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Photo: Sean Coyle
ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE at Circa Two
reviewed by John Smythe 6 Jul 2009
Farcical elements brought to the fore
In essence Joe Orton’s first major play is a darkly comic cautionary tale about the dangers of repressing homosexuality at individual, family and social levels. Everything flows from that premise. As such it is a museum piece, firmly rooted in the 1960s when being queer was a crime ... [more]

STEALING GAMES at Capital E
reviewed by John Smythe 5 Jul 2009
Excellence on every level
The game four school friends play in the opening sequence – 4-Square – is boxed in, has strict rules and is very competitive. Failure, success, delight and (yes) danger at individual and group levels interweave with random twists that keep all players – and their audience – on their toes. [more]

CINDERELLA at 4 Moncrieff St., Mt. Victoria
reviewed by John Smythe 4 Jul 2009
Classical tale in contemporary context delivers delight
No story has scarred our psyches as deeply as Cinderella; she even has a syndrome named after her. (Is there a Handsome Prince Syndrome too?) [more]

MEMOIRS OF ACTIVE SERVICE at The Rose Centre, Belmont
reviewed by Celine Sumic 4 Jul 2009
Of love and war
A loosely constructed narrative, Memoirs of Active Service draws on a combination of dance, voice and audio-visual montage to create an experience that weaves together the past and present. Divided into 17 ‘Chapters’ the distinct sections of the dance work are successfully tied together by the recurring thread of the choreographer’s grandfather’s diary. [more]

STATION TO STATION at Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge
reviewed by Sian Robertson 3 Jul 2009
Pithy, fast paced script provokes with subtlety and blatancy
Station to Station is an absurdist satire throwing a spotlight on the hypocrisy of religious fundamentalism. It’s less about sight-seeing and more about journeys of the soul, with the disappointments of hero worship at its core. [more]

STATION TO STATION at Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge
reviewed by Janet McAllister (New Zealand Herald) 3 Jul 2009
Thriller-like verve, arresting characters on way to End
Michael Galvin (Shortland Street's Dr Warner) has written himself a doozy of a role in his new play: Simon, his Auckland evangelist, is willing to lie, entrap and possibly commit terrorist acts to hasten the Second Coming of Christ; the End apparently justifies being mean. [more]

STARLIGHT EXPRESS at TSB Bank Arena, Queens Wharf
reviewed by Ewen Coleman (The Dominion Post) 2 Jul 2009
All aboard for the high-octane express
This production for New Zealand audiences, which travels on to Christchurch and Auckland, is a sophisticated update of the production first performed in arenas throughout Scandinavia in 2007 and features a cast combining previous members from UK, US and German productions as well as young Kiwi talent, all performing on roller skates ... [more]

STARLIGHT EXPRESS at TSB Bank Arena, Queens Wharf
reviewed by John Smythe 2 Jul 2009
Thrill-a-thon of sound and movement
It’s a Cinderella set-up in essence but – being a boy’s story – it is primarily focused on a race between trains from different nations. The loco-contenders are all male while most of the service cars that hitch up for the ride are female, which is where the love interest comes in. [more]

Photo: Melt Images
THE COUNTRY WIFE at Globe Theatre
reviewed by Helen Watson White 29 Jun 2009
Curly-wigged artifice, witty circumlocution and downright intrigue
Midwinter revels in Dunedin, begun with an impressive lantern procession in the Octagon, continue in the Globe’s lively production of a Restoration favourite, dating from London’s winter season in 1675. [more]

Photo: Melt Images
THE COUNTRY WIFE at Globe Theatre
reviewed by Barbara Frame (Otago Daily Times) 27 Jun 2009
Enormously entertaining
Naughty, naughty. Between 1753 and 1924, William Wycherley's The Country Wife was considered so depraved that it was performed only in severely bowdlerised versions. [more]
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