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Auckland Fringe 2013
MATTHEW HARVEY IS... DANGERMAN! at Whammy Bar, St Kevin’s Arcade, K' Road
reviewed by Gus Simonovic 21 Feb 2013
Conquering the world, one funny poem at a time
They say “observation is the mother of imagination” - and Matthew Harvey is a very good observer. Very very good! If you want to test yourself, try writing a poem about someone pushing the pedestrian traffic-light button, after you have already pushed it; and delivering that poem in front of the audience – with passion and fury. [more]

Auckland Fringe 2013
AN UNFORTUNATE WILLINGNESS TO AGREE at The Basement
reviewed by Jenny Stevenson 21 Feb 2013
A desire for something much more human and honest
Dancer-collaborators Oliver Connew, Zara Killeen-Chance and Gareth Okan use their highly-trained bodies not to present a bravura display of dance, but as a conduit for energy and its transmission between themselves - through a spare vocabulary of movement. Connew sets out to call into question society’s passive acquiescence and the all-embracing world of technology that can let people stand back and not get involved in, what should by rights, deeply affect them. [more]

Auckland Fringe 2013
TIM DIBLEY. MASTERCLASS. at The Basement, Lower Greys Ave
reviewed by Nik Smythe 21 Feb 2013
Pretentious world of the screen arts lampooned
From the first his pseudo-effete voice of consummate experience has the star-studded opening night crowd howling with recognition at his industry lingo and passing snide references to various local practitioners, present or otherwise. [more]

Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival 2013
BIRDS OF PARADISE (2013) at Hamilton Gardens Lakeside Stage
reviewed by Brenda Rae Kidd 21 Feb 2013
Faaabulous birdlesque comedy
Staged outdoors for the very first time, the surrounding vista of lake, willowy trees, reeds and starlight night are so much part of the appeal. It is hard to imagine that Birds of Paradise were not designed for such. A dizzying array of costumes, so breathtakingly beautiful and strikingly reminiscent of our feathered friends, are molded to the dancers lithe bodies as they glide strut and peck across the stage. The musical accompaniment is evocative and thoughtfully arranged by New Zealand musician and composer Sean James Donnelly (SJD) and peppered with gems from Gold Frapp, Bonobo and Sola Rosa. Well-known New Zealand songstress Caitlin Smith’s voice is in fine fettle as she opens the evening with birdsong. The dancers are all accomplished artists in their own right and this shows in their athleticism and poise on what is actually a very small stage. [more]

Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival 2013
SNOW WHITE AND THE PIRATES at Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens
reviewed by Gail Pittaway 21 Feb 2013
Fun family entertainment
It is a classic family show full of jokes for people of all ages and while it milks the cross-story, cross-gender staples of panto style, it has a fresh script and a few witty jabs at contemporary Waikato life. [more]

Auckland Fringe 2013
THE ENIGMA BOX at THE EDGE Box Café
reviewed by Reynald Castaneda 21 Feb 2013
Intimate five course menu
The Enigma Box is a fun house curiosity, a time machine and a confessional, all conveniently condensed in a tiny box that can only fit two audience members and an actor in the middle Aotea Square. Talk about unusual. [more]

NZ Fringe Festival 2013
FOR YOUR FUTURE GUIDANCE at Thistle Hall
reviewed by James McKinnon 21 Feb 2013
Elicits an exceptional range of emotional responses
Binge Culture’s artists have a formidable repertory of tactics for making their audience feel at ease while simultaneously taking them out of the comfort zone of conventional theatre and into more exciting places. It’s worth asking: how do they do it? [more]

Auckland Fringe 2013
ELEVATOR at The Basement, Lower Greys Ave
reviewed by Heidi North-Bailey 21 Feb 2013
Strong roles for women
It’s a tough concept to pull off: three characters confined to a physical space the size of an elevator, in a theatre with seating on three sides. What this means in practice is not much room for physicality and a lot of blocking. [more]

NZ Fringe Festival 2013
RAGEFACE at Gryphon
reviewed by John Smythe 20 Feb 2013
Cyberspace v the real world
Playwright / director Adam Goodall’s programme note reveals it was his bruising experiences on the ‘Something Awful’ internet forums that inspired Rageface, but he has had the sense to tie that in to a simple, if prosaic, narrative structure that compares and contrasts the virtual with the real, thus enriching our perception of both. [more]

Auckland Fringe 2013
SISTERLY LOVE at Q, The Vault
reviewed by Kathryn van Beek 20 Feb 2013
Could be a simmering firecracker
The play is set on the day of Charlene’s wedding. She, each of her three sisters and their mother all have an opinion on the day and whether or not Charlene deserves to wear the family’s lucky white wedding dress. [more]
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