REVIEW: Night of the Living Dead (Silo)

November 7, 2023

[Breathing New Life] Silo Theatre Company’s first production after their almost year-long hiatus is one that blends cinema and theatre. It exposes the process of film-making, particularly that of foley and score which often go unnoticed by viewers, meant to provide realism and atmosphere that affect the audience mostly subconsciously. George A. Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead is […]

REVIEW: Club Waack (Prowl Productions)

September 14, 2023

[Not So Moving] Disco beats are all over today’s pop music. Flared pants are making a comeback. And the dance style of waacking is more mainstream than ever. So it seems appropriate to take a look back at 70s culture and where it really came from – that is, queer POC nightclub scenes. It’s natural that Prowl Productions, who specialise […]

REVIEW: Moe Miti (Red Leap Theatre)

August 30, 2023

[Dream Sleep] Moe Miti, presented by Red Leap Theatre, beautifully conjures a liminal space – not quite real, not quite unreal – and explores within it the complex relationship one has to one’s past and identity. It manages to tell a nuanced and unique story about intergenerational trauma with very little narrative. It is at once specific and universal. Director […]

REVIEW: Basmati Bitch (Q Theatre)

July 15, 2023

[Dreaming of Electric Sheep] We start with a bang. There is no slow dimming of the lights, no hushed waiting in the dark. Straightaway we are launched into catastrophic news reports, chronicling the next 100 years. China and India rise to global dominance amid political turmoil and ongoing climate crisis, creating an authoritarian (though not so unfamiliar) vision of Aotearoa […]

REVIEW: The Bitching Hour (Basement Theatre)

June 29, 2023

[Best Bitches] Carrie Rudzinski and Olivia Hall’s friendship has always been at the heart of their work. In The Bitching Hour it is front and centre, the glue that holds the show together. As soon as they enter, they launch into a poem about being bitches. It is bitching that brings them together – this fun, juicy, feminine-coded (oft degraded) […]

REVIEW: The Tempestuous (Basement Theatre)

June 15, 2023

[Promising Pastiche] Award-winning comedian Penny Ashton has once again delved into classic texts to present their tropes in a new light. A mash-up of Shakespeare’s plays and modern-day reality TV, The Tempestuous is a funny and clever romp. Replete with cross-dressing, disguises, bawdy jokes, puns, wordplay, and musical numbers, it is an excellently written script that Shakespeare himself would be […]

REVIEW: Them Fatale (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 19, 2023

[Salacious Satire] Do you want to find out where your god-shaped hole is and why Jesus is actually a lesbian? Maybe you just want a tantalisingly good night at the theatre. Presented as part of the NZ International Comedy Festival, James Penwarden’s stand-up show Them Fatale will leave you dripping wet with laughter. Like the deadly Noir seductress eluded to […]

REVIEW: Festival of Live Art, F.O.L.A (Auckland Pride)

February 23, 2023

[Oasis in a Storm] I, like many others, was excited about F.O.L.A’s initial line-up – promising an enticing array of local and international experimental artists, and a diversity of modes and mediums. It looked to be a festival that would blur and push the boundaries between art forms, genres and styles, that would not end once you stepped outside the […]

REVIEW: Access (Auckland Pride)

February 7, 2023

[Emotions Laid Bare] I walk into Freyberg Place and see a large sign being put up on the outside of the Ellen Melville Centre. It outlines the instructions for participating in Access – sit opposite the performer, choose an emotion from a menu of six, and stay as long as you like. I watch as the space is prepared: a […]

REVIEW: She’s Crowning: Rebirth (Auckland Pride)

February 4, 2023

[A Royal Romp] Have you ever wondered what goes on with the British royal family behind closed doors? What passion lies latent between Charles and his therapist? What do those D-list royals get up to when no one’s watching? And do they all love horses just a bit too much? Then get ready for the fast-paced, high-octane farce that is […]

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