REVIEW: The Woman in Black (Pumphouse Theatre)

June 16, 2022

[Ghost Story] On a rainy, wintery night, with the full moon shining bright, I cross the mists of dream and thought, to forget what is real, and what is not… The lights of The Pumphouse remain up as Michael Hurst enters the stage and begins to read from a large tome. He starts nervously to tell a tale – a […]

REVIEW: The Life of Galileo (Auckland Theatre Company)

June 29, 2021

[Use Science Wisely] The scene is 17th century Italy. Legendary astronomer Galileo Galilei is unsatisfied with what he has achieved in his life so far, and fixated on one subject in particular: the movement of the earth around the sun. Yet as Galileo tries fervently to share his discoveries with the world, it’s clear that there’s a big, black hole […]

REVIEW: No Holds Bard (Auckland Fringe)

February 27, 2020

[Too Many Harks, Not Enough Bite] Part of any creative endeavour is reception – whether that is an audience of strangers or your cousin Larry. Even the most shy and self-effacing creative will inevitably have to put their labour love in front of another human being to gauge their reaction.  One of the worst aspects of doing any kind of […]

REVIEW: An Illiad (Auckland Live)

May 30, 2019

[I have Wept with Hecuba and Raged with Achilles] Standing on the ramparts of Troy we look out to sea, across the furrowed stretch of land between city and sand littered with bodies – the bodies of men and boys, mostly boys that we once knew – to the angry cluster of Greek ships; above us, the gods bicker. In […]

REVIEW: Amadeus (Auckland Theatre Company)

May 15, 2017

[Mozart Lives] Peter Shaffer’s award-winning play Amadeus is not new to either stage or screen, having first been performed in 1979 and later adapted into a film in 1984. Don’t expect a period drama in Auckland Theatre Company’s production; Director Oliver Driver gives the play a new life, adding a modern contemporary twist when resurrecting Mozart’s music. It’s essentially a […]

REVIEW: Lysistrata (Auckland Theatre Company)

August 4, 2015

Make love… and theatre… not war [by Matt Baker] The serendipity of coming across the fourth entry in this Cracked article today was not lost on me. Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata over 2,400 years ago and, according to the opening night audience, dick jokes are just as funny now as they were then, and if there is one person in New Zealand […]

REVIEW: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (AUSA Outdoor Summer Shakespeare)

February 26, 2015

A strong and vital theme [by James Wenley] British Shakespeare great Simon Russell Beale (who toured here as Leontes in The Winter’s Tale alongside Ethan Hawke) was recently quoted in The Observer arguing that it is fine to take liberties with Shakespeare. “You can do what you like with it – as long as you make coherent, emotional sense… I see […]

Looking Back: 2013 – A Theatrical Year in Review

December 28, 2013

Auckland Participates [by James Wenley] This past year I have partied with underage drinkers, appeared on the 6pm news, ran for my life from snarling zombies, and, for an all too brief moment, locked eyes with a sensuous Lucy Lawless. If there’s one big trend that has come out of Auckland’s 2013 theatrical year, it’s got to be the year of […]

REVIEW: No Holds Bard (Royale Productions)

June 5, 2013

Hurst’s a Bardarse [by Sharu Delilkan] Aptly described as an outrageous and often profound look into one actor’s attempt at self-destruction, No Holds Bard definitely promises what it delivers…and more. This original compilation of numerous Shakespearean excerpts woven together from the likes of Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello is a great way to showcase Michael Hurst’s mastery of the […]

REVIEW: King Lear (Summer Shakespeare)

March 4, 2013

Game of Thrones [by James Wenley] When I consider King Lear I think of the high grand tragedy, the demands of the title role and the master actors who have played him, and I conjure the harrowing image of the old man against the storm on the heath. It was pleasing to be reminded that the play begins (where it […]

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