REVIEW: Fake News (The Actors’ Program)

November 6, 2020

‘Actors have it easy..?’ As the world waits with bated breath for the 2020 US election results, the Actors’ Program premieres Fake News at the Basement. Politically speaking, it is a long, arduous day in which Donald Trump – who uses the phrase ‘fake news’ with alarming regularity – declares he is President before votes have been counted. The night […]

REVIEW: Welcome to Thebes (The Actors’ Program)

November 9, 2019

Ambitious Push to Marry Myth to Modernity It is no easy task to choose a capstone play for the conclusion of an intensive actor’s training program. In pursuit of an elusive equilibrium between adapting a compelling dramatic script and putting on display the diverse talents of a gifted group of emerging actors, for the 2019 cohort The Actors’ Program have […]

REVIEW: Jacinda (The Actors’ Program)

November 20, 2018

[Angels in Aotearoa] Programming a grad show for any acting program is tricky business, balancing the needs of roles required and finding a suitable showcase, all while crafting a satisfying narrative. In choosing to commission a brand new work by Auckland playwright Sam Brooks, rounding off a knockout year in collaboration with director Sam Snedden (Twenty Eight Millimetres and Burn […]

REVIEW: Vernon God Little (The Actors’ Program)

November 21, 2016

[American Idiot] Vernon God Little is a controversial play for a controversial time. In the wake of Trump’s America raising its ugly head, now is almost too easy a time to dissect American culture for all its faults. Director Leon Wadham has taken that chance with the graduating class of The Actor’s Program who tell the tragically satirical story of […]

REVIEW: Love and Information (The Actors’ Program)

November 19, 2015

As fleeting as your Newsfeed [by James Wenley] This year research came out claiming that our attention spans were now shorter than a goldfish’s. Whereas in 2000 we could hold a thought for 12 seconds, now it is down to 8. Why do I mention this? Oh yes – Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information may well be a vision for theatre’s […]

REVIEW: Sheep (Actors’ Program)

November 28, 2014

Es gehts [by Matt Baker] Selecting a graduation/showcase production for an acting/industry institution is not aneasy task. Numbers aside, gender and the suitability of sensibilities can be a difficult jigsaw to manage. Director Ben Henson has chosen wisely by gifting The Actor’s Program 2014 class with Arthur Meek’s Sheep, which has been adequately expanded to its full cast size. Henson’s tweaking […]

REVIEW: Camino Real (The Actors’ Program)

November 7, 2013

Acting on the Camino Real [by James Wenley] At the Camino Real, to borrow from The Eagles, you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave. To mark the public debut of the second crop of actors from the industry-geared The Actors’ Program, Benjamin Henson directs them in arguably Tennessee Williams’ most experimental and misunderstood work: […]

REVIEW: 13 (The Actors’ Program)

November 9, 2012

Challenge Accepted [by James Wenley] I got a sneak preview of 13 when I went to the shows at the upstairs Basement Studio the night before. A cacophony of shouts and screams impossible to ignore rose from the floorboards below. Whatever was happening downstairs, it sounded explosive. 13 is an audacious choice of play for The Actors’ Program graduation showcase: […]