New Zealand theatre reviews, performace reviews and performing arts directory



Latest Reviews
Region   Subscribe via RSS Theatreview RSS
Festival
Reviewer
Order by date / production / venue / festival

SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO? at BATS
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 16 Feb 2012
A fun show
With verve and plenty of good humour and some easy-going audience participation – and a spat or two as well as full-blown fight with a squashy banana – the pair present their cases. [more]

A PLAY ABOUT LOVE at BATS
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 12 Mar 2012
Images that linger
Long after I have forgotten all about what happened in a play I will often retain a particular image from it; with A Play about Love it will be jam jars. [more]

LOSER at BATS
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 26 Mar 2012
Low Comedy
The Whitireia Bachelor of Applied Arts Students’ production of Loser, a comedy about a school reunion, starts with a nice touch: audience members are given name tags with ‘Student’ written on them. From then on, however, it’s down hill all the way ... [more]

Photo: Dawn Cheong
THE PROSPECT at Gryphon
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson 31 Aug 2012
Powerful depiction of town under siege
There’s an appealing rawness in the writing and structure of this first play by Maraea Rakuraku. And while her characters are stereotypes as well as symbols of good and evil, one is always held by the possibility that they might do the unexpected such is the power of the dramatic tension that she is able to create in the key scenes of her whanau drama set in the small Bay of Plenty town of Te Manawanui; pop: 522 and “40 minutes away from civilization”. [more]

SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE ON SCREEN 2012 at Lighthouse Cinema: ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson 28 Sep 2012
Comedy mixes awkwardly with emotional undercurrents
Anyone wanting a bright and breezy, straightforward, energetic version of one of Shakespeare’s lesser works should go and see Globe on Screen’s All’s Well That Ends Well, which was presented at The Globe in 2011. Unlike the filmed National Theatre production of All’s Well, the Globe’s screen version of this tricky play gets down to the business of presenting the play ... [more]

SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE ON SCREEN 2012 at Lighthouse Cinema: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson 12 Oct 2012
Made special by communal bonding
Jeremy Herrin’s lively version of Much Ado is by far the most enjoyable of all the Globe on Screen films that I have seen. It’s funny, inventive, and surprisingly moving in the dramatic scenes and it was clearly a winner with the Globe audience, many of whom must have been seeing it for the first time judging by their reactions. [more]

SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE ON SCREEN 2012 at Lighthouse Cinema: DOCTOR FAUSTUS
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson 26 Oct 2012
Production values score over tame leads
Marlowe’s Dr Faustus is a glorious muddle of a play. Like Waiting for Godot there is no plot and no conflict, but unlike Beckett’s bleak masterpiece it is laden with some very unfunny low comedy scenes that one assumes Marlowe never wrote. [more]

THE IMPOSTAR: WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS? at BATS
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 10 Dec 2012
Talent raw yet it’s impressive
Jason Chasland has a cult following of hysterical screamers who were out in full force for the opening night of his The ImpoSTAR as they whooped, hollered and screeched with laughter throughout his seventy minute show. [more]

Photo: Paul McLaughlin
A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Circa Two
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson 10 Dec 2012
Rich plum pudding of a rendition
‘Has much changed?’ is a question asked by Ray Henwood in the programme of his production of A Christmas Carol when we compare Victorian society with our own. Human nature hasn’t improved and Dickens’s message of the necessity of simple kindness, good cheer and redemption is as important as ever. [more]

CORIOLANUS at The Long Hall, Roseneath
reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 29 Jan 2013
Shakespeare play full of bloodshed and revenge
The actors line up across the stage in typical Bacchanal style – casual and welcoming – at the start of the rarely performed in New Zealand Coriolanus: an unusual introduction to one of Shakespeare's flintiest plays. [more]
<< Prev 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 | 285 | 286 | 287 | 288 | 289 | 290 | 291 | 292 | 293 | 294 | 295 | 296 | 297 | 298 | 299 | 300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | 309 | 310 | 311 | 312 | 313 | 314 | 315 | 316 | 317 | 318 | 319 | 320 | 321 | 322 | 323 | 324 | 325 | 326 | 327 | 328 | 329 | 330 | 331 | 332 | 333 | 334 | 335 | 336 | 337 | 338 | 339 | 340 | 341 | 342 | 343 | 344 | 345 | 346 | 347 | 348 | 349 | 350 | 351 | 352 | 353 | 354 | 355 | 356 | 357 | 358 | 359 | 360 | 361 | 362 | 363 | 364 | 365 | 366 | 367 | 368 | 369 | 370 | 371 | 372 | 373 | 374 | 375 | 376 | 377 | 378 | 379 | 380 | 381 | 382 | 383 | 384 | 385 | 386 | 387 | 388 | 389 | 390 | 391 | 392 | 393 | 394 | 395 | 396 | 397 | 398 | 399 | 400 | 401 | 402 | 403 | 404 | 405 | 406 | 407 | 408 | 409 | 410 | 411 | 412 | 413 | 414 | 415 | 416 | 417 | 418 | 419 | 420 | 421 | 422 | 423 | 424 | 425 | 426 | 427 | 428 | 429 | 430 | 431 | 432 | 433 | 434 | 435 | 436 | 437 | 438 | 439 | 440 | 441 | 442 | 443 | 444 | 445 | 446 | 447 | 448 | 449 | 450 | 451 | 452 | 453 | 454 | 455 | 456 | 457 | 458 | 459 | 460 | 461 | 462 | 463 | 464 | 465 | 466 | 467 | 468 | 469 | 470 | 471 | 472 | 473 | 474 | 475 | 476 | 477 | 478 | 479 | 480 | 481 | 482 | 483 | 484 | 485 | 486 | 487 | 488 | 489 | 490 | 491 | 492 | 493 | 494 | 495 | 496 | 497 | 498 | 499 | 500 | 501 | 502 | 503 | 504 | 505 | 506 | 507 | 508 | 509 | 510 | 511 | 512 | 513 | 514 | 515 | 516 | 517 | 518 | 519 | 520 | 521 | 522 | 523 | 524 | 525 | 526 | 527 | 528 | 529 | 530 | 531 | 532 | 533 | 534 | 535 | 536 | 537 | 538 | 539 | 540 | 541 | 542 | 543 | 544 | 545 | 546 | 547 | 548 | 549 | 550 | 551 | 552 | 553 | 554 | 555 | 556 | 557 | 558 | 559 | 560 | 561 | 562 | 563 | 564 | 565 | 566 | 567 | 568 | 569 | 570 | 571 | 572 | 573 | 574 | 575 | 576 | 577 | 578 | 579 | 580 | 581 | 582 | 583 | 584 | 585 | 586 | 587 | 588 | 589 | 590 | Next >>