REVIEW: Success (The Basement)

July 31, 2015

High Achiever [by Tim George] It is hard to write a dramatic story involving stand-up comedians, mainly because it requires good jokes. Everyone remembers Punchline, the Tom Hanks movie about the gritty backstage world of standup, right? No, of course not. If you’re going to write a story about comedians, it has to be funny. As with that old story about […]

REVIEW: The Slapdash Assassin (Science Of Humans Theatre)

March 3, 2014

Killer Father Ted [by Andrew Parker] If you knew nothing at all about Ireland or its people then chances are a trip to see Mark Power’s play The Slapdash Assassin would get you up to speed, or at the very least deter you from visiting anytime in the immediate future. One half of the Basement’s ‘Murder Season’, Assassin is a blackly […]

REVIEW: Third Person,Tense! (The Basement)

October 17, 2012

First person pro [by Matt Baker] It’s been eight years since Stephen Papps wrote and starred in his own solo show, and I can honestly say is it’s a pity that it’s taken this long for him to do so again. In saying that, Third Person, Tense! is not technically a solo show. It’s billed as ‘a solo show with […]

REVIEW: Silent Night

December 14, 2011

Spend the Night with Irene [by James Wenley] Irene McMunn’s Christmas cheer has been charming audiences in small venues across the country. So much so, that director Stephen Papps has lost track of how many seasons the one woman show has had. This return season at TAPAC is the first time he’s seen the show since March. Impressively, it’s the […]

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 […]

PREVIEW: The Pitmen Painters – (potent pause) Productions

November 8, 2011

A Tale of Two Gittins [by Sharu Delilkan] Having worked on the international film circuit for the past few years, including The King’s Speech and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Calum Gittins jumped at the chance to work in theatre. And when his dad Paul told him he was directing The Pitmen Painters it was a no […]

REVIEW: Mike & Virginia (Comedy Festival)

May 4, 2011

When Mike met Virginia [by Sharu Delilkan] Everyone knows When Harry Met Sally so when the show opens using the movie as an example of a romantic comedy (or a romcom) it sets the stage perfectly for what’s to come. Mike & Virginia is written by veteran screenwriters Kathryn Burnett & Nick Ward, who are making their debut into the […]

PREVIEW: Mike & Virginia (Comedy Festival)

April 29, 2011

Back on the radar [by Sharu Delilkan] Most people know Te Radar as an award winning satirist, documentary maker, writer, failed gardener, and amateur historian. And more recently he’s been in our living rooms starring in TVNZ’s Radar’s Patch, Off the Radar, and Homegrown. But you’d be forgiven if you didn’t think of him as a stage director, especially since […]