REVIEW: Yātrā (Prayas)

October 4, 2020

[Eight Journeys, Many Perspectives] Yātrā is a curation of eight play extracts from leading South Asian playwrights, delicately woven together to revitalise community spirit in the face of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic lingers in the shadows of this show – until a fortnight ago, it was yet to be confirmed whether Yātrā would go onstage to mark […]

REVIEW: Black Lover (Auckland Theatre Company)

September 13, 2020

[Unearthing the realities of Anti-Black Racism] Black Lover is a tale about colonial violence during the mid-1960s prelude to Zimbabwe’s fight for independence, sparked by increasing resistance to rule by a White-only minority. Written by Stanley Makuwe, it follows the fever-ridden agitation of Rhodesia’s former colonial leader, Garfield Todd (Cameron Rhodes), who is trapped at home due to a house […]

REVIEW: Ghost Trees (Auckland Fringe)

February 28, 2020

[A Sombre Analysis of A Declining World] Gary Stalker’s original play Ghost Trees traces the story of the protagonist’s loss of a partner to cancer and the pursuit of meaning in a rapidly-deteriorating world.  It speaks to the bewildering silence of humanity in response to species extinction exacerbated by climate change, and the augmented feeling of isolation that hounds us as […]

REVIEW: Odd Daphne Season 2 (Māngere Arts Centre)

February 13, 2020

[Dysfunctional Families Meet Cheesecake] Odd Daphne, a semi-autobiographical play by Joshua Iosefo, invites us on a journey to explore the bonds that tie families together, as well as how understanding can morph into drastic reactions – especially when large families try to intervene to resolve challenges faced by younger generations. Grief, trauma and self-acceptance are explored in the context of coming […]

REVIEW: OurGala 2020 (Auckland Pride)

February 4, 2020

[Inclusive we are and inclusionary we will be] It is a delight to attend Auckland’s Pride Gala, marking the opening of the festival in its eighth edition, and offering a glimpse into the marvels on offer in this year’s programme. Our effusive host, Hugo Grrrl, welcomes a packed audience to the scheduled treats.  The headlines declare “a bigger, brighter and […]

REVIEW: My Heart Goes Thadak Thadak (Silo Theatre)

November 26, 2019

A Giggleful Expedition to mid-1970s Bombay Inspired by the decade of disco in the city where dreams come true, My Heart Goes Thadak Thadak is a sweeping tribute to the power of fusion in what was to become the world’s largest film industry. Set in 1975 on a film set, the play reveals a tense amalgamation between the Hollywood Western […]

REVIEW: Welcome to Thebes (The Actors’ Program)

November 9, 2019

Ambitious Push to Marry Myth to Modernity It is no easy task to choose a capstone play for the conclusion of an intensive actor’s training program. In pursuit of an elusive equilibrium between adapting a compelling dramatic script and putting on display the diverse talents of a gifted group of emerging actors, for the 2019 cohort The Actors’ Program have […]

REVIEW: Coral (Basement Theatre)

September 6, 2019

Calling the quandaries of employment into question What responsibility do individual employees have to contribute to a better world when businesses typically are pushed to owe employees very little? Coral leans toward a gradual deconstruction of what mundane looks like in the Aotearoa business context, holding up a mirror to its audience. In a nod to the countless hours of […]

REVIEW: Mrs Krishnan’s Party (Indian Ink Theatre Company)

August 8, 2019

A Warm and Joyous Memory My mother and I attended Mrs Krishnan’s Party during Indian Ink Theatre Company’s September 2018 tour – the first NZ-South Asian production we had experienced together. I remember her commending the impressive production values and the talent of Kalyani Nagarajan and Justin Rogers, who play Mrs Krishnan and James. I found the show to be a […]

REVIEW: The Children (Plumb Productions)

August 3, 2019

[Uncomfortable Chuckling in an Apocalyptic Setting] Inspired by the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear explosion of 2011 in Japan, Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children first premiered in London in November 2016 and was follow by a season on Broadway in the Winter of 2017. Set in an undefined time following a nuclear disaster, the play unfolds as a barb-ridden domestic drama between a […]

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