[Overstuffed] Despite sharing a similarly large cast, Prayas Theatre have done a 180 for their latest show, going from the epic novelistic scale of Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance to the more personal marital comedy of Tanika Gupta’s Love N Stuff. The play charts the tumultuous relationship between middle aged Indian couple Bindi (Sudeepta Vyas) and Mansoor (Mustaq Missouri). When […]
[Drink the Kool-aid] The best theatre is full of surprises. Not cheap or outlandish plot twists, but the organic sort of surprises that feel like the missing pieces of a puzzle. The sort of surprises that leave audiences smiling in awe. Andrew Gunn’s Potato Stamp Megalomaniac digs these out in spades. Andrew tells us to think of the show as a revolution […]
[Less is More] Toa Fraser’s Bare has been performed multiple times since its 1998 debut, confidently making its claim as a Kiwi classic. Simple Truth Theatre, comprised by a group of Unitec’s most recent acting graduates, have pulled together a mostly bare-bones production of the play in an eager act of artistic passion, intending to take the show around the […]
[Self-Centred] Uther Dean’s A Public Airing of Grievances is an odd show for the comedy festival. Not because it lacks laughs. Let’s be clear, it doesn’t. Rather, it’s odd because its laughs never feel like the main objective. The heart of the show is a sprawling yet intimate narrative that covers a brief period of Uther’s life, from the end […]
[Shits and Giggles] It’s no small challenge basing your show around the premise of irritable bowel syndrome without devolving completely into the realm of toilet humour. But in Australian comedian Felicity Ward’s What If There Is No Toilet?, she avoids the cheap and obvious jokes of the topic on hand. And while she’s never afraid to be a little crass, […]
[Fantastic Foursome] Set in a holiday home where two couples double-book for a honeymoon and an anniversary, the drawing room comedy becomes the primary target for parody in Chris Parker and Thomas Sainsbury’s Camping. It’s like a raunchier version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf with the serious drama cut out. Even the characters feel like grotesque Kiwi versions of […]
[Awkward Absurdity] Before we begin, as the pre-show announcement by Ricky Gervais is played, Hamish Parkinson seizes the opportunity to apply comedy in the most unexpected ways. It’s a perfect example of his willingness to push boundaries and conventions that makes his shows unpredictable and exciting to watch. Moon Baby is arguably a natural progression from Parkinson’s previous one-man comedy […]
[White Noise] “I feel most coloured when I am thrown against a sharp white background” —Zora Neale Hurston While never explicitly quoted in the show, this statement seems to inform the entire world of WHITE/OTHER. From the text to the set design to performer Alice Canton’s very own biracial identity, whiteness is everywhere. And Alice’s otherness—specifically, her Chinese half—becomes the […]
[Generation Gap] The experience of watching a play clearly not designed for you can be an alienating experience. You Can Always Hand Them Back is unapologetic in this regard, directly addressing the intended audience right from the get go: “Are any of you grandparents? Of course you are or you wouldn’t be here!” And yet, here I am: gay, Chinese […]
[Beauty and Terror] It’s nearly impossible to watch Oedipus without already knowing what happens. Even those who haven’t read it know how it goes, its mythology so ingrained in our pop culture, though it’s usually remembered for its outcome and ending more than for its actual plot. Less a story of incest, this is the story of a King who […]
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