REVIEW: SIBS (The Basement)

August 9, 2018

[O Sibling, Where Art Thou?] The concept of sibling rivalry dates as far back through history as Romulus and Remus (750 BC), and the conflict it produces has been the subject of theatrical narratives from Shakespeare’s King Lear (c. 1606) to Jess Sayer’s Wings (2013). A meta-theatrical, autobiographical comedy, SIBS presents Chris Parker, an award-winning actor and comedian with a […]

REVIEW: Chris Parker: Camp Binch (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 12, 2018

[Nostalgia Extravaganza] Chris Parker has mastered the art of self-deprecation and personal storytelling, taking the audience on an emotional detour through his childhood. Camp Binch is a brilliant underdog story of growing up in Christchurch, not just as a gay kid, but also simply as an outsider. Equipped with a ridiculous wig and a black sequin backdrop, Parker skillfully avoids […]

REVIEW: Parker & Sainsbury: Giggly Gerties (NZ International Comedy Festival)

April 28, 2018

[Heavy Metal Camp] Giggly Gerties is the latest joint from the team of Chris Parker & Thomas Sainsbury. Following the ensemble of their last opus Camping, Giggly Gerties is the team distilled to their essence – two men in leotards on a bare stage jabbering nonsense for 50 minutes. Resting snuggly on the imaginary border between the head spaces of […]

REVIEW: The Opening Night Before Christmas (The Basement)

December 9, 2016

[Levin la Vida Loca] Shadows of the North Pole is one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. Written and directed by Rosa-Lynne Martin Shanks (Kura Forrester), it features a cast of amateurs less convincing than that time your little sister forced you and the rest of your family to watch her one-woman show about — oh, who cares, you […]

REVIEW: Milky Bits (The Basement)

June 15, 2016

[Vision Boards A go-go] Three friends (Chris Parker, Hayley Sproull and Leon Wadham) are lost on a windy heath. After finding each other, they declare their mutual devotion and vow to return on the anniversary of their ordeal to celebrate their enduring bond. And that about does it for plot. When I first heard the title ‘Milky Bits’, I was […]

REVIEW: Camping: Parker and Sainsbury (NZ International Comedy Festival)

April 25, 2016

[Fantastic Foursome] Set in a holiday home where two couples double-book for a honeymoon and an anniversary, the drawing room comedy becomes the primary target for parody in Chris Parker and Thomas Sainsbury’s Camping. It’s like a raunchier version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf with the serious drama cut out. Even the characters feel like grotesque Kiwi versions of […]

REVIEW: Hudson & Halls Live (Silo)

November 9, 2015

A Simple Dish [by Matt Baker] Before the plethora of cooking shows both at home and overseas, there was Peter Hudson and David Halls. Commissioned by Silo Theatre, Hudson & Halls Live! is the fictional account of New Zealand’s best cooking duo, two men whose love of cooking, entertaining, laughing, living, and most importantly, each other, introduced an entire nation to […]

REVIEW: Hauraki Horror (The Basement)

December 4, 2014

Silly Seas [by James Wenley] The Basement Christmas show feels a little less ambitious this year. Long gone are your Kim Dotcoms and entire children’s choirs that have featured in Christmas shows pasts. The most ambitious thing in Hauraki Horror is probably the boat set designed brilliantly by Grant Hall to fill the length of The Basement, and one of the […]

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