REVIEW: Sham (The Basement)

June 1, 2016

[Sham-a-lot] Jess Sayer is a prolific writer who has won numerous awards including last year’s Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. As the company (We Three Productions) state, her work has been described as ‘razor-sharp’, ‘brave’, ‘absorbingly dark’ and ‘not for the faint-hearted’.  So naturally we were expecting a dark story to unfold before our eyes. Nothing could be further from the truth.  The charm […]

REVIEW: The Ladykillers (Auckland Theatre Company)

February 17, 2015

Actus reus [by Matt Baker] “To be frivolous about frivolous matters, that’s merely boring. To be frivolous about something that’s in some way deadly serious, that’s true comedy.” So said Alexander Mackendrick, who directed the 1955 film upon which Graham Linehan’s 2011 stage adaptation is based. Farce requires dangerIt requires an expertly balanced combination of drama and comedy played at both extremes. While […]

REVIEW: Death of a Salesman (Peach Theatre Company)

October 15, 2012

I’m sold [by Matt Baker] In his opening night speech, director Jesse Peach obscurely alluded to the possibility of Death of a Salesman being his last production*. While I actively concede that this may have been a misinterpretation of inarticulate speech, I would like to think that going out on a high note is the correct course of action in […]

PREVIEW: Death of a Salesman (Peach Theatre Company)

October 7, 2012

Miller’s Memorable Masterpiece [by Sharu Delilkan] The minute Richard Knowles heard that Peach Theatre Company was staging Death of a Salesman he lost no time contacting producer/director Jesse Peach. “I studied Death of a Salesman at school and I even used one of the monologues for my audition at Toi Whakaari. So I wanted to be involved in any way […]