[A Bit Wispy] Theatre is not always good at creating a visceral experience — the medium is designed as a platform for exploring ideas, not action (let’s take musicals and pro-wrestling out of the equation). Anthologies are also difficult to pull off — not only do you have to provide a strong set of tight stories, you also have to […]
[Prickly in a good way] It’s the second time in seven days I have watched toast being made in the Basement loft. The first was in Kate Bartlett’s Madwoman/Gentlewoman. For Kate, the toast was left dry, like her tumbleweed humour, part of some infinitely fathomable ritual of daily being. By contrast, Lizzie Morris of Lucinda The Cactus Girl cheerfully lathers […]
[Southern Discomfort] Of the three major post-war American playwrights, Tennessee Williams strikes me as the most emotionally rich and rewarding, a master observer of the human condition and poet of the stage. But, despite his influence and legacy, it tends to be The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that he is best […]
[Beige Comedy] Described as a black comedy about mental health, Lisa Brickell’s Mockingbird investigates the effects of postnatal depression (or postpartem depression) on several generations of women, starting with the recently pregnant Tina all the way back to her grandmother. The central concern of the play, to advocate and educate in an entertaining fashion, is an admirable one, but the […]
[HellzaBoppin’] Going into Suits, I realised a) I know nothing about cabaret and b) this was not going to be a musical based on the US TV series. It turned it it didn’t matter — if you are in the mood for some deeply personal revelations with great tunes (and Iggy Izalea), this show is the one for you. A […]
[Off Beat] Banging Cymbal, Clanging Gong is once again brought to life fifteen years after its debut by writer Jo Randerson. The show promises to be a raucous event pioneered by a tartan wearing, foul mouthed punk figure who navigates her ancestry and personal philosophy throughout the show. Taking inspiration from her Danish heritage, Randerson weaves into the fabric of […]
[Awkward Appropriation] Cultural appropriation is always uncomfortable to witness, whether you’re at an exotically-themed dress-up party or your friend gets an unfortunate tribal tattoo. A much trickier grey area explored in Hayley Sproull’s Vanilla Miraka is when the lines between cultures are blurred, when you share the blood of the coloniser and the colonised. Is it still cultural appropriation if […]
[A Satyrical Satire] Sex is an easy starting place for comedy. The expectations, the realities, and the frustrations of desire can provide great set ups for jokes. Think back to the characters played by Marilyn Monroe and Joe E. Brown in Some Like It Hot — their bodies and perceived sex appeal (or lack of, in Brown’s case) become walking […]
[Return of the Divas] Back from their self-imposed hiatus Deni$ and Tyla grace New Zealand’s stage once again dropping bangers and truths for audiences at the Basement Theatre. Frith Horan and Kate McGill are stepping back into the shoes of this problematic pop-duo to rekindle their relationship with their fans after an ego-fueled mistake at Coachella destroyed their careers nine […]
[A Doll’s Hell] “It is not necessarily at home that we best encounter our true selves. The furniture insists that we cannot change because it does not; the domestic setting keeps us tethered to the person we are in ordinary life, who may not be who we essentially are.”― Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel. Like A Doll’s House‘s […]
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