REVIEW: Exes (Basement Theatre)

March 6, 2019

[A Thin Line Between Love and Hate… and laughter?] A decade ago, Eli Matthewson and Brynley Stent were boyfriend and girlfriend. In the present day, they look back on how they got to together, and how they went their separate ways. Taking in improv games, role-play and a shattering of the space-time continuum, Exes is by a turns funny, sad and – […]

REVIEW: Eli Matthewson: An Inconvenient Poof (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 12, 2018

[Low-Fat Agitprop] Eli Matthewson’s latest show manoeuvres through the tricky and confusing world of ethical living, as he strives to be the best activist he can be. It’s a pressing question in our current time, particularly for our generation. Playing to the audience with just the right amount of charm and confidence, Matthewson effortlessly delivers his material, consistently hitting those […]

REVIEW: Eli Matthewson (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 9, 2016

[You Won’t Believe what Matt Baker says about Eli Matthewson in this Review] Having trained as an actor and worked as a writer for Funny Girls, and Jono and Ben, it makes perfect sense that 2015 Billy T Award nominated comedian Eli Matthewson, under the direction of theatrical daredevil Kip Chapman, would step from straight stand up to sketch comedy […]

REVIEW: Stutterpop – The Queen’s Speech (Smoke Labours Productions)

August 27, 2015

Stutterly Memorable [by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth] The subtitle of the performance “The Queen’s Speech” is an apt description of the show. In many plays there are pivotal, poignant and powerful moments that you love or remember. For us it was the honesty and plain spoken humanity of the whole evening that will make it memorable, when all those […]

REVIEW: Faith (Eli Matthewson) (NZ International Comedy Festival 2015)

May 14, 2015

No Doubt [by Matt Baker] Religion is a goldmine for comedians. It’s also an easy target, which some exploit to disseminate their philosophical views, and while that’s perfectly valid in the comedy medium, it’s not the aim for Eli Matthewson. Instead, the concept of faith, or, more specifically, losing it, is a chance for Matthewson to simply expose not only some […]

REVIEW: Ghastly Dash Grimm: A Tale of Unease (Fractious Tash)

October 30, 2014

Grimm sparks grins [by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth] It was impossible to ignore the writing on the wall as we walked up the stairs to the Basement Studio. A closer look revealed the actual script that had been penned by none other than Ghastly Dash Grimm: A Tale Of Unease’s writer/director Benjamin Henson. Ben Anderson’s dramatic stage design was […]

REVIEW: Earnest (Fractious Tash and Last Tapes Theatre Company)

August 29, 2014

Earnest goes Wilde [by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth] It’s interesting that The Importance of Being Earnest is often performed as a ‘straight’ interpretation, which is ironic given the gay essence of the closeted homosexual playwright’s well-known work. And to be honest a key reason I was keen to see this version was its premise of a fresh innovative take […]

REVIEW: Velcro City (The Basement)

February 19, 2014

Stuck on you [by James Wenley] Eli Matthewson and Hamish Parkinson are endearing performers, and also rather talented doodlers. In two hander shows where actors play multiple characters, some shows will trust the actors to indicate character changes through physicality and voice, others might make a comic virtue out of rapid costume changes. These guys go one step better. The main […]

REVIEW: Lantern (Pretty Asian Theatre)

February 11, 2014

Lantern truly illuminates [by Sharu Delilkan] Right from the get-go the acting is ballsy and confident – in yer face and full of pace. Chye-Ling Huang and James Roque play off each other nicely and clearly believe and/or personally identify with the key themes and characters of the play. Coming from Malaysia where Chinese New Year is a big part […]

REVIEW: The Feast (The Basement)

October 16, 2013

My compliments to the chef [by Matt Baker] After having been selected through Red Leap Theatre’s Incubator Programme and workshopped through its Short Work Showcase, Le Petit Workshop, Refiner’s Fire Collective, and Nikki Bennett and Company have each produced a delectable piece of theatre, presented under the collective title of The Feast. Advertised as a mouth-watering feast of fresh theatre, each […]

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