REVIEW: Respite (The Basement)

September 30, 2015

Extremely Interesting Stranger [by Tim George] I once knew a man who dabbled in filmmaking. His dream was not to win awards or make money. His movies were far too niche and esoteric for that. His dream was to reach a tone. He called it ‘tragic ecstasy’ — a perfect symbiosis of tragedy and comedy, the tone of the human experience. […]

REVIEW: Callback: Behind Frenemy Lines (The Basement)

September 24, 2015

We’ll Call You [by Matt Baker] A show about actresses going through the rigmarole of auditioning sounds as indulgent as it does clichéd. Fortunately, both Frith Horan and Lucy Suttor are neither of those things. As Amy and Poppy respectively, the actresses and flatmates demonstrate their distinct differences in approaching the same role as the former, while navigating the peril of […]

REVIEW: Tosca (NZ Opera)

September 20, 2015

Tosca truly thrills [by Sharu Delilkan] Tosca‘s opening night, like it’s inaugural one in 1900, was nothing short of a triumph. Everything from the set to the amazing vocals kept us thoroughly entertained with the NZ Opera‘s two hour long performance. Orla Boylan as the beguiling Floria Tosca was mesmerising, to say the least. Her theatrical performance on stage was […]

REVIEW: Cats (The Civic)

September 17, 2015

Ninth Life [by Matt Baker] As with most performers born in the 80s with an interest in musical theatre, Cats was a major contributor to the soundtrack of my childhood. Seeing it for the first time, however, I was suddenly aware of how bat-shit insane the show is. The title is the subject matter, which is in turn the cast, which […]

REVIEW: Fun Run (Two Productions)

September 17, 2015

Ran Away [by Matt Baker] Accolades are a great way of publicising a show, and if you’re looking for a comedy, “written by 2015 Billy T Winner Hamish Parkinson” seems like a sure-fire bet. Parkinson has a genuinely unique comedic talent, which defies definition, but the trouble with Fun Run is that, as a play, it requires some sort of central […]

REVIEW: Swing (Fishamble)

September 17, 2015

Swing when you’re winning [by James Wenley] They’ve got all the moves and turned up the Irish Charm to full for Swing, an affectionate two-step from Ireland’s Fishamble about how dance can help nudge your life in the right direction. You’ve seen this story many times before. Two strangers meet at dance class and develop a connection (a local example would […]

Scene by James: What has happened to the Short+Sweet Festival?

September 10, 2015

[by James Wenley] It’s started to bother me that the promoters of Short+Sweet are still running with the line that if you don’t enjoy one play, it’s okay, the next is just 10 minutes away. The subtext for potential ticket buyers is that some of the plays will be a bit shit. Short+Sweet Theatre has been going in Auckland for […]

REVIEW: Ernest Rutherford: Everyone can Science! (The Basement)

September 9, 2015

Lord “Comedy” Rutherford [by James Wenley] Lord Ernest Rutherford hasn’t had his due. No emotional biopic, no sharable internet meme. Sure his face is on our $100 bill, but how many of us have that sort of denomination in our wallets? Father of the nuclear age, but his recognition has been as tiny as the atom he split. No, he hasn’t […]

REVIEW: The Black (The Basement)

September 9, 2015

The National Bank horse is back. And she’s pissed. [by Tim George] A multimedia piece about a woman’s battle with depression, The Black comes with a terrific pedigree. Written by and starring Josephine Stewart-Tewhiu, and directed by the impressively prolific Tom Sainsbury, it is a well-produced piece with ambition to spare in its use of back-projected images and animations. There is a warm, […]

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