REVIEW: Salonica (Auckland Fringe)

February 25, 2018

[A Sign of Things to Come] When the Auckland Museum launched its online cenotaph, it was a chance for many to discover a part of their family history that had otherwise been a difficult task to undertake. The interest in the Centenary made an easy transition to the stage, with the success of plays such as Once on Chunuk Bair, […]

SCENE BY JAMES: 2017 – A Theatrical Year in Review

December 29, 2017

[Theatre by the Numbers] 150,000 Aucklanders can’t be wrong, right? These are the approximate combined totals of audiences who flocked to the Pop-up Globe and Pleasuredome: The Musical in 2017. Compare that with the record-breaking 130,000 who went to Adele’s Auckland concerts this year. And that’s not even including the Globe’s jump across the Tasman, where their productions are still […]

REVIEW: Mother/Jaw (Auckland Fringe)

March 1, 2015

Jawdropping [by Matt Baker] It has been said that at spoken word performances of Grace Taylor’s poetry collection, Afakasi Speaks, the inspiration for Mother/Jaw, that “the poem is wrapped in the body’s movement, and the body’s movement is wrapped in the poem.” This integration of word and movement has been taken on its natural progression by choreographers Jahra ‘Rager’ Wasasala and Grace […]

REVIEW: Prehistoria (Auckland Fringe)

February 26, 2015

Evolutionary [by Matt Baker] From its opening narration by ever-funny anti-wordsmith Nic Sampson, to its audience-participatory ending, Prehistoria engages a variety of theatrical conventions and a hilarious narrative, offering its patrons a gorgeous comedic gem for the 2015 Fringe Festival. It’s a story we all know. Girl meets dinosaur, girl meets boy, dinosaur loses girl, girl loses boy, dinosaur gets girl, […]

REVIEW: The Dummy (Auckland Fringe)

February 22, 2015

Negative Comment [by Guest Reviewer Tim George] The line between provocation and exploitation is blurred in this multi-media examination of young woman’s spiral from depression to suicide. The Dummy combines live actors and back-projections of Facebook profiles and news footage and crams a lot of big ideas into its short running time. So many in fact that it never takes the […]

REVIEW: Take Back the Hood (Auckland Fringe)

February 21, 2015

Back to the Hood [by Guest Reviewer Tim George] At its core, a good story, whatever the medium, gives its audience a question that it will hopefully provide an answer for by the resolution. Take The Godfather. Can a man separate himself from his past and his family, or is he destined to fail? The journey from question to answer is what […]

REVIEW: Keep out of my Box (and other useful advice) (Auckland Fringe)

February 20, 2015

Here’s some free advice for you [by Matt Baker] Spend enough time at The Basement and you’ll get to know the staff there. Spend even more time and you’ll find that some of them have talents beyond your expectations. Such is the case with box office manager and actress Torum Heng. I’ve seen Heng on stage before, but it wasn’t until […]

REVIEW: Caterpillars (Auckland Fringe)

February 20, 2015

Comedy Metamorphosis [by Guest Reviewer Tim George] Caterpillars is a story with two tales. On one level, it is meant to be an imaginative, artistic, and yes, somewhat pretentious art piece evoking the life cycle of a butterfly through a combination of puppetry and music. On another level it is the story of how two hapless puppeteers can completely screw it […]

REVIEW: Grounded (Auckland Fringe)

February 19, 2015

Target Locked [by Guest Reviewer Rose Archer] George Brant’s script of Grounded is so extraordinary that if nothing else it is absolutely worth going to see such a wonderful piece of writing come to life. Grounded is a complex and moving portrayal of one female pilots struggle with motherhood, marriage, and being ‘grounded’ as a drone-pilot. Essentially an hour-long monologue, the […]

REVIEW: Away from Home (Auckland Fringe and Auckland Pride Festival)

February 18, 2015

Fever Pitch [by Tim Booth and Sharu Delilkan] Kyle: Who’re ya? Who’re ya? Who’re ya? So goes the football terrace chant setting Away from Home‘s pace and rhythms – a crisp production featuring Rob Ward‘s striking performance; fast-paced writing – tackling acceptance, isolation, love, rejection and poignantly unexpected acceptance. Delivered by Ward with co-writer/ designer/director Martin Jameson. The initial similarity […]

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