REVIEW: Heartbreak Hotel (Q Theatre)

November 30, 2023

[Find Some Room For Broken Hearted Lovers] Take a walk down Lonely Street to Heartbreak Hotel at the Q Theatre, the latest creative venture by Eleanor Bishop and Karin McCracken.  It’s hard to know what to expect when you arrive at the Heartbreak Hotel. When our hotelier and host (Karin McCracken) comes on stage in a bedazzled lilac suit, backed […]

REVIEW: Limited Time Only (Te Pou)

November 29, 2023

Limited Time Only is an entertaining and heartfelt exploration of love, loss, and what is important in life.  The play follows three siblings who meet up on the one-year anniversary of their mum passing. Opening a mysterious envelope thrusts the siblings into a reluctant journey through the nearby wilderness, with the promise of treasure. The story is funny and emotionally […]

REVIEW: CHAIRS! (Basement)

November 17, 2023

[Chairs: Sit up and take note] In a world of wheels, Molly is stuck in place. What’s worse is no one in her life seems to recognise her plight, or they think it is merely a temporary state of mind. Shows like Chairs! are the reason why the Basement is my favourite theatre in Auckland.  From the outset, it has […]

REVIEW: Concerning the UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill, Auckland (Te Pou)

November 15, 2023

[My Love is Alien] Reon Bell’s (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) Concerning the UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill, Auckland returns to the stage after appearing in the Auckland Pride Festival, and the Kia Mau Festival to kick off the 2023 Rangatahi season at Te Pou Theatre.  Immersed in sci-fi and kiwiana, it’s Auckland, but not as […]

REVIEW: Skin Hunger (Q Theatre)

November 8, 2023

[Like a Prayer] Grief, masturbation, and the catholic church – the holy trinity of Tatiana Hotere’s Skin Hunger, a one woman show that explores life after the death of a spouse and how grief can make you unexpectedly horny. Returning to Q theatre after a sell-out season earlier this year, the show has been reimagined — transformed from a three […]

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: Chick Habit (Basement Theatre)

October 27, 2023

[Punctum’s punk-infused offering packs a punch] When entering Basement Theatre’s main stage, the first thing I notice is the set design by Minsoh Choi, as the back wall of the stage has been painted a bright, baby pink. Given the show’s punk aesthetic, it’s a bold and fairly bad-ass move and I’m silently impressed after estimating the cost for a […]

REVIEW: Dance Nation (Court Theatre)

October 14, 2023

Director Alison Walls’ version of Dance Nation by American playwright Clare Barron is the strongest work staged at the Court Theatre this season. Much of this rests on Barron’s script, which is a work of interiority in sharp focus. Headed by their stereotypically authoritarian dance teacher, a group of pre-adolescent tweens compete to win a dance competition. Over the course […]

REVIEW: How to Throw a Chinese Funeral

October 12, 2023

Kenangan Wangi (Sweet Reminiscence) Alamak!  It’s such a treat to hear authentic Manglish at The Basement Theatre. For the uninitiated, Manglish is the ‘rojak’ (fruit salad) combination of English-Malay-Cantonese-Hokkien-Hindi-Tamil words that typically pepper everyday Malaysian conversations.  And How to Throw a Chinese Funeral’s dialogue epitomises this Malaysian vernacular down to its core.  The play captures a familiar slice of Malaysian […]

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 […]

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