REVIEW: Prehistoria (Auckland Fringe)

February 26, 2015

Evolutionary [by Matt Baker] From its opening narration by ever-funny anti-wordsmith Nic Sampson, to its audience-participatory ending, Prehistoria engages a variety of theatrical conventions and a hilarious narrative, offering its patrons a gorgeous comedic gem for the 2015 Fringe Festival. It’s a story we all know. Girl meets dinosaur, girl meets boy, dinosaur loses girl, girl loses boy, dinosaur gets girl, […]

REVIEW: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (AUSA Outdoor Summer Shakespeare)

February 26, 2015

A strong and vital theme [by James Wenley] British Shakespeare great Simon Russell Beale (who toured here as Leontes in The Winter’s Tale alongside Ethan Hawke) was recently quoted in The Observer arguing that it is fine to take liberties with Shakespeare. “You can do what you like with it – as long as you make coherent, emotional sense… I see […]

REVIEW: Wanted Thoughts (Auckland Fringe)

February 26, 2015

Left Wanting [by Guest Reviewer Lauren Owens] Mike Loder was dealing out the comedy this Tuesday at his late-night show, Wanted Thoughts.  Not many people dared to brave the 9pm start, but those who did were committed to laugh. The enticing title, Wanted Thoughts, was a warning of what was to come as Mike delivered his insights on the changing world […]

Auckland Fringe 2015: Week Three Schedule and Daily Picks

February 23, 2015

One last gulp [by James Wenley] Well the Auckland Fringe website have updated their daily schedule once again and it looks much better, but there’s still one thing it lacks – a link to buy the all important tickets!! Never fear Fringe Fans, we have everything listed here. Make sure you don’t get Fringe regret – choose some shows and get […]

REVIEW: The Dummy (Auckland Fringe)

February 22, 2015

Negative Comment [by Guest Reviewer Tim George] The line between provocation and exploitation is blurred in this multi-media examination of young woman’s spiral from depression to suicide. The Dummy combines live actors and back-projections of Facebook profiles and news footage and crams a lot of big ideas into its short running time. So many in fact that it never takes the […]

REVIEW: The Memory Shelf (Auckland Fringe)

February 21, 2015

Tearoom Reflections [by Guest Reviewer Amanda Leo] Sitting at just 45 minutes, The Memory Shelf has all the potential for a great, short fringe piece whose message goes a little deeper than for just pure entertainment. Written and performed by duo Amelia Reynolds and Saraid Cameron with direction by Renee Lyons, it focuses on the happenings in a tearoom in small-town […]

REVIEW: Take Back the Hood (Auckland Fringe)

February 21, 2015

Back to the Hood [by Guest Reviewer Tim George] At its core, a good story, whatever the medium, gives its audience a question that it will hopefully provide an answer for by the resolution. Take The Godfather. Can a man separate himself from his past and his family, or is he destined to fail? The journey from question to answer is what […]

REVIEW: Keep out of my Box (and other useful advice) (Auckland Fringe)

February 20, 2015

Here’s some free advice for you [by Matt Baker] Spend enough time at The Basement and you’ll get to know the staff there. Spend even more time and you’ll find that some of them have talents beyond your expectations. Such is the case with box office manager and actress Torum Heng. I’ve seen Heng on stage before, but it wasn’t until […]

REVIEW: Caterpillars (Auckland Fringe)

February 20, 2015

Comedy Metamorphosis [by Guest Reviewer Tim George] Caterpillars is a story with two tales. On one level, it is meant to be an imaginative, artistic, and yes, somewhat pretentious art piece evoking the life cycle of a butterfly through a combination of puppetry and music. On another level it is the story of how two hapless puppeteers can completely screw it […]

REVIEW: Night of the Queer (TAPAC)

February 19, 2015

Queer As! [by Sharu Delilkan] Night of the Queer has all the elements of a typical Cabaret – music, song, dance, recitation and drama. However there is nothing typical about it. Everyone from the emcees Lola la Bomb and Kita Mean to the acts in between make you realise that queer is the new norm and anything else is just […]

1 2 3