REVIEW: Power Ballad (Zanetti Productions)

June 13, 2017

[Charged Space] For those that have seen Julia Croft in If There’s Not Dancing in the Revolution, Then I’m Not Coming, you can think of Power Ballad as its angrier, less-forgiving sister.  Back again after its season in the Auckland Fringe (reviewed by Nathan Joe), Power Ballad is fundraising to go all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe. It is intentionally difficult to […]

REVIEW: Jane Doe (Zanetti Productions)

June 12, 2017

[Be Heard] Eleanor Bishop attended Carnegie Mellon University in America during the ever-growing focus on rape culture. Jane Doe began out of the confusion and anger that Bishop and her peers experienced. Since then, the show has toured campuses in America and grown accordingly with new material and new performers. The Auckland show is tailored specifically for Karen McCracken, and […]

REVIEW: Million Dollar Quartet (The Civic)

June 11, 2017

[Rock ‘n’ Roll Avengers] There’s a bit of scuttlebutt as to what happened when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins got together in Memphis at Sun Records on December 4, 1956 for an impromptu jam session (that, after years of legal wrangling, became an album in 1981). Cash is said to have only turned up for the […]

REVIEW: Jingles the Musical (The Basement)

June 7, 2017

[Take me back to the Rainbow] Perhaps you, like I was, are skeptical about a musical making a plot entirely around advertising jingles. You resent the marketing inception, you loathe the Pavlovian ear-worms that had burrowed deeper and deeper during endless commercial breaks, the very sound of which will have you craving McDonalds for breakfast, or make you smash your […]

REVIEW: The Faustus Project (The Basement)

May 31, 2017

[Hell is Other People] Everybody knows the story of Faust. Smart guy wants to gain more power, conjures the devil, sells his soul and takes too long to understand his folly. It’s been replayed endlessly, from the original Christopher Marlowe play, through The Devil and Daniel Webster, Frankenstein, and the Al Pacino scream-athon The Devil’s Advocate. It’s a story that […]

REVIEW: Nigel (Sapphire Theatre Co)

May 26, 2017

[90s Nostalgia] TV script writer Kate McDermott’s 90’s slapstick play Nigel is brought to life at the Pumphouse Theatre by ex Shortland Street star Blair Strang in his directorial debut. Transported back to the booming 90s we follow Nigel, a young man whose attempts for a romantic evening at home don’t go to the plan. Ben Van Lier portrays dorky […]

REVIEW: Three by Ekman (Royal New Zealand Ballet)

May 25, 2017

[Three’s a Charm] Three by Ekman is bold programming from the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and an indication of the importance of bringing international works of significance to our national ballet company. A prolific powerhouse in the dance world, Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman’s work is both popular and accessible. First up, Tuplet; a work for six dancers introducing the audience […]

REVIEW: Ashton Brown: Anxious to Meet You (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 22, 2017

[Cracking Up] Over the last couple of years, I have seen Ashton Brown perform twice as part of double bills. I can safely say that this is the best I’ve ever seen him. A combination of self-flaggelating autobiography and stand up, Anxious to meet you sees Brown tackle his biggest, most complex subject: himself. Over the course of an hour he […]

REVIEW: Chris Martin: Ol Smarty Pants (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 16, 2017

[Chris Martin:  Warmplay] A nice touch having Chris Martin on stage as we arrive – chatting to people and generally being chilled and unpretentious. And a nice show too – about nice things like getting married and waterparks as well as nice parts of New Zealand.  Likewise the audience was nice – polite, not too drunk, attentive and suitable ‘laughy’. […]

REVIEW: Amadeus (Auckland Theatre Company)

May 15, 2017

[Mozart Lives] Peter Shaffer’s award-winning play Amadeus is not new to either stage or screen, having first been performed in 1979 and later adapted into a film in 1984. Don’t expect a period drama in Auckland Theatre Company’s production; Director Oliver Driver gives the play a new life, adding a modern contemporary twist when resurrecting Mozart’s music. It’s essentially a […]

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