Playfight Productions Presents ...Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato by Florence Hartigan
Following its sold out season at the 2024 Auckland Fringe Festival, Ponsonby local Florence Hartigan (Madam, Shortland Street) is bringing her award-winning, one-woman Y2K comedy to the NZ International Comedy Festival.
Set in 1999, Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato is a nostalgic journey through the era of Britney Spears, cell phones the size of bricks and jeans that only look good on a person with the lower torso of a 12 year old boy. It tells the story of 17-year-old Rachel, whose goal in life is to ring in the year 2000 on a beach with her friends/love interest. So when her mother insists she greet Y2K in an apocalypse bunker her father’s built in their front garden, Rachel seeks counsel from the only rational adult she can think of, beloved children’s entertainer Suzy Cato.
Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato is a hilarious exploration of the chaos that is growing up - tapping into Florence’s own experience as a Y2K teen navigating a world full of contradictions—complicated family dynamics, soul-crushing self-doubt, and a wardrobe full of butterfly clips and belly shirts. The show is written and performed by Florence, in a production that earned her the award for “Outstanding Performance by an Individual” at the Auckland Fringe Festival in 2024.
A huge inspiration for the show was Florence’s real-life encounter with Suzy Cato during her time as a writer for Woman’s Day. In her research for an article on Suzy, Florence discovered that Suzy used to get a lot of letters from children asking for advice. Interviewing her, Florence could see why. “Talking to Suzy, hearing that voice, immediately took me back to my younger self.” Florence reminisces. “Suzy was such a big part of childhood for kids of my generation - she radiates kindness. At one point during the interview she found out I used to watch her show as a kid - and then she actually sang to me. I of course immediately cried.”
With the Y2K aesthetic having a cultural moment as hot as Kendrick’s bootlegs at the Superbowl, Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato offers a chance to laugh, reminisce, and maybe even shed a tear or two while looking back fondly on an era that shaped/damaged/grew a generation.
About Florence: When she’s not fretting about the apocalypse, Florence can be seen acting alongside Rachel Griffiths in the internationally award-winning TV comedy Madam, (which aired on Three and Three Now in New Zealand, and just launched in Australia on Channel 9) as well as staring in the US feature film Phoenix
Forgotten, produced by Ridley Scott. Florence is also a staff writer at Shortland Street, and wrote the first episode of the 2025 Season, ‘New Blood’.
WINNER, Outstanding Performance by an Individual – Auckland Fringe Festival
“Look for this show if it ever comes to your town! So funny, so relatable, so gorgeous.” – Suzy Cato
★★★★ –HuggingComedians,Australia
“An impressive acting feat...she never misses a beat.” – Tinsel and Tap Shoes, Australia
“A hilariously sweet and surprisingly affecting journey of adolescence that sneaks up on you like Y2K itself. Highly original and funny as.” – Josh Thomson
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Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato – Florence Hartigan Auckland
Dates: Thursay 8 – Saturday 10 May, 8.30pm
Venue: Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, 50 Mayoral Drive Tickets: $30 – $35
Bookings: aucklandlive.co.nz // 0800 111 999
Photo: New Lynn Photos
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