REVIEW: Te Waka Huia (The Basement)

July 6, 2018

[History Lesion] Excavating history for the purposes of storytelling is a tricky business; a balancing act between telling the truth while being respectful to the real people. The 1963 Brynderwyn bus accident is a particularly sensitive subject, being both from our shores and the not-so-distant past. Playwright (and supporting actor) Naomi Bartley cleverly sidesteps direct commentary on the accident by […]

REVIEW: Maumahara Girlie (The Basement)

July 6, 2018

[A Hopeful Encounter and a Question Mark] Maumahara Girlie is pitch-perfect Matariki programming: a young, wāhine-driven interdisciplinary work unfolding the matrix of what it means to be Māori, disconnected, urban and educated. It is a fiercely contemporary conversation, which should come as no surprise. Writer and first-time director Mya Morrison-Middleton (Kai Tahu) is a sardonic, critical and connected force in the art […]

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