REVIEW: Macbeth (Pop-up Globe)

February 11, 2018

[Fresh Daggers in Familiar Smiles] Directed by Tom Mallaburn, the Pop-up Globe’s production of Macbeth is mostly a traditional take on the material. I say mostly, because the show’s creators make one interesting addition right at the top which causes ripples throughout the rest of the show. There has always been a theory that the Macbeth’s had lost a child [Lady Macbeth […]

REVIEW: Macbeth (Auckland Arts Festival)

March 12, 2015

Viva Verdi? [by Matt Baker] Playwright, designer, and director Brett Bailey has made a career in avant-garde theatre, and while I have a desire to engage with more of his productions, it is based more on reading about his other works rather than witnessing his adaptation of Verdi’s Macbeth. The concept of Congolese refugees recreating Verdi’s production based on the coming […]

REVIEW: Passionate Acts (SHAKEITUP!)

February 12, 2014

Passionate Acts Shake It Up [by Sharu Delilkan] “Not Shakespeare again” I thought en-route to the preview of Passionate Acts, Grae Burton’s and Alistair Browning’s scenes of passion from Shakespeare’s most popular plays. Driving up the entrance to the magnificent Pa Homestead I lamented how and why Shakespeare persists when there is so much modern and contemporary excellence around, some […]

REVIEW: Macbeth (Young Auckland Shakespeare Company)

February 7, 2014

Scot problems [by Matt Baker] Shakespeare wrote for an aural audience; he doesn’t show, he tells. Accordingly, an actor’s vocal articulation is as an integral element of their performance as much as their understanding of the text. Fortunately, I know Macbeth as a text. I say fortunately, because had I not, I doubt I would have understood much of what […]

WEST END BOY: Theatre Scenes goes to London, Part Two

August 21, 2013

The Play’s the thing [by James Wenley] During my recent excursion to London Theatre (last week I gave my Musical fanboy report), the city experienced an unprecedented heatwave. Ed Miliband in typical British fashion suggested that if temperatures got too high workers should be sent home for a cup of tea and lie down. As I had just returned from […]

REVIEW: No Holds Bard (Royale Productions)

June 5, 2013

Hurst’s a Bardarse [by Sharu Delilkan] Aptly described as an outrageous and often profound look into one actor’s attempt at self-destruction, No Holds Bard definitely promises what it delivers…and more. This original compilation of numerous Shakespearean excerpts woven together from the likes of Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello is a great way to showcase Michael Hurst’s mastery of the […]