WELLINGTON REVIEW: ORCHIDS (Foster Group Dance)

July 25, 2019

[Dance Taonga] “I want to place in your mind, the Orchid as a symbol of the feminine divine.  A mysterious and potent allegory for the dark and light masks of the female psyche”. ORCHIDS returns for a second staging having sold out its premiere season at Tempo Dance Festival in 2017. Choreographed and directed by Foster Group Dance’s Sarah Foster-Sproull, […]

CHRISTCHURCH ARTS FESTIVAL: Six Picks

July 23, 2019

The Christchurch Arts Festival opens this week. Critic Nathan Joe selects his six must-see events that offer vastly distinct flavours and genres.  When you first look at the programme for the Christchurch Arts Festival you might be struck by the lack of international acts. What seems like a glaring omission, upon closer inspection, is an acknowledgement of Ōtautahi’s fiercely creative […]

REVIEW: ORCHIDS (Foster Group Dance)

July 22, 2019

[Women in Full Bloom] Inspired by the orchid flower as a symbol of the divine feminine, ORCHIDS is an emotional and visceral contemporary dance work that celebrates the multifaceted layers of the female experience.  Directed and choreographed by Sarah Foster-Sproull, ORCHIDS features seven strong and expressive dancers spanning three generations — Marianne Schultz, Katie Burton, Rose Philpott, Jahra Wasasala, Joanne […]

REVIEW: Read My Lips (Basement Theatre)

July 17, 2019

[These Lips are Smiling] Embers Collective have produced a wonderful second original work in Read My Lips, a devised piece which draws from stories from Auckland’s Deaf community.  Read My Lips is the bubble of laughter from best friends performing dance choreography together in the living room, it is the bowed head and slumped shoulders of sadness, it is the […]

DUNEDIN REVIEW: The Flick (Wow Productions)

July 7, 2019

[The Last Picture Show] The reputation of Annie Baker as a playwright of Chekhovian sensibilities can often overshadow the fact that she has her own distinct idiom and rhythm that taps into the banality of contemporary life. And, yes, her plays are slow but only in the sense that they are patient, unhurried miniatures. It’s this unassuming style, the very […]

REVIEW: Little Black Bitch (Basement Theatre)

July 6, 2019

Howl of the Kurī Little time, little knowledge. Are we making ourselves heard? Are we putting in effort to be heard? Are we listening? Just like demons, emotions can blind and turn our minds and our souls BLACK. We take our time to react and fully don’t set in motion until the deed is done and it is too late. […]

REVIEW: The Wolves (Silo Theatre)

July 3, 2019

[Bend it like who?] There’s an ongoing frustration in theatre when it comes to female roles that has been addressed over and over again. Even in 2019 it’s uncommon to witness complex female characters on stage, let alone with an all female cast. This winter Silo Theatre leads the charge by delivering us Sarah DeLappe’s Pulitzer Prize nominated play The Wolves. […]