Work was more fun than a barrel of monkeys yesterday, when acrobats and circus performers took over the Allied Press building.
Some unkind souls might suggest it was just another day at the office.
Skye Broberg and twins Jola and Nele Siezen from The Butler went on an impromptu tour of the building, to the astonishment of several colleagues.
One senior editorial staff member got the fright of his life when the lift doors opened to reveal the scantily-clad performers waiting.
"Crikey, you're not coming in here," he exclaimed.
And he promptly closed the doors on the women and continued on his way.
The Butler writer, columnist Joe Bennett, told me the play included dramatic circus elements: "The Butler is spectacular.
The cast do physical stunts that make the audience gasp.
At the same time, it's a satire full of rich comedy, much of it dark."
The play was created to parade circus arts and is a butler's perspective of a dinner party as the evening degenerates into primal desire and farce.
"The gulf between the brittle exuberance of the dinner guests and the deep, world-weary cynicism of the butler who runs the dinner party is a fertile gulf," Bennett said.
The Lyttelton-based writer says he always enjoys visiting Dunedin.
"The people I've met there have been warm and generous.
No doubt there's the usual sprinkling of rats, but I've not met them," he mused.
"I like the 19th century public and commercial buildings founded on gold money and a Presbyterian work ethic.
Nothing flamboyant about them, but they exude a sturdy self-confidence.
"If I moved there I think I'd buy on the peninsula.
It's only a mile or two from the city centre, but the southern side, in particular, is as wild as Stewart Island.
"Penguins, seals and gulls screaming on the wind."
Dunedin-choreographer Louise Potiki-Bryant's Taonga: Dust, Water, Wind has its Dunedin premier tonight.
The contemporary Maori dance and music work tells the true story of Potiki-Bryant's 84-year-old Auntie Rona, who has lived all her life at Kaka Point.
There was standing room only at the St Paul's at One concert for the Montreal Guitar Trio yesterday, leaving many patrons without a seat for the hour-long concert.
The final concert at 1pm today features jazz pianist Mike Nock.
Get there early if you want a seat.
I went to Antal Szalai and his amazing gypsy orchestra at the Regent Theatre last night.
The troupe was founded in 1969 and is considered the best traditional gypsy band in the world.
An unexpected highlight of the concert was a string of solos on old Hungarian instruments.
