REVIEW: The Faustus Project (The Basement)

May 31, 2017

[Hell is Other People] Everybody knows the story of Faust. Smart guy wants to gain more power, conjures the devil, sells his soul and takes too long to understand his folly. It’s been replayed endlessly, from the original Christopher Marlowe play, through The Devil and Daniel Webster, Frankenstein, and the Al Pacino scream-athon The Devil’s Advocate. It’s a story that […]

REVIEW: Lord of the Flies (Auckland Theatre Company)

September 8, 2013

Boys own Apocalypse [by James Wenley] Auckland Theatre Company’s stage production makes a nod to the usual medium the Lord of the Flies story is inherited: the secondary school classroom. A bookend, invented by Director Colin McColl and his cast, sets the leads as contemporary high-school students encountering William Golding’s 1954 novel. Project artwork of various pig heads, beasts and […]

REVIEW: Next Big Thing Festival; Tusk Tusk and Checkout Chicks (ATC)

July 10, 2012

Meaty Drama, Sweet Musical [by James Wenley] Tusk Tusk is a serious family drama, with lots to chew upon. ATC’s Associate Director Lynne Cardy describes it as ‘Arthur Miller for children’. Carried by a stunning performance from its three young leads, they must fend for themselves with absent authority figures. Checkout Chicks is an unapologetically silly and entertaining Musical. It […]