The Gentle Boys bring Pacific comedy to Circa Theatre’s 50th Jubilee

As Wellington’s Circa Theatre celebrates its 50th Jubilee, it is looking to the future by spotlighting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most exciting young Pacific collectives.

The Gentle Boys, a group of Toi Whakaari graduates known for their dry-humour skits online, are preparing to perform D THINGS N SUCH. The bold production promises to rewire the theatrical experience for modern audiences.

Running for a strictly limited season of 14 shows from 13 to 28 February, this theatre show will be the best Pasifika work programmed in Circa Theatre’s 40-show 2026 season.

A lethal creative force

The ensemble, described as a “lethal creative force”, features Albert Latailakepa, Brett Taefu, Caleb Teaupa, Axel Iva, and Sean Rivera, guided by Invercargill-born creative Seiyan Thompson Tonga.

The group calls themselves “five fearless FOB clowns”, dedicated to pushing the boundaries of traditional performance.

D THINGS N SUCH was born from a desire to challenge the status quo, fusing high-concept theatre with the rapid-fire rhythm of social media culture and the iconic slapstick energy of The Laughing Sāmoans.

Watch The Gentle Boys' full interview below.

“It's like TikTok in the sense that every time you're scrolling through your phone or through your reels, you're coming up across different worlds and different parts of the internet,” Thompson Tonga says in an interview on Island Time.

“It's the same in the theatre sense of like, I would call it a game of tag where the audience is always in. And as actors, while we're on stage, we're always trying to stay ahead of the audience.

“But as soon as we get caught, that's when the game's over and we kind of lose. So it's about 60 minutes of tag really…we have a lot of fun while doing it.”

Creating, discarding, and rebirthing

The performance moves between intense, immersive moments that are felt and then discarded, giving a sense of birth with each new scene.

The actors say that for the audience, it translates to an hour of “stomach-crunching laughter” and total immersion.

“As a collective, we’re very serious at being unserious,” Latailakepa says. “If you want to just come and have a good time and have an easy watch, then yeah, by all means [come].”

Standing as the sole Pacific specific voice in the Jubilee celebrations, D THINGS N SUCH is more than comedy. It’s a declaration about what Aotearoa theatre can become.

In partnering with Circa, The Gentle Boys are showing that the next 50 years will be vibrant, fresh, and unapologetically bold.

“It’s a good platform for us as creators and artists to showcase that it’s doable,” Taefu says. “Hopefully, we can inspire the next generation to get into the arts.”

Circa Theatre. Photo/Wellington City Heritage

Fast facts about Circa

• Circa Theatre was founded in 1976 to challenge the “British dinosaurs” of administration-heavy theatre.

• The iconic waterfront home, opened in 1994, uses the physical facade of the 1916 Westport Coal Company building.

• Unlike most theatres, Circa uses a co-operative model where 70 to 80 per cent of box office income goes directly to the artists.

• There are two theatre spaces, Circa One seats 200, while Circa Two accommodates for 100.

D THINGS N SUCH runs at Circa Two from 13-28 February, excluding Mondays. Tickets are available here.