REVIEW: Grief-Sex-Race (Auckland Fringe)

August 31, 2022

[Laughing Through It] Grief, sex and race are not only three distinct words that sum up the themes and talking points of this comedy-musical, but the show also amalgamates them together to describe a unique experience and state of mind: the grief-sex-race. Creators and performers Jess Karamjeet and Sophie Gibson share fragments of their lives with us, centred around their […]

REVIEW: Dawn Raids (Pacific Underground and Auckland Theatre Company)

August 27, 2022

Dawn Raids by Oscar Kightley was first staged by theatre collective Pacific Underground in 1997, 20 years after the national outrage. The play’s snapshot of the illegal raids on Pacific people under the guise of cracking down on overstayers would have hit home for everyone who experienced it — everyone whose families and friends had faced not only the violation […]

REVIEW: Together Forever (Basement Theatre)

August 25, 2022

Opening night, and the mood is celebratory as Basement studio visibly fills up with queers and allies. The tag line for Joni Nelson’s new play screams ‘lesbian apocalypse,’ so I’m mentally prepared for an over-the-top zombie style attack, wondering how the narrative will unfurl. The stage before us is plain, laid with white polythene. After the house lights dim, our […]

REVIEW: We’ve Got So Much To Talk About (Basement Theatre)

August 18, 2022

[Release the Soundtrack] Created by Sally Stockwell with direction from Julia Harvie, We’ve Got So Much To Talk About is a defiant cry, is catharsis, is a manifesto, is a release.  Billed as a ‘theatre-gig’, We’ve Got So Much To Talk About explores Stockwell’s life and career through a mixture of explosive songs, colliding images of motherhood, and intimate stories.  […]

REVIEW: Chrome Dome and Schizo (Basement Theatre)

August 18, 2022

In the words of playwright Dan Goodwin, Chrome Dome and Schizo offers “experiences of delusion shown in a hopeful way”. The play offers a kaleidoscopic vision of schizophrenia, love, and the frustrations of navigating a hostile health system. The forms of memory play and poetry intertwine to create a shifting and at times ambiguous narrative, at the centre of which […]

REVIEW: Cinderella (Royal New Zealand Ballet)

August 4, 2022

[A fairy-tale for our challenging times] The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s ‘dream team’ of choreographer Loughlan Prior and composer Claire Cowan return with their largest and most ambitious project to date. Perfectly timed to coincide with the reopening of Wellington’s St James Theatre, it is clear that with a protagonist who rescues herself, two princes, an animated tapestry, and an […]