 reviewed by Nik Smythe 27 Jun 2008 |
|
Takes a while to warm up In 1972 the All Blacks were touring the Welsh provinces when one night a famous but unclear violent incident occurred, resulting in the sending home of one Keith Murdoch, giant prop, beloved hero and apparent lynchpin to the team’s success ... Here is a play about the making of a 1990 documentary about an elusive key figure in a 1972 scandal shrouded in mystery, speculation and errant gossip. [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 13 Jul 2008 |
|
A solid classic Brick is a troubled young ex-sports hero who drinks, and has broken his leg recently in a drunken hurdling escapade. Maggie, his estranged yet determined and devoted wife, never stops trying to break through Brick’s impenetrable wall. Brick’s father, known to all as Big Daddy, who’s turning sixty five this night, is not in the best of health to say the least ... [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 24 Jul 2008 |
|
Unique theatrical escapade Two one act two handers, just shy of an hour each with an interval between, in this instance makes for a worthwhile couple of hours at the theatre. Spurs plays first, despite being billed second - a more rhythmic title, or is it intended as the first hint of conceptual displacement to lubricate our expectations for something that is reasonably unlikely for the majority of the audience to be expecting? [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 7 Aug 2008 |
|
Moscow Moscow Moscow The unfolding of the play’s events, spanning about five years over four acts, is centred around the hope of Irena (Brooke Williams) – the youngest and daintiest of the title characters who pines for Moscow – ever finding the fulfilment she craves. While all three sisters enjoy the notion of returning, the talented Williams portrays an exquisite and preciously determined Irena who is beside herself and cannot conceive of a fate worse than never getting back. [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 8 Sep 2008 |
|
Wrong love The scummy, dowdy set depicting the smoko room in some unspecified industrial factory or plant sets the aesthetic tone for the dismal and unnerving subject matter of the play. Twenty-seven year old Una has turned up at the workplace of fifty-six year old Ray, having tracked him down fifteen years after they had an illicit affair... you do the maths. [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 14 Sep 2008 |
|
Layered whanau comedy-drama According to their ‘Massive Way’ programme note, Massive Company has big aspirations. With cast of seven very strong and capable actors in a play scripted by one of the leading young Maori playwrights, Albert Belz, featuring adaptations from one of the classic short story collections of celebrated Maori author Witi Ihimaera, they’re not doing too badly. [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 16 Sep 2008 |
|
Like a river love carves its own path It is really an honour and privilege to witness the development of such a timeless love story as it explodes forth from a child's soul and the imagination of a woman still moved by it a hundred (and one) years after the fact. Stories like Grace – and Ian Hughes’ Ship Songs – serve as a challenge and hopefully inspiration for more of us to look into our own family history for legends and parables to shape our identity and share with our neighbours. [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 26 Oct 2008 |
|
SELF REFERENTIAL? It’s a curious thing that might cause a headache with over-thinking, that this play is allegedly exposing the cutthroat amorality of the entertainment industry, itself a product of that same industry... How many of the problems faced by Diane and her ongoing feisty negotiations with her feared production colleague ‘He, meaning him’ were faced by Beane and company in getting The Little Dog Laughed to the Broadway stage? [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 15 Nov 2008 |
|
Dynamically soul crushing inevitability [Revised 15/11, 1:30pm] Karlos Drinkwater is solidly square in the protagonist role of Josef K, a successful banker who wakes up one morning to discover he is under arrest. No-one can tell him what he’s been arrested for, and he isn’t detained as such. Rather he is able to go about his normal daily business, at least to begin with... [more] |
 reviewed by Nik Smythe 29 Nov 2008 |
|
Tight and tense Stephen Fitzgibbon and Benedict Wall play Vince and Jon, old friends since school. They are meeting this night at Vince’s motel room in the Michigan town that is premiering Jon’s new film. When Jon arrives they immediately begin verbally shadow boxing, playfully at first. It’s made apparent that they had a girlfriend in common, Amy (Hannah Marshall) ... [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 | | Next >> |