WELLINGTON REVIEW: Transmission (BATS Theatre)

April 23, 2021

[Holding Leaders to Account] April 20, 2021: An Air New Zealand cleaner tests positive for Covid-19, despite being fully vaccinated. Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker calls for an elimination strategy to be pursued against poverty-driven health conditions. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attends the premiere of Transmission at BATS Theatre. While the 1918 Influenza pandemic shattered families and social life, ultimately infecting […]

REVIEW: The Downs & Ups of Peep & Squeak (Basement Theatre)

April 21, 2021

[With a Little Imagination…] In a large house on planet Earth(?) siblings Peep (Ravi Gurunathan) and Squeak (Katie Longbottom) get ready to step out into the big wide world in a hot air balloon. But then a mysterious dark creature kidnaps Peep and leaves him on a desert planet millions of miles away. While Squeak goes on a trek to […]

REVIEW: Jersey Boys (G & T Productions)

April 21, 2021

[Oh What a Night] Oh what a night indeed… the Jersey Boys are in town and are hell bent on giving us an all-singing all-dancing extravaganza at the Civic. Deftly covering their unscrupulous upbringing and overlapping life events, Jersey Boys is narrated from each members’ unique perspective. To quote one of the Four Season’s Tommy DeVito, “…You ask four guys, you get […]

REVIEW: Over my Dead Body: Uninvited (Tuatara Collective)

April 19, 2021

[Rainbow Visions] Having seen the last Tuatara Collective production Fresh Choice, I enter the Q loft with high expectations for a remount of the 2019 play by Jason Te Mete. The intriguing ‘front room’ set – tatty brown sofas, and wall adorned with a Justin Bieber poster – makes me feel as if I’m a guest at a twenty-something’s house-party, […]

REVIEW: Contractions (Auckland Fringe)

April 19, 2021

[Managed Out] Clad in a white power suit and silk blouse, The Manager (Renaye Tamati) sits on a large, white leather computer chair at a glass desk. Plucky sales employee Emma enters and, at first, The Manager’s intentions are ambiguous. Flipflopping between friendly banter and withering stares, it seems The Manager wants to be more ‘friend’ than colleague –  or perhaps […]

REVIEW: First World Problems 3.0 (Basement Theatre)

April 18, 2021

[Healing Together, Beyond Our Problems] As I arrive into the Basement foyer and navigate past the throng of bodies to collect my tickets, I feel instantly uplifted. Surrounded by so many members the South Asian community, we are lucky to be able to gather and witness the premiere of new homegrown writing. Yet I can’t help but feel a pang […]

REVIEW: Godzonia (Auckland Fringe)

April 17, 2021

[No place I’d rather be] A play about the Covid-19 pandemic that was itself postponed due to the February 2021 lockdown, Godzonia‘s delayed season manages to reframe what could have been a dead-end for the production.  Written by UK actor and writer Georgie Oulton, the production takes inspiration from Flares and Pitchforks – a text co-written by Oulton with fellow actor […]

REVIEW: Change Your Own Life (Basement Theatre)

April 14, 2021

[The Wheel of Fortune] How do you want to be remembered when you’re gone? This is one of the central questions in Jean Sergent’s Change Your Own Life – one which she directly asks the audience. But this show is not a didactic self-help talk – far from it. What Sergent offers up instead is a deeply personal story of […]

REVIEW: Meremere (Tour-Makers)

April 13, 2021

[This Beautiful Thing] Kicking off in Auckland and touring New Zealand for the third time since its inception in 2016, Meremere is an autobiographical multimedia dance work showcasing the inspirational life journey of Rodney Bell. Directed by Malia Johnston and created and performed as a solo by Bell himself, the audience follow his journey from leaving Aotearoa after the death […]

REVIEW: Faith Healer (Plumb Productions)

April 12, 2021

[Irish Blessing] This production of Faith Healer, directed by Paul Gittins, marries a masterpiece of playwriting with the mastery of three accomplished actors.   I have read enough works from Irish playwrights to associate Irish drama with cloying hopelessness (looking at you Marina Carr in particular). I briefly hoped, though, that Faith Healer by Brian Friel would be an exception. I had […]

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