Boys own Apocalypse [by James Wenley] Auckland Theatre Company’s stage production makes a nod to the usual medium the Lord of the Flies story is inherited: the secondary school classroom. A bookend, invented by Director Colin McColl and his cast, sets the leads as contemporary high-school students encountering William Golding’s 1954 novel. Project artwork of various pig heads, beasts and […]
Crisp [by Sharu Delilkan] We enjoyed a lovely warm theatrical experience tonight – a charming, threadbare, Thatcher-ite, and acerbic view of the world from the portrayal of an old queen with no will or wit to be ordinary or dated. It was a delight to see this multi-award winning one-hander being performed impeccably by Roy Ward in The Basement’s intimate […]
You never know where the night will take you [by James Wenley] There’s a girl in the stairwell, quietly weeping, desperately trying not to be noticed. She’s the only student at the (banned) afterball not to have bothered with a costume or a flash dress. In her hands she tightly clutches a camera. She’s noticed by a Japanese exchange, dressed […]
Pleasantly controversial [by Matt Baker] Regardless of whether one believes in it or not, climate change is undoubtedly a hot topic, and British playwright Richard Bean has clearly done his homework on the subject. While The Heretic could easily be a vehicle for playwright pontification, there is nothing terribly dogmatic in Bean’s writing, nor is the character of Dr. Diane Cassell by […]
The Other Woman [by James Wenley] Boleyn comes encumbered by reputation. She’s called a great deal many things through the course of the play: “the harlot queen”, “intolerable woman”, “witch”, “the whore”. She’s arguably subject to one of history’s great hatchet jobs, the dangerous female who bewitched a King and tore England asunder. For his 2010 drama, Howard Brenton recasts […]
A precious piece [by Matt Baker] The Glass Menagerie is a magical play. From the opening Brechtian monologue, to the blatant symbolism and dialogue surrounding the titular menagerie, playwright Tennessee Williams does not shy away from using a light theatrical shroud to expose truths. It would be easy to rely on these conventions and consequentially not find the true weight in […]
Reds in your Head [by James Wenley] Since his stage debut in 1974, New Zealand playwright Dean Parker, who last year was awarded the inaugural Playmarket award for making a a significant artistic contribution to theatre in New Zealand, has been a consistent voice from the left worldview. His last work staged in Auckland was The Hollow Men in 2008, the […]
Auckland Theatre Company improvises a Plan B [by James Wenley] UPDATE 16/5: Good news via ATC: We have been advised by the University of Auckland that they are driving their contractors to have the Maidment Theatre repaired by the end of June. If this time frame is achieved, which we have every reason to believe it will be, the season of […]
This Week’s Picks: Kings of the Gym, Swang Song and Vicacious Vaudeville [by James Wenley] The theatre year has begun, and not a moment too soon! For those who like to plan, each week Theatre Scenes will present our top picks for what to see in the Auckland theatre scene. PICK ONE The Show? Kings of the Gym Who wrote […]
Theatre in Education [by James Wenley] New Zealand’s Education sector contains potentially ripe pickings for a dramatist. It is a perennial battleground of ideologies, agendas, values, and teaching methods and assessments. In recent times the sector itself has resembled a Dave Armstrong style farce: non-standard National Standards, No-go pay and Hekia “Karma” Parata. Armstrong’s newest play Kings of the Gym […]
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