REVIEW: Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography (Silo Theatre)

June 22, 2015

Download Incomplete – Error Occurred [by Matt Baker] There is a fine line between playwrights providing what is necessary outside of dialogue for practitioners to convey the meaning of their story, and prescribing the text because they cannot see it any other way. On one hand, theatrical theories, conventions, and practices can shift dramatically over the years, leading to limited explorative opportunities […]

REVIEW: Live Live Cinema: Dementia 13 and Carnival of Souls (Jumpboard Productions)

October 13, 2013

Bringing Classic Cinema to Life [by James Wenley] Dementia 13 is a 1963 thriller and old-school slasher flick where an axe-wielding madman stalks the grounds of a Scottish castle. Though a clear Psycho-lite, in this early Francis Ford Coppola picture it is possible to discern his latent potential, in amongst the hokey psychological posturing and a reveal telegraphed from miles […]

REVIEW: Kings of the Gym (ATC)

February 10, 2013

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 […]

REVIEW: A Shortcut to Happiness (ATC)

June 12, 2012

No Shortcuts here [by James Wenley] I attended A Shortcut to Happiness on Saturday night, the same night as the All Black/ Ireland test. Stuart Devenie, always a class act, made a pithy reference to the night’s other big event, as his character enters an empty dance studio, save for fretting instructor Natasha (Laura Hill) – Saturday nights are no […]

REVIEW: Top Girls (Silo)

February 27, 2012

You Can Be a Successful Woman, Too! (Terms and Conditions Apply) [by Rosabel Tan] When people talk about women having careers, there’s a trade-off implied: You can’t have a career and a family – one will suffer if you try, and if you pursue the former, you’re defeminised: there’s something wrong with you or, at the very least, your womb. […]