REVIEW: Len Lye the opera

September 12, 2012

Len me your ears!! [by Sharu Delilkan] I’m always a sucker for a live band or in this case orchestra on stage. I realise that it comes with its own set of technical difficulties but being a live music fiend seeing them on stage the minute I entered the theatre made me smile. And of course it would be remiss […]

REVIEW: Private Lives (Silo)

September 12, 2012

My love-hate relationship with Silo’s Private Lives [by James Wenley] Consider this plot: A newly remarried man about town books into a hotel room for his honeymoon only to discover that his ex-wife has booked the very next room for her own honeymoon. Will old sparks be reflamed? And what about their new partners? Hijinks and hilarity ensue. Sure sounds […]

REVIEW: Goddess and Mab’s Room Double Bill (Basement Studio)

September 5, 2012

New Voice, Amplified   [by James Wenley] Playwright Sam Brooks’ work concerns itself with identity, the mechanics of interaction, and an intense focus on what pulls people together… and apart. In the spirit of ‘get up and do it’, Brooks, a graduate of Unitec’s Writers course and winner of Playmarket’s Playwrights b4 25 Award, has produced a double bill at The Basement […]

Help crowdfund The Keepers

September 4, 2012

I’ve just pledged towards ‘The Keepers’, one of my favourite shows at The Basement Theatre last year. Created by a quartet of talented ladies – Julia Croft, Veronica Brady, Claire Cowan and Theresa Hanaray aka Thread Theatre – it was an especially exciting show for me because it was so different to our normal theatre fare – experimenting with movement, music and non-verbal […]

REVIEW: Beautiful Losers (TAPAC)

September 2, 2012

The Coming and Going of Age [by Matt Baker] As soon as I entered the TAPAC theatre I was struck the realisation that I had seen Beautiful Losers nearly 10 years earlier when it premiered at the Silo Theatre with Ian Hughes and Scott Wills. Wills is reprising his role as Neal Cassady… And 10 years is a long time. […]

Welcome Matt Baker!

September 2, 2012

You might have noticed a new name appearing to the right of the reviews this week: Matt Baker. With the relentless pace of Auckland Theatre (January really is our only ‘quiet’ period these days), and the number of shows our small and busy team were having to turn down for coverage, Mr Baker has been invited to offer his critical […]

REVIEW: Educating Rita (Newmarket Stage Company)

August 30, 2012

A Lesson onstage [by Matt Baker] The play was written by Willy Russell and premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 1980. In 1983, Russell wrote the screenplay for the film that would go on to win Best Picture, Best Actor (Michael Caine), and Best Actress (Julie Walters) at the BAFTA Awards. A remake was proposed with Denzel Washington and Halle […]

REVIEW: Drowning in Veronica Lake (Q Season)

August 30, 2012

The Fame Monster [by James Wenley] There’s commentary within this show about the difference between celebrity and stardom. Celebrity is flash in the pan stuff. Stardom is enduring. You counted. People remember. Movie femme fatale Veronica Lake has the ingredients for stardom – a troubled back-story, ambition, a face that lights up the screens. She was very much a screen […]

REVIEW: The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later (The Basement)

August 29, 2012

Aged Perfectly [by Matt Baker] How do you measure change? This is one of the questions that drove the Tectonic Theater Project to revisit the town of Laramie, Wyoming, ten years after their incredibly successful theatrical project. It is an important question, especially regarding the content of the play, and after seeing Alacrity Productions and The Moving Theatre Company’s version […]

REVIEW: Taro King (Kila Kokonut Krew)

August 21, 2012

KKK still Kings [by Sharu Delilkan] There was almost a carnival atmosphere when entering the Mangere Arts Centre, a setting befitting the Kila Kokonut Krew’s 10th year anniversary celebrations featuring the production that put the company on the map, Taro King. Unfortunately I don’t have the benefit of being able to compare it with the first time it was staged. […]

1 115 116 117 118 119 137