Ran Away [by Matt Baker] Accolades are a great way of publicising a show, and if you’re looking for a comedy, “written by 2015 Billy T Winner Hamish Parkinson” seems like a sure-fire bet. Parkinson has a genuinely unique comedic talent, which defies definition, but the trouble with Fun Run is that, as a play, it requires some sort of central […]
Swing when you’re winning [by James Wenley] They’ve got all the moves and turned up the Irish Charm to full for Swing, an affectionate two-step from Ireland’s Fishamble about how dance can help nudge your life in the right direction. You’ve seen this story many times before. Two strangers meet at dance class and develop a connection (a local example would […]
[by James Wenley] It’s started to bother me that the promoters of Short+Sweet are still running with the line that if you don’t enjoy one play, it’s okay, the next is just 10 minutes away. The subtext for potential ticket buyers is that some of the plays will be a bit shit. Short+Sweet Theatre has been going in Auckland for […]
“What are stories, but mystery boxes?” [by James Wenley] It was at 1:37am that I had a lightbulb moment about this play. I couldn’t sleep – my mind was too busy deconstructing what I had seen and thinking about what I was going to write. Usually, I can put a play away for the night and come back to it the […]
Lord “Comedy” Rutherford [by James Wenley] Lord Ernest Rutherford hasn’t had his due. No emotional biopic, no sharable internet meme. Sure his face is on our $100 bill, but how many of us have that sort of denomination in our wallets? Father of the nuclear age, but his recognition has been as tiny as the atom he split. No, he hasn’t […]
The National Bank horse is back. And she’s pissed. [by Tim George] A multimedia piece about a woman’s battle with depression, The Black comes with a terrific pedigree. Written by and starring Josephine Stewart-Tewhiu, and directed by the impressively prolific Tom Sainsbury, it is a well-produced piece with ambition to spare in its use of back-projected images and animations. There is a warm, […]
Bon Mot Attack [by Matt Baker] At face value, Heroes is not a great play. There is cause for drama, but, like the three characters themselves, it never goes anywhere. There is nothing inherently theatrical about it, its Britishdryness, as implied by the original playwright Gérald Sibleyras himself, being far more suited to a BBC or ITV series. However, three veterans […]
Asking the Unanswerable [by Matt Baker] When we hear reports of mass shootings, we can recognise the actions of, in the case of the forcibly nameless Anders Behring Breivik, a complete stranger in “human” terms. Tragedy without character is comprehensible, but it remains impersonal, however empathetic one may be. So how do we understand beyond the ‘what’ without character motivation? How […]
[by James Wenley] What happens when two Cabaret divas have the same song on their set list? Answer: let them both do it! In a quirk of programming, both Yana Alana and Camille O’Sullivan used Leonard Cohen’s ‘Anthem’ as one of their big finishing numbers. With Aussie firecracker Yana Alana costumed only with an electric blue wig and body paint […]
Women at war [by Sharu Delilkan] We’ve all seen numerous theatrical incarnations this year commemorating the centenary of WWI but one heralding women is definitely a departure from the norm. And that’s exactly what sets Geoff Allen‘s show Sister Anzac apart from the otherwise male dominated war stories. Inspired by Allen‘s grandfather A. S. Allen’s experience of ANZAC nurses on […]
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