, there’s a lot of support that comes in from the families, from our wider community,” he says.

"Special shout out to my Dad and Grandad, and my friends Manoa and Matiu, who helped us move a piano for the show, out of my flat and into the theatre, with stairs and everything.”

Audiences have responded enthusiastically. One male attendee says, “I loved it. Such a good play. I thought that they balanced comedy with being really sad really well. So if you guys want to cry a little bit, and then laugh a lot, you should come.”

An earlier version of Below the Worms was performed in February 2025 Photo/Facebook

A young female viewer adds, “Really nice. I got pretty emotional. It deals with things that are very universal.”

Patelesio is also part of Claw Collective, a group of Māori and Pasifika artists with upcoming shows in Wellington’s Fringe Festival.

“All of us have Māori heritage from all around, down south, up in Auckland, all emerging talented writers, directors, performers, just looking at creating theatre and art film here in Wellington,” he says.

Below the Worms runs at BATS Theatre’s The Dome until 7 February 2026. Tickets are $15 to $25.