Suicide isn’t painless [by Sharu Delilkan] Another Dead Fag epitomises the essence of The Basement’s ethos. In this case it was not only about appreciating young playwright Sam Brooks’ uncanny ability to write insightful modern day dialogue, but it was about seeing some of the actors who also work at The Basement performing superbly on stage. Dan Veint (Seb) shines […]
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 […]
[by James Wenley] PICK: The Feast What are we Feasting on? Not one, not two, but three very different plays all in one evening: 1. Halfatasi by Refiner’s Fire Collective 2. The Soldier’s Heart and The Feathered Girl by Le Petit Workshop 3. The Clown That Ran Away From The Circus by Nikki Bennett and Company Who’s putting it on? In the kind of collaborative enterprise […]
Delicious [by Matt Baker] Once again The Basement proves its integrality to the Auckland theatre industry by picking up where ATC left off and presenting their first season of Young & Hungry, a programme in which performers and operators under the age of 25 are mentored by established writers, directors, producers, designers, operators, and stage managers. Dragonlore by Nic Sampson and Atlas/Mountains/Dead Butterflies by Joseph […]
Keep Calm and Party On [by James Wenley] The promotional blurb has boldly led with the Channel 4 Quote that Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh is the “most painful hundred minutes of British comedy”. You can understand why. The guests of the party are hardly the type of people you’d otherwise willingly want to spend that amount of time with. […]
One way of passing time [by Matt Baker] Less a play and more a series of vignettes, the fourth production by Playfight, written and performed by co-founders Shoshana McCallum and Donna Brookbanks, is a self-proclaimed thought provoking commentary on the human condition in the naughties. Said commentary is broken, however, between the nine aforementioned vignettes, and consequently offers little insight […]
Hotel Secrets [by Sharu Delilkan] The all-too-familiar experience began as we entered The Rendezvous Hotel to see the Christchurch Arts Festival show Hotel. We walked into the reception and spoke to the concierge who said that we would be called when the show was about to begin. What I’m referring to is all the unknowns we are confronted with when […]
A touch of class [by Sharu Delilkan] Coming to see Patrick Marber’s play After Miss Julie was an experience in itself. Right from the get-go it was obvious that the producers of the show had taken a lot of care to ensure that the audience were going to be taken care of. I say this because it is seldom that […]
What every woman needs [by Matt Baker] Incorporating a similar narrative construct to her hit Fringe Festival show Elevator, writer and actress Jess Sayer has brought three women together in a confined space and gradually turned up the heat. Wings follow three sisters’ literal and metaphorical journey, with Sayer cleverly making the subtlest of suggestions along the way. The result is that even […]
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 […]
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