REVIEW: Bunny (Basement Theatre)

June 18, 2021

[A Comedic and Musical Meditation on Grief] The doors to the stage open and I am greeted with this immense sense of liveliness. Barnie Duncan, our sole performer, is playing a bass guitar, ushering us in with music and smiles as though he knows each of us personally. Above him is an LED sign reading, “haere mai” and “welcome”. Something […]

REVIEW: Into the Bush (Butch Mermaid Productions)

May 16, 2021

The Importance of Fun Walking into TAPAC, there’s an immediate feeling of being in the Garden of Eden. Lush and living greenery surrounds the stage. There is a sense of openness, as though the stage has widened into a larger expanse beyond what I can see. But this Garden of Eden is not concerned with virginity and godly purity. This […]

REVIEW: Every Brilliant Thing (Silo Theatre)

November 9, 2020

Performing Mental Health I often dislike how the topic of mental health is dealt with in a lot of film, literature or theatre. I feel it is contrived and sensationalised and completely misunderstood. However, Every Brilliant Thing is one of the very few shows I have seen that maintains a respectful and empathetic discourse around mental health. It celebrates life […]

REVIEW: Year of the Tiger 虎- Hǔ (Basement Theatre)

March 13, 2020

[The Tiniest Threads Can Connect Us] Year of the Tiger (虎- Hǔ) brings together six volunteer strangers and pushes them into the spotlight. These strangers are connected by a single thread: their zodiac animal. Coming from different backgrounds, cultures, countries, these people are bound by the simple fact that they are all tigers. Alice Canton explores the cultural ideas of […]

REVIEW: Emilia (Pop-up Globe)

March 8, 2020

[“Do not take my anger from me!”] Emilia tells the story of Emilia Bassano, one of the first Englishwomen poets and the possible muse behind Shakespeare’s sonnets. However, this is not just a play about Shakespeare’s Emilia. This is a play about Emilia the discriminated poet, Emilia the feminist spirit; Emilia as Emilia.  As soon as the performance begins, I […]

REVIEW: Lunar State (Auckland Fringe)

February 29, 2020

[The Absurd Coexistance of Extravagence and Necessity] Lunar State brings Calvino’s moon-milk concept to life through a series of abstract ensemble vignettes. The narrative follows a young girl who collects precious milk from the moon and distributes it among her people. However, this symbiotic relationship between moon and person is disrupted when the rest of the world discovers the moon-milk.  […]