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REVIEW: Emilia (Pop-up Globe)

by Jennifer Cheuk in Highlights

[“Do not take my anger from me!”] Emilia tells the story of Emilia Bassano, one of the first Englishwomen poets and the possible muse behind Shakespeare’s sonnets. However, this is not just a play about Shakespeare’s Emilia. This is a play about Emilia the discriminated poet, Emilia the feminist spirit; Emilia as Emilia.  As soon as the performance begins, I am overwhelmed by the very tangible fact that this has been created by women. This is not a female performance refracted through the male gaze. This is a female story finally told through her words. And you can feel this [...]

STREAMING REVIEW: Change Your Own Life (BATS Theatre)

June 14, 2020
[Potent in Any Medium] Jean Sergent’s solo show returns from Fringe to the stage and your nearest screen. Change Your Own Life is a guide to navigating where the body, immense love, and overwhelming grief intersect.  With the lockdown and social distancing closing theatres and keeping audiences apart since March, transitioning to an online platform has become a popular alternative […]

Dead Bird: Reflections on The Seagull (A New Version by Auckland Theatre Company)

June 10, 2020
During the Covid-19 lockdown, Auckland Theatre Company launched a four episode adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull created within the constraints of social distancing at the time. Using the now widely used Zoom app as its mode of production, it was also set within the world of Zoom too, placing its characters squarely within the circumstances of our global pandemic. […]

STREAMING REVIEW: Butcher Holler Here We Come (Ad Hoc Economy)

April 11, 2020
[Coming to (home) theatres] American theatre company Ad Hoc Economy was due to play Wellington’s BATS Theatre in the final week of the NZ Fringe before travelling on to the Dunedin Fringe, but performances were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company filmed scenes from the show while at BATS, which has been spliced with scenes recorded by individual […]

When the Show Doesn’t Go On

March 19, 2020
When people ask me what I’m into, I struggle to list anything beyond “theatre.” I’m a theatre obsessive. A tragic. I decided long ago to make it a core part of my identity, and I’ve stubbornly stuck to that pact ever since. In those moments when I take a hard look at my relationship with theatre, wondering if it would […]

SCENE BY NATHAN: Auckland Pride and Fringe 2020

March 17, 2020
Community Makeovers LOUD AND PROUD 2020 marks my first Pride and Fringe in Tāmaki Makaurau not as a resident but as a mere visitor. Both events also took on new directors and new directions as they entered the new decade. While I still find myself deeply invested in the arts ecology of the city, and undoubtedly see my future here, […]

REVIEW: Black Lover (Auckland Theatre Company)

March 16, 2020
[A Kiwi Hero in Zimbabwe] When Sir Garfield Todd denounced racial injustice in 1950s Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), he was fiercely hated by supporters of white minority rule. Among the pejoratives they called him was “black lover”. Stanley Makuwe’s Black Lover is an illuminating glimpse into an overlooked chapter of history: a remarkable chapter which saw the Invercargill-born Todd become Prime Minister of […]

REVIEW: The Book of Mormon (The Civic)

March 14, 2020
Hasa Diga Eebowai The Book of Mormon is a deliciously devilish critique belief and human frailty in our world today. The story follows two Latter-day Saints missionaries as they attempt to convert the inhabitants of a remote Ugandan village to the “true faith”. The well-meaning, and somewhat earnest young men are challenged by a lack of interest from the locals, who are preoccupied by […]

REVIEW: Essays in Love (Basement Theatre)

March 14, 2020
[What the Heart Knows] I’ll admit it: I’m a hopeless romantic.  It’s a quality I share with Otto (Leon Wadham), the protagonist of Essays in Love, though we differ in our preferred outlets for romantic escapism: me, a never-ending catalogue of romantic comedies; Otto, the writings of history’s most erudite philosophers.  We first meet Otto before the house lights have […]

REVIEW: Limbo Unhinged (Auckland Arts Festival)

March 14, 2020
[Unhinged Limbs] Billed as circus-cabaret, Limbo Unhinged offers terrifying spectacles and exhilarating feats of strength and physical control. A mixture of dance, clowning, and acrobatics (including fire breathing and sword swallowing), combined with live music, the show has much to offer. The Auckland Art’s Festival Spiegeltent which pops up in Aotea Square provides the perfect venue for this display. Rich […]

REVIEW: Black Ties (Auckland Arts Festival)

March 13, 2020
[Tied by Bonds of Love] Co-created by ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and Te Rēhia Theatre Company, Black Ties is a heartfelt exploration of what happens when two First Nation cultures collide.   Written by John Harvey and Tainui Tukiwaho (co-director and ‘Robert’), the narrative comedy drama is expertly brought to life by an experienced cast under the guidance of Rachael Maza, award-winning […]

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For reviews of theatre playing elsewhere in New Zealand, go to Theatreview.org.nz 

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