REVIEW: Anzac Eve (Armstrong Creative)

April 1, 2017

[Turkish Delight] Written by Dave Armstrong, Anzac Cove is a dramedy that puts our mutual emphasis on Anzac Day under the microscope. Four young people, two Kiwis and two Aussies, arrive at Anzac Cove for the annual commemorations. Maia (Trae Te Wiki) and Lizzie (Ruby Hansen) are longtime friends; Ben (Barnaby Olson) and Phil (Hayden Frost) used to go to […]

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: 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: The Motor Camp (Auckland Theatre Company)

February 12, 2012

Bringing back the cultural cringe [by James Wenley] Like many kiwis, I joined the yearly summer exodus from the cities, and went camping over New Years. The miserable rain-drenched ‘summer’ of 2012 had little to write home about of course, but it did provide me with one memorable experience: the family holiday train-wreck. Not my own, thank goodness. Evidently, the […]

Looking Forward: What’s on my theatrical radar for 2012?

January 16, 2012

What will the 2012 Auckland Theatre Scene bring? [by James Wenley] The Auckland Theatre Scene goes deadly quiet in January. In my last post, as I looked back on 2011, I was grateful the curtain had dropped on a particularly busy year for theatre. Now, however, I’m firmly suffering theatre withdrawal. Luckily, the hopeful promise of 2012 productions keeps me […]

INTERVIEW: Jennifer Ward-Lealand and the challenges of Rita Angus

November 15, 2011

Rita and Douglas and Jennifer [by James Wenley] Jennifer Ward-Lealand says playing Rita Angus is one of the most challenging roles she has ever performed in her career. “I’ve never done anything like this before”. It’s a surprising statement from Jennifer, whom over her long career in the performing arts has played roles as diverse as Boadicea in Xena: Warrior […]