REVIEW: Shakespeare’s Will (Auckland Fringe)

February 27, 2011

No, not that Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare is perched today on the highest of pedestals in the Western literary world. Apart from those odd rumours that Shakespeare is really somebody else (because somebody with just a Grammar School education could never write like that, don’t you know)… his works are gloried, written about and staged over and over again as if […]

REVIEW: Joseph and Mahina (Auckland Fringe)

February 26, 2011

Romeo & Juliet. Antony & Cleopatra…. Joseph & Mahina? I’ve written about Thomas Sainsbury plays many times before in Craccum Magazine. He’s something of a modern kiwi Shakespeare type, dominating Auckland over the last several years with a huge output of low budget but manically funny. Like Shakespeare he sometimes acts in his plays too and he directs most of […]

REVIEW: Alvin Sputnik (Auckland Fringe)

February 26, 2011

Deep Sea Theatre Magic   The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer is a very special show. Using live performance, wonderful cartoon animation, and simple puppetry, the show’s creator and performer Tim Watts keeps the audience enthralled for 45minutes.  I can see why the show has been compared to Pixar: like UP, within the first minutes there is an […]

REVIEW: Feel Felt Found (Auckland Fringe)

February 26, 2011

I found this play to be funny Pity the struggling actor. In order to support themselves when work runs dry, they must take a serious of unholy jobs until the day Peter Jackson rings out of the blue with a film offer. The ‘comic triumvirate’ behind Feel Felt Found – Ryan Richards, Nic Sampson and Barnaby Fedric must have experienced […]

REVIEW: When Animals Dream of Sheep (Auckland Fringe)

February 24, 2011

AKA: Deer Runner While the Auckland Fringe Festival officially begins this Friday 24th February, unofficially it opened with numerous bangs from simulated shotguns last night in Myers Park with the outdoor visual feast When Animals Dream of Sheep. Inspired by the true stories of the illegal release of deer on a Dutch Island, and NZ’s introduction and culling of the […]

FRINGE PREVIEW: The ‘Motherlock’ Controversy

February 23, 2011

Lock up your Mother! If it was a competition, Motherlock would be odds on favorite to win the not always coveted ‘Most Controversial Play Award’ in this year’s Fringe circuit. Unashamedly based on the real life experiences of Auckland playwright and director Melissa Fergusson, it explores the stigmas and experiences of her four pregnancies to four different men. Scandalous? You […]

FRINGE PREVIEW: The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer

February 18, 2011

Tim Watts gives an in-depth interview. Literally. The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer is set in a (not so?) fictional future where the seas have risen and billions of people have died. For the few that remain, they must look to the oceans for the continued survival of the human race. Alvin Sputnik, who is brought to life […]

FRINGE PREVIEW: The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic

February 17, 2011

A beautiful and stupid comedy from Australia… The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic sounds nothing like your typical comedy show. Billed as a ‘read along comedy’, it’s a fusion of comedy, dance, music, clowning… and philosophy. Created by Slow Clap productions’ Vachel Spirason and Stephanie Brotchie, it won ‘Best Comedy’ at its Melbourne Fringe Festival debut last year, and crosses the […]

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