[Bridging the Space Between] Silo Theatre and Auckland Arts Festival present Upu, a remounted production of Oceanic poetry, brought alive by Māori and Pasifika performers. An empty thrust stage – boxed in on three sides by the audience – juts out with angular raised platforms. A handful of theatre-goers sit with their backs against the central unit, eyes wide in […]
[A New Turf] A bass beat plays and a rap song booms through the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Young actors dressed in school uniform rip up the stage with a hip hop number, battling it out in a Stomp the Yard set. Half of the students wear red bandanas and the other half wear blue bandanas with coloured shirts under their […]
[Celestial Navigation] Upu Mai Whetū literally means words from stars. Under the direction of Fasitua Amosa and curated by Grace Taylor, the performance showcases poems from our Pasifika and Māori literature pioneers using Māori and Pacific stars of stage and screen. The set-up is simple but effective. The seating block is end-on and laid out front are tables and chairs […]
[The Baton Passes on] I had the pleasure of witnessing FCC’s staged reading of Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop a couple of years back. It was, to put it lightly, a stunner. With limited rehearsals and scripts in hands, the performance managed to create something truly magical, transporting us to Dr. Martin Luther King’s last night on Earth in Room 306 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Stationary Dead [by James Wenley] So, the Zombie Apocalypse is finally upon us, but it has arrived with more of a low moan than a blood-lusting scream. Royale Productions’ high-concept Apocalypse Z – written by Simon London and David Van Horn and directed by Andrew Foster – has barricaded itself securely within Aotea Centre. The square is host to […]
Time to Celebrate! [by James Wenley] There’s a lot of good performance on at the moment. Too much. How can one get to it all? Auckland theatre – you need an ‘on demand’ service. Anything Goes is at the Civic, I haven’t yet managed to get to any of the Tempo Dance Festival at Q, there’s a myriad of performances […]
Killer Kreation Knocks yer socks off [by Sharu Delilkan] The ‘Klu Kux Klan’ of Pacifica aka Kila Kokonut Krew have yet again pulled a rabbit out of the hat with another first – The Factory, New Zealand’s first Pacific Island musical. “What the hell”, I thought. “How can it have taken until 2011 to produce a musical, with the abundance of Pacific […]
Copyright © 2024 | MH Magazine WordPress Theme by MH Themes