 reviewed by John Smythe 9 Apr 2008 |
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Accessible, relevant and provocative play delivered with entertaining fluency and flair ... By dropping the unknown Tommy Morehu into the well-known Jack Lovelock story, playwright Dean Parker sketches a class ridden heritage at odds with the egalitarian myth, traverses 72 years of political conflict and change, mounts a strong argument for politics being inextricable from sport and prods our collective conscience in the build up to the Beijing Olympics 2008. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 11 Apr 2008 |
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Minimalist comic style a delight The source of Peter Oswald’s “appalling mistranslation of a Roman comedy”, now called The Storm, is Rudens (The Rope) by Titus Maccius Plautus … Director Alexandra Lodge saw The Storm in 2005 at the Globe Theatre in London … But there is no sense of imitation in [this] execution of the lengthy script. Collectively and individually they make the story and their characters very much their own. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 12 Apr 2008 |
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Allusive and elusive exploration of inescapable truth Afterburner, founded in 2001 by Martyn Roberts with a stronger-than-usual focus on light and sound design, specialises in the astronomical metaphor ... T h e S i n g u l a r i t y plays with the idea that when stars have collapsed in on themselves, so much so that gravity pulls in light itself, nothing can escape (Singularity Theory). [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 20 Apr 2008 |
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Apparently traditional yet brand new KidzStuff Theatre’s holiday offering is a new work, written by Rob Ormsby, made to look like an old folk tale except without the extremes of good and evil, scary bits or a even (perish the thought) a hero. [more] |
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TALE OF A DOG at Capital E reviewed by John Smythe 20 Apr 2008 |
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A winning combination Once more Capital E writer/director Peter Wilson has collaborated with a highly talented creative team to develop a gem of a show, pitched at 2 to 7 year-olds but entertaining for all ages. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 12 May 2008 |
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Compelling truth makes for truly moving conclusion Artists living on the fringe: idealistic, compulsively creative, think they’re invincible … Even when they’re broke, cold and hungry, survival’s a game, an adventure. Any money they do come by is for booze and good times; the landlord’s to be duped and treated with contempt, and older men seduced by attractive young women are to be exploited for their wealth. All in the name of freedom ... [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 12 May 2008 |
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More to find in parable of power and pain? What the USA has done and is doing to the world in the names of ‘foreign policy’, ‘democracy’, ‘freedom’ and the ‘global market’ has become one of the most pressing political issues of our time. But it’s a huge topic ... So how does a playwright find a point of focus and an enduring theme let alone contain it within a viable piece of live theatre? Scottish playwright David Greig’s ingenious answer ... is to distil it into a parable ... [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 13 May 2008 |
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Excellent chemistry Once more, on the smell of a rag that can no longer afford to be oily, a team of committed professionals has come together to do the most important work in New Zealand theatre: produce the world premiere of a new work by a very promising local playwright. Admirably. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 17 May 2008 |
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Engaging insights and intrigue Cleverly constructed, and inspired by the breakup of his own first marriage,* Jason Robert Brown’s The Last 5 Years covers the time frame in question, first in a waltzing ‘dumbshow’ prologue, then in song, from opposite ends. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 18 May 2008 |
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A rich experience of three lives In stripping its three characters back to the bone, this play takes an x-ray snapshot of contemporary England, or parts of it at least. And in the process of plumbing their darker depths, as each wrestles in private with intense emotional stress, it generates an extraordinary amount of humour. [more] |
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