REVIEW: Rupert (Auckland Theatre Company)

June 28, 2015

Rupert Bare [by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth] It’s rare that a show about someone’s life is introduced by the main character as “a show about my life” but Rupert, a biography of media moghul Rupert Murdoch breaks many of the norms of theatre as he does the fourth wall. David Williamson‘s Rupert encapsulates a multitude of genres – it’s […]

REVIEW: Other Desert Cities (Auckland Theatre Company)

May 12, 2014

Other American Plays [by James Wenley] The desert looking back at us is not quite the one from the popular imagination: wind turbines populate the otherwise arid landscape. Is this a symbol of progressivism and human achievement, or a blot on the natural expanse? This dessert is Palm Springs, and the centrepiece of Rachael Walker’s eye-catching stage design is a massive […]

REVIEW: Paniora! (ATC)

March 23, 2014

Magnificent Maori Matadors [by Sharu Delilkan] The ‘Len Brown Sux’ protesters outside The Maidment Theatre provided a rather obscure start to the evening. Fortunately everyone seemed more pre-occupied with the opening night of Auckland Theatre Company’s Paniora! to care. Within the lobby though it was so refreshing to see more ‘Browns’ than just Len. Often many ATC shows tend to attract […]

REVIEW: Midnight in Moscow (Auckland Theatre Company)

April 24, 2013

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 […]

REVIEW: Next Big Thing Festival; Tusk Tusk and Checkout Chicks (ATC)

July 10, 2012

Meaty Drama, Sweet Musical [by James Wenley] Tusk Tusk is a serious family drama, with lots to chew upon. ATC’s Associate Director Lynne Cardy describes it as ‘Arthur Miller for children’. Carried by a stunning performance from its three young leads, they must fend for themselves with absent authority figures. Checkout Chicks is an unapologetically silly and entertaining Musical. It […]

REVIEW: In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Auckland Theatre Company)

March 20, 2012

A Play In Need of Its Own Treatment [by Rosabel Tan] We live in an age of sexual liberation: where mutual attempts to disentangle emotional and physical expressions of love are treated as an act of empowerment – friends with benefits, no strings attached. But whether they can be separated is another question altogether, and this is a focal point […]

REVIEW: Calendar Girls (Auckland Theatre Company)

August 14, 2011

Tastefully titillating theatre [by Sharu Delilkan] Leaving home yesterday evening on the way to the city to watch Auckland Theatre Company’s stage production of the infamous Calendar Girls brought its own set of surprises. I innocently said to my mate who was giving me a ride to the city  “I’m going to Calendar Girls today”.  To which I got this […]

REVIEW: Joseph and Mahina (Auckland Fringe)

February 26, 2011

Romeo & Juliet. Antony & Cleopatra…. Joseph & Mahina? I’ve written about Thomas Sainsbury plays many times before in Craccum Magazine. He’s something of a modern kiwi Shakespeare type, dominating Auckland over the last several years with a huge output of low budget but manically funny. Like Shakespeare he sometimes acts in his plays too and he directs most of […]