REVIEW: Educating Rita (Newmarket Stage Company)

August 30, 2012

A Lesson onstage [by Matt Baker] The play was written by Willy Russell and premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 1980. In 1983, Russell wrote the screenplay for the film that would go on to win Best Picture, Best Actor (Michael Caine), and Best Actress (Julie Walters) at the BAFTA Awards. A remake was proposed with Denzel Washington and Halle […]

REVIEW: Drowning in Veronica Lake (Q Season)

August 30, 2012

The Fame Monster [by James Wenley] There’s commentary within this show about the difference between celebrity and stardom. Celebrity is flash in the pan stuff. Stardom is enduring. You counted. People remember. Movie femme fatale Veronica Lake has the ingredients for stardom – a troubled back-story, ambition, a face that lights up the screens. She was very much a screen […]

REVIEW: The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later (The Basement)

August 29, 2012

Aged Perfectly [by Matt Baker] How do you measure change? This is one of the questions that drove the Tectonic Theater Project to revisit the town of Laramie, Wyoming, ten years after their incredibly successful theatrical project. It is an important question, especially regarding the content of the play, and after seeing Alacrity Productions and The Moving Theatre Company’s version […]

REVIEW: Taro King (Kila Kokonut Krew)

August 21, 2012

KKK still Kings [by Sharu Delilkan] There was almost a carnival atmosphere when entering the Mangere Arts Centre, a setting befitting the Kila Kokonut Krew’s 10th year anniversary celebrations featuring the production that put the company on the map, Taro King. Unfortunately I don’t have the benefit of being able to compare it with the first time it was staged. […]

REVIEW: The Pride (Silo)

August 14, 2012

What DOES it mean to be gay? [by Rosabel Tan] You want a play to change you. You want it to take you by surprise, to delight you, to hurt you. You want it to whisper in your ear three days later when you’re trying to focus during a staff meeting about strategy and best practice. You want it to […]

PREVIEW: The Pride (Silo)

August 8, 2012

A matter of pride [by Sharu Delilkan] A heterosexual woman at the helm of a thrilling contemporary narrative predominantly focussed on the gay issues could have been a point of concern. But nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Sophie Roberts‘ role as director for The Pride. Her history of working on productions with gay themes […]

PREVIEW: Renee Lyons and The Triumphants

August 7, 2012

Nick Inspires [by James Wenley] “He can’t walk or talk but he pushes weights at the gym that would have me in a crumpled heap crying for my mama if I so much as attempted it!” Auckland actor Renee Lyons (Joseph & Mahina) was all set to do a one woman solo show. She’d got funding (big tick!), had been working […]

EXCLUSIVE REVIEW: Sleepover, Next Big Thing Festival (ATC)

August 2, 2012

The show that sent me to Sleep [by James Wenley] Did you hear about the show where a woman had an affair with a cake and all the audience members were dressed in their Pyjamas? If you didn’t, there’s a very good reason. SLEEPOVER was the most mysterious, and the most exclusive event of Auckland Theatre Company’s recent Next Big […]