An evening with Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn… and you? [by James Wenley] You probably know Mandy Patinkin, current star of Homeland, and Inigo “You killed my father” Montoya in cult hit The Princess Bride (which incidentally has just been announced is being turned into a stage musical!). True Musical Theatre fans will know that Mandy is a phenomenal Broadway performer […]
Twenty Years Later [by James Wenley] “New generations of actors and directors keep theatre alive” says NZ Theatre legend Miranda Harcourt, who toured New Zealand prisons with Verbatim, about a home invasion that ends with a murder, in the early 1990s . Miranda had been studying drama therapy in London and returned to New Zealand to create a project with the women […]
Vaudevillian tease [by Sharu Delilkan] TAPAC appears to have had a penchant for cabaret and burlesque shows in recent years and we’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed many an entertaining evening there. So naturally we were curious to see what Lilly Loca’s Vaudeville Cabaret Voix de Ville could offer that was new, exciting and sexy. The show began in a […]
Acting on the Camino Real [by James Wenley] At the Camino Real, to borrow from The Eagles, you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave. To mark the public debut of the second crop of actors from the industry-geared The Actors’ Program, Benjamin Henson directs them in arguably Tennessee Williams’ most experimental and misunderstood work: […]
Give ‘em the old tit-ill-ation [by James Wenley] If you think you know Chicago, leave your expectations at the theatre door. The stockings haven’t just been rolled down, they’ve been ripped completely off in this down and dirty, hyper-sexualised re-imagining of the Kander and Ebb musical from the warped mind of virtuoso Michael Hurst. There’s jazz, and a whole lot […]
Suicide isn’t painless [by Sharu Delilkan] Another Dead Fag epitomises the essence of The Basement’s ethos. In this case it was not only about appreciating young playwright Sam Brooks’ uncanny ability to write insightful modern day dialogue, but it was about seeing some of the actors who also work at The Basement performing superbly on stage. Dan Veint (Seb) shines […]
[by James Wenley] PICK ONE: Another Dead Fag Who wrote it? Sam Brooks, wrapping up a strong year with his third play at The Basement this year, following And I was Like and Queen. Who’s in it? Chris Parker, Lauren Gibson, Dan Veint and Jordan Blaikie. Zinnie Selwyn directs. What’s it about? “Another Dead Fag is a story of gay teen suicide. […]
And they play guitar too [by James Wenley] They begin with a bold conviction: “Love will break your heart”. It’s an idea – and lyric –that Midsummer repeatedly returns to, as the play’s lovers wistfully sing the phrase over their own spare guitar accompaniment. At the first this seems awfully unsentimental, but there’s something awfully romanticised about this idea too, […]
The Artist’s Muse [by James Wenley] For artists Einar and Gerda Wegener, 1920s bohemian Paris represents “exciting times”. War is over, cinema is changing the world, and in these enlightened times there is the sense that you can be whoever you want. Gerda (Alex Ellis), the portrait artist, is the “modern woman in trousers”, rejecting her gender’s traditional role; Einar […]
Shallow Beauty [by James Wenley] The Basement Studio feels roomier than normal; with seating pushed into the corner, we gaze out on a backyard bordered with rows of white sheets on a washing line, images of flowers delicately projected over them. There are more flowers of various hues in buckets on the Astroturf lawn that completely envelops the ground. Lying […]
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