Latest Reviews
Region
Order by date / production / venue

GRUMPY OLD WOMEN at TSB Showplace
reviewed by Ngaire Riley 10 Mar 2010
A good talking to for a laugh
Here is a world for women: the lounge or the boudoir. And when Geraldine, Pinky and Lyndee-Jane arrive in floor length cream Balmoral gabardine coats, scarves tied tightly to the chin and clutching Warehouse red, New World turquoise and Countdown green bags, we are treated to a slick, witty comic romp. [more]

HE REO AROHA at Soundings - Te Papa
reviewed by John Smythe 10 Mar 2010
Simple or simplistic?
An enthusiastic opening night audience welcomed He Reo Aroha to Wellington with sustained applause. There is no doubt it is a crowd-pleaser, with its blend of love story, character comedy, songs and music. [more]

HE REO AROHA at Soundings - Te Papa
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 10 Mar 2010
Welcome home for charming tale of love and fishing
In a bare bones production under Hone Kouka’s smooth direction, He Reo Aroha is a simple unpretentious story of love lost and love regained. It is told in song, in scenes of warm comedy, and one scene of dramatic action in a storm on a fishing boat. [more]

THE GURU OF CHAI at Shed 13 (MOJO HQ), Wellington Waterfront
reviewed by John Smythe 9 Mar 2010
Bitter-sweet tale draws universal truths from its very particular blend
According to Kutisar – Jacob Rajan’s latest wondrous creation – the Festival called him in because it realised its audiences felt their lives were meaningless. Apparently we know only “emptiness, loneliness and painful urination” and we need enlightenment. [more]

HOU at MAU Theatre, Corban Estate
reviewed by Carol Brown 9 Mar 2010
The performance ecology of HOU
HOU is a suite of works that thematically reflect the primordial structures of life through the experiences of birth, nurturance and training, mark-making and lamenting; an itinerary of events mapped and formed within a performance ecology embedded with a Maori worldview. [more]

Photo: Matt Grace
THE LETTER WRITER at Circa One
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 9 Mar 2010
Poignant foray into Cyrano’s territory
There is nothing quite as pleasurable as sitting in a theatre where two hundred individuals are made one while in the thrall of a play and all the elements of theatre coalesce in such a way that you know nothing will break the spell. [more]

HAPPY AS LARRY at TSB Bank Arena, Queens Wharf
reviewed by Jennifer Shennan (The Dominion Post) 9 Mar 2010
When fun and games turn serious
This curious show, defying easy categorisation, is not at all predictable from its advance publicity. Nine performers, young and fast, set a game-like mood seemingly aimed at a youth audience. But don’t be fooled – this is a serious theatre piece, from Australia, about the contemporary lives of young people, the implications of which are of course for all of us. [more]

MACBETH at Nikau Grove, behind the Children’s Playground in Victoria Esplanade
reviewed by John Ross 8 Mar 2010
Paranoia and ruthlessness in theatre of war
Mounting Macbeth with a mainly student cast, in an outside venue (risky in itself, around here), and more-or-less in modern dress, is a huge challenge for a director; and all credit to Paul McLaughlin for making it happen. Quite interesting stuff occurs along the way. [more]

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA at Pacific Blue Festival Club (Shed 6)
reviewed by Ewen Coleman (The Dominion Post) 8 Mar 2010
Celebration of the unique and unusual
In a series of surreal vignettes, unrelated one to the other, clever and fascinating animations are projected onto a screen that Andrade and Appleton then perform to, mainly through actions but with some dialogue. Every scene and interlude is expertly accompanied by Lillian Henley on piano, making the whole show appear like a 3D silent movie-come-vaudeville show. [more]

Photo: Matt Grace
THE LETTER WRITER at Circa One
reviewed by John Smythe 8 Mar 2010
Powerful socio-political and poetic treat
The Letter Writer aesthetically blends the ordinary and extraordinary, the comical and tragical, petty problems and life-threatening concerns, objective observation and evocations of subjective experience, within the context of an ever-changing world. It is a compelling, confronting and finally deeply moving essay on the nature of exile. [more]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | 271 | 272 | 273 | 274 | 275 | 276 | 277 | 278 | 279 | 280 | 281 | 282 | 283 | 284 | Next >>