At the beginning of this show, pastries and espresso were offered round by Barnie Duncan, in character as runaway Italian soldier Salvatore.
As well as warming up the crowd of about 100 in the Settlers Festival Theatre, this gesture helped to set the the scene for Strange Resting Places: Monte Cassino, Italy, 1944, wartime.
To the 28th Maori Battalion which is stationed there, the monte is known as Maunga Cassino.
From that battalion's camp one night sneaks Anaru, of Ngati Porou, to nick a hen from a nearby barn for food.
(The soldiers in this play seem to be always hungry and trying to steal food, the importance of which thus becomes a theme.) In the barn, Anaru (Maaka Pohatu) meets Salvatore, who is in hiding.
A bit of a stand-off ensues and several languages go flying ineffectually about the enclosure.
But when a German comes knocking on the barn door, these uneasy allies must bond together to survive.
We then follow their friendship, and learn the tributary stories of Salvatore's wife and son, and the war romance of Anaru's soldier cousin, Hemara (Rob Mokaraka).
The script, by Mokaraka and Paolo Rotondo, contains great humour that frequently makes light of the cultural differences experienced by the disparate groups lumped together in World War 2.
Salvatore, for example, is puzzled to learn that back home, Anaru has about 150 sheep.
"How do you milk 150 sheep?" he asks, for his use for ewes is making Pecorino cheese.
In his turn, Anaru is appalled.
"You see a sheep, you take the wool off and then you eat it . . .
''No wonder you're so bloody small, you don't eat the sheep!"
And the performances by all three actors are terrific.
Each plays various characters, some naturalistic in style and requiring pathos, and others, such as a hilarious hen by Mokaraka, much more impressionistic.
Whatever the demand last night, be it singing or slapstick theatre, these guys rose to the challenge.
Props are used ingeniously, such as poi being transformed into the rotating propeller of a bomber, and a grey blanket being chucked over a crate to evoke Monte Cassino itself.
But perhaps the best use of props was when garlic and rosemary infused oil, prepared during the performance, was served to the audience with bread at the end.
Ka pai.
