 reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 23 Jan 2009 |
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Little to laugh at in dark comedy After watching President Obama’s inauguration in the morning with all its attendant pomp, euphoria and overwhelming sense of communal optimism, it was odd to see in the evening a satirical American play, written in 2000, that skewers in a ham-fisted way left-wing activists as being nothing more than self-serving hypocrites. [more] |
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reviewed by Lynn Freeman (Capital Times) 28 Jan 2009 |
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Nasty folk Altruism is a funny thing. People’s motives for taking up this or that cause vary, from the truly heartfelt desire to right a perceived injustice, to revelling in being seen in a protest line whatever the ‘cause’. The latter is true of the altruists in American writer Nicky Silver’s play, they’re a pack of selfish, self-obsessed, sex-obsessed losers. [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] |
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reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 12 May 2008 |
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Political drama echoes the events of real life Long gone are the days when America could be described, as it was by Arnold Toynbee, as a large friendly dog in a very small room; every time it wags its tail it knocks over a chair. [more] |
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reviewed by Lynn Freeman (Capital Times) 14 May 2008 |
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Gritty and provocative In a welcome twist to the old captive/captor scenario, Scottish playwright David Greig has thrust an injured American pilot into a poor rural village in an unnamed country which is in the midst of a government/rebel conflict. The pilot just wants to get home, the villagers are at a loss to know what to do with him – he’s either a strategic asset or a substantial liability, or in the view of young Evie, their saviour. [more] |
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reviewed by Helen Sims (The Lumiere Reader) 5 Jun 2008 |
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Intriguing allegory, but … … Structurally the play mingles poetic, retrospective monologues, delivered by every character except the pilot, with scenes revolving around the pilot that are rooted in realism. Each monologue reveals a different perspective of the pilot – as an exotic beauty; a heaven sent saviour; a commercial opportunity; as a representative of all that is both right and wrong with the modern Western world. [more] |
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reviewed by Elspeth Sandys (New Zealand Listener) 19 May 2008 |
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Power trip Political theatre has not always had a good press. The merest sniff of propaganda or an overly polemical approach can lead to both critical and/or box office death. George Bernard Shaw had to drip feed the medicine of humour into his political plays; Bertolt Brecht had to rely on the theatricalism of German Expressionism to get his message across. [more] |
 THE ANDERSEN PROJECT at ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre reviewed by Kate Ward-Smythe 20 Mar 2009 |
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Tangible, rich, accessible and inspirational A multi-media masterpiece written and directed by Canada's eminent theatre artist/playwright/director, Robert Lepage, The Andersen Project is an absolute must-see for anyone who loves world-class technical innovation merged with classic story telling. [more] |
 reviewed by Lexie Matheson 6 Oct 2011 |
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Illuminating entrancement There’s an old theatre adage that performance starts where memory leaves off and this in nowhere better illustrated than in this fine boutique production. [more] |
 THE ANIMALS & CHILDREN TOOK TO THE STREETS at Opera House reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 9 Mar 2012 |
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Graphic novel comes to life on stage This show by 1927 Company is a brilliant piece of alternative theatre combining with imagination and perfect timing funny, creepy cartoon projections onto three screens with four actors playing the inhabitants of a notorious tenement block that you could find in any city in the modern world. It is, as the director has said, a graphic novel come to life. [more] |
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