REVIEW: Famous Flora (Playtime Theatre)

November 14, 2014

Famous Flora Fascinates [by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth] Choosing to stage Elisabeth Easther’s premiere about Flora Mackenzie, one of Auckland’s most notorious Mesdames, at the White House was a stroke of genius. The venue not only gave the show added dimension, being totally apt, but also acted as an eight character in the 7-strong cast that entertained us at the […]

REVIEW: A Model Woman (Flaxworks Theatre Company)

October 24, 2013

The Artist’s Muse [by James Wenley] For artists Einar and Gerda Wegener, 1920s bohemian Paris represents “exciting times”. War is over, cinema is changing the world, and in these enlightened times there is the sense that you can be whoever you want. Gerda (Alex Ellis), the portrait artist, is the “modern woman in trousers”, rejecting her gender’s traditional role; Einar […]

REVIEW: Like There’s No Tomorrow (The Playground Collective and ATC)

July 29, 2013

You never know where the night will take you [by James Wenley] There’s a girl in the stairwell, quietly weeping, desperately trying not to be noticed. She’s the only student at the (banned) afterball not to have bothered with a costume or a flash dress. In her hands she tightly clutches a camera. She’s noticed by a Japanese exchange, dressed […]

REVIEW: Len Lye the opera

September 12, 2012

Len me your ears!! [by Sharu Delilkan] I’m always a sucker for a live band or in this case orchestra on stage. I realise that it comes with its own set of technical difficulties but being a live music fiend seeing them on stage the minute I entered the theatre made me smile. And of course it would be remiss […]

REVIEW: Drowning in Veronica Lake (Q Season)

August 30, 2012

The Fame Monster [by James Wenley] There’s commentary within this show about the difference between celebrity and stardom. Celebrity is flash in the pan stuff. Stardom is enduring. You counted. People remember. Movie femme fatale Veronica Lake has the ingredients for stardom – a troubled back-story, ambition, a face that lights up the screens. She was very much a screen […]

REVIEW: The Pitmen Painters – (potent pause) Productions

November 19, 2011

Billy Elliot meets RED [by James Wenley] With Billy Elliot, everyone remembers the feel good inspirational story of the boy who became a ballet star. In revisiting the film recently, I was struck by the gritty social background – of Thatcher’s England and the miners sacrificing everything with lengthy strike action. For Billy, dancing was a way of escaping a […]

REVIEW: Drowning in Veronica Lake (Auckland Fringe)

March 8, 2011

Veronica lives on! [by Sharu Delilkan] Alex Ellis has got the whole package – the petite frame, platinum blonde hair and Veronica Lake’s signature peek-a-boo bangs, which became a phenomenon in the 1940s. She may be a lot taller than Lake was in real life (5 ft 11 in instead of 5 ft 2 in) but that doesn’t detract from […]