REVIEW: Mr Red Light (Nightsong Productions)

September 3, 2019

[Mr Red Light has got the Green Light] ‘When you’re an ant, you still have a small identity of your own…a tiny molecule of identity…. Everything is part of everything… we are no more than specs of energy in the giant passing of time’ – Ant in Mr Red Light Mr Red Light is a new, heart-warming, funny and philosophical […]

REVIEW: Te Po (Auckland Arts Festival)

March 12, 2016

[Being and Nothingness] There’s something exciting about a play that starts off behind a curtain. Not only is it delightfully old-fashioned, but it also fills the audience with anticipation of what’s to come. Expectations are raised and you can bet we’re expecting to be wowed. So when the curtain is finally pulled back and we see Bruce Mason’s study, I’m […]

REVIEW: The Next Big Thing Festival 2015 (Auckland Theatre Company)

July 22, 2015

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 […]

REVIEW: Famous Flora (Playtime Theatre)

November 14, 2014

Famous Flora Fascinates [by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth] Choosing to stage Elisabeth Easther’s premiere about Flora Mackenzie, one of Auckland’s most notorious Mesdames, at the White House was a stroke of genius. The venue not only gave the show added dimension, being totally apt, but also acted as an eight character in the 7-strong cast that entertained us at the […]

REVIEW: Soo-Young: The Musical! (The Basement)

April 2, 2014

Infectious [by James Wenley] The comic creation of Renee Lyons, Soo-Young first appeared in her brilliant show Nick: An Accidental Hero, a hospital orderly who narrated the show. It was an oddball choice about for a solo show about a man with locked-in syndrome, but she was an irrepressible and upbeat antidote in a story of adversity. Following up Nick, which […]

REVIEW: Niu Sila (Auckland Theatre Company)

October 4, 2013

Tuai Sila 8 1/2 years later [by Sharu Delilkan] It was a great feeling arriving at Q’s Loft to review Niu Sila which I could still remember vividly, having been at The Maidment premiere more than 8 ½ years ago. The show then featured Dave Fane (Ioane Tafioka) and Damon Andrews (Peter Burton) under the direction of Conrad Newport.  This […]

REVIEW: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Auckland Theatre Company)

May 7, 2012

Fancy a Puck? [by James Wenley] At the end of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, hobgoblin Puck famously excuses all that has gone before as a “weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream”. If so, it was a fantastic and crazy dream that the audience collectively dreamed in the theatre. While Puck undersells the thematic depths of […]

REVIEW: Young and Hungry Festival Auckland 2011

August 4, 2011

Cow, Tigerplay and Disorder. What a threesome! [by James Wenley] If you haven’t already, rush to see the Young & Hungry Festival, there’s not much time left… there’s a Zombie apocalypse on don’t you know? Under Auckland Theatre Company’s guidance, the third year of Young & Hungry in Auckland is arguably the strongest yet, containing two Young and Hungry classics – […]

REVIEW: Well Hung

February 13, 2011

Auckland Theatre Company give the police a good bollocking It is one of New Zealand’s most enduring unsolved crimes. The year is 1970. The place is Pukekawa, small town NZ. The bodies of husband and wife Harvey and Jeanette Crew are found in the Waikato River. The murder weapon is established as a .22 rifle. Local Farmer Arthur Allan Thomas […]