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SCENE BY JAMES: Resonance and the New Zealand Fringe, Wellington 2019

by James Wenley in Scene by James

[On the Fringe: Shifting and Singing] Content Notification: Discussion of the Christchurch terror attack, sexual violence, and suicide. But also hope, and joy, and singing, and the rejuvenating potential of performance. Can you take the pulse of a city through the shows performed on its Fringe? Can you judge the heart of a Festival by the visitors who have come to play? Can you take stock of the world via the canary call of the artists who have something to say? Pōneke. This is my new home. Wellington’s New Zealand Fringe Arts Festival – that’s my Fringe now. People tell [...]

REVIEW: The Audience (Auckland Theatre Company)

May 21, 2019
[God Save the Queen] Speaking to our fascination with what happens behind closed doors with one of the world’s most public figures, The Audience imagines and recreates Queen Elizabeth II’s weekly twenty-minute meetings with her Prime Ministers.  Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Colin McColl, The Audience spans a timeframe of over six decades, beginning with the Queen’s meetings […]

REVIEW: The Mournmoor Murders (NZ International Comedy Festvial)

May 17, 2019
[Missing Bodies] Created by Alice May Connolly and Maria Williams, The Mournmoor Murders is an ensemble murder mystery set in a small town in which everyone is a suspect. The hook is that this show is a two-hander in which Connolly and Williams play every role – from the cops investigating the case, through the mayor who becomes the chief suspect, to […]

CHRISTCHURCH REVIEW: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (The Court Theatre)

May 16, 2019
[The New Every(wo)man] The legacy of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch is one of modest beginnings, with Mitchell playing the title character Off-Broadway back in 1998. That it went on to become a cult film and subsequently a Broadway and international success is a testament to the quality and originality of its material. Even […]

PREVIEW: NZ International Comedy Festival: Week Two

May 14, 2019
Matt Baker’s back with highlights from week one of the Comedy Festival and his picks for week two Week one of the 2019 NZ International Comedy Fest saw winner of the 2018 Auckland Theatre Excellence Award-winner Leon Wadham follow up his debut hit Giddy, with Funk, an absurd literal and metaphorical journey of self-discovery, which once again blew audiences away. […]

REVIEW: Bach to Bowie 2019 (Complexions Contemporary Ballet)

May 11, 2019
[Let’s Dance] Created by Artistic Directors Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, New York-based Complexions Contemporary Ballet celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2019. The company is clear about its vision for dance-making; “…reinventing dance through a ground-breaking mix of methods, styles and cultures…” and challenging traditions and conventions while maintaining technical excellence. Their first visit to New Zealand since 2010, CCB […]

REVIEW: NZ International Comedy Festival Preview Week

May 7, 2019
Matt Baker reports on the early highlights from this year’s Comedy Festival If the Best Foods Comedy Gala is any indication of what the year has to offer, 2019 looks to be a great year for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Winner of the 2018 Best International Guest, Rhys Nicholson is the perfect host for the two-and-half hour plus […]

REVIEW: The Gangster’s Paradise (ATC Here & Now Festival)

April 29, 2019
[A New Turf] A bass beat plays and a rap song booms through the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Young actors dressed in school uniform rip up the stage with a hip hop number, battling it out in a Stomp the Yard set. Half of the students wear red bandanas and the other half wear blue bandanas with coloured shirts under their […]

REVIEW: 8 Reasonable Demands (ATC Here & Now Festival)

April 27, 2019
A sobering look at the underbelly of Auckland’s queer community In 8 Reasonable Demands, playwright Joni Nelson asks the audience to consider the extent to which we take fundamental living standards for granted. At the ASB Waterfront Theatre, six characters find their lives upended by a life-changing decision to hold the government to ransom using leverage acquired by the use […]

REVIEW: Watch Party (ATC Here & Now Festival)

April 27, 2019
[It is Watch Party my dudes] I hold the ATC ‘youth’ shows in high regard, attending in the past primarily to take a sneak-peek at the hot new talent rising within the ranks of the Auckland theatre scene. I also have a soft spot for devised theatre and the inclusive platform this type of theatre making can offer to a […]

WELLINGTON REVIEW: This Long Winter (BATS Theatre)

April 14, 2019
[Break the Cycle] James Wenley reviews Sarah Delahunty’s latest play This Long Winter, which issues a renewed challenge for how we do Shakespeare in this country, and whether we should be doing some of his plays at all. Here’s one version of the tale: a pregnant woman is falsely accused by her husband of being unfaithful. She remains dignified, even when […]

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