They also came and conquered [by Matt Baker] Completing the New Zealand tour of their award-winning fringe show, writers and performers Justine Campbell and Sarah Hamilton have brought a unique play based on fundamental storytelling to Auckland’s Basement Theatre. The disconsolation of extinction and the mystery of its validity is a major part of the interest in the Tasmanian Tiger, and […]
Stuck on you [by James Wenley] Eli Matthewson and Hamish Parkinson are endearing performers, and also rather talented doodlers. In two hander shows where actors play multiple characters, some shows will trust the actors to indicate character changes through physicality and voice, others might make a comic virtue out of rapid costume changes. These guys go one step better. The main […]
Divine Inspiration [by James Wenley] Credit to the publicist who angled a ninety year old play into the Herald on Sunday Gossip pages. “Are age-defying celebrities Nicky Watson and Sally Ridge the inspiration for Fallen Angels…?” the paper breathlessly asks. It explains that the play “tells the story of two former BFFs who shared a lover when they were younger… Sound familiar?”, […]
Gay outing [by Sharu Delilkan] Queen is a scream, a sass, a laugh, a cry, a voice. The publicity material’s description of Queen is spot on. Although a re-staging of the show, Sam Brooks’ Queen is still unique in nature because unlike most coming out gay stories the focus is the emotional roller coaster of under 18-year olds. Despite its […]
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 […]
Lantern truly illuminates [by Sharu Delilkan] Right from the get-go the acting is ballsy and confident – in yer face and full of pace. Chye-Ling Huang and James Roque play off each other nicely and clearly believe and/or personally identify with the key themes and characters of the play. Coming from Malaysia where Chinese New Year is a big part […]
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 […]
Unanimous decision [by Matt Baker] The inciting incident that rings the bell in Simon Ward’s play is, unfortunately in today’s society, by no means a fanciful subject matter. However, the lesser reported, and unaccounted, consequences are a source of great dramatic material. A court-appointed psychological evaluation for an assault charge is an inevitably sure-fire situation, and Ward has written a […]
Cirrusly Funny [by Sharu Delilkan] As we entered the theatre we couldn’t help notice the set’s striking resemblance to Roger Waters’ legendary concert’s Berlin Wall setting, the only difference being that it was the “paper sky” version. Opening with cubist fireflies making up the cloud aspect of the show title, the a capella vocal sounds and repetition set the tone […]
The journey, not the destination [by James Wenley] It struck me while watching Sam Brooks’ Riding in Cars with (Mostly Straight) Boys how many moments of great (and small) personal drama burns out while stuck in an automobile. While Film loves to show wheels in motion, cars can be problematic to represent and rather static in action in a stage drama. […]
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