SCENE BY JAMES: 2018 – A Theatrical Year in Review

December 31, 2018

[Representation Matters] Silo Theatre’s production of Mr Burns presented a vision of theatrical futures. In the play by American writer Anne Washburn, survivors of an electricity-ending event band together to form a travelling theatre troupe specialising in the recreation of classic The Simpsons episodes. I begin with Mr Burns here because, while it presents a bleak image for our planet, […]

SCENE BY JAMES: Stars, Sex, Scares and Sisters: Auckland does NZ Theatre Month

September 14, 2018

[What’s Good Auckland?] Already in the first fortnight of the inaugural New Zealand Theatre Month, Auckland has had a glut of good theatre. Consider, that in the professional theatre alone we have had: Two return seasons of shows that debuted last year in Auckland: Indian Ink’s Mrs Krishnan’s Party and Red Leap’s Kororāreka: The Ballad of Maggie Flynn. Two Auckland […]

REVIEW: Orientation (Proudly Asian Theatre)

September 11, 2018

[Roots] Can love transcend race? Is it better to have loved and lost your identity then not to have loved at all? These are just two of the poignant questions asked by Orientation, intelligently written and compellingly directed by Chye-Ling Huang. Against the backdrop of the legacy of colonialism that continues to inform racial politics in contemporary Aotearoa, Orientation is […]