[Go Set a Scout] The trouble with To Kill A Mockingbird is that the Pulitzer Prize winner’s literary composition does not lend itself to theatrical narrative structure. The trial, in which a black man is accused of attempting to rape a white woman, is a MacGuffin. Tom Robinson is the catalyst for a litmus test on racism proffered by a white woman […]
[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 […]
[More Fool Us] The most dramatically interesting part of the opening night of Auckland Theatre Company’s You Can Always Hand them Back was actually what happened after the bows. The production marks 40 years of playwriting from national treasure Roger Hall, and the occasion was quite rightly used as an opportunity to pay tribute to Hall’s enormous contribution to New […]
[Like a Mallet to the Face] Polo is a dangerous sport. When one considers the combination of horses and mallets, it’s easy to see how strains and sprains, muscular and ligament tears, fractures and dislocations, concussions, and even death can result. I suffered a concussion once – not from polo, mind you – and while I count my blessings that […]
Half Full / Half Empty [by James Wenley] So Auckland, how did we do this year? Were our generously marked up interval drinks full to the brim, or running on empty? If you’d asked me this question at the beginning of September, say between shows at Auckland Live’s decadent Cabaret season, I would have responded gloomily. Programming choices were tepid, and […]
Nicely Nicely [by Tim George] Damon Runyon had a great ear for names. Sky Masterson, Nathan Detroit, Nicely Nicely Johnson… Part of the fun of reading his short stories, or watching Guys and Dolls, the Broadway show based on his works, are the monikers and the characters who sport them. Whether via page, screen or stage, Runyon-land, his imaginary version of […]
Bon Mot Attack [by Matt Baker] At face value, Heroes is not a great play. There is cause for drama, but, like the three characters themselves, it never goes anywhere. There is nothing inherently theatrical about it, its Britishdryness, as implied by the original playwright Gérald Sibleyras himself, being far more suited to a BBC or ITV series. However, three veterans […]
Make love… and theatre… not war [by Matt Baker] The serendipity of coming across the fourth entry in this Cracked article today was not lost on me. Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata over 2,400 years ago and, according to the opening night audience, dick jokes are just as funny now as they were then, and if there is one person in New Zealand […]
Inky, Pinky, Go! [by James Wenley] The girl on the program cover is all wrong. With her exuberant expression and red sparkly jelly party hat, it suggests kids playing dress ups. Next Big Thing is anything but. Maybe it works as an image for their adult subscribers: come and see what those kooky kids are up to. But as an image […]
Rupert Bare [by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth] It’s rare that a show about someone’s life is introduced by the main character as “a show about my life” but Rupert, a biography of media moghul Rupert Murdoch breaks many of the norms of theatre as he does the fourth wall. David Williamson‘s Rupert encapsulates a multitude of genres – it’s […]
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