 THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK at BATS reviewed by Melody Nixon (The Lumiere Reader) 11 May 2007 |
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Intelligent and creative interpretation of a gem They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway share; They charmed it with smiles and soap. Gertrude Chataway performs these gloriously elusive lines ... [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 9 Mar 2011 |
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Disturbing depiction of disappointment ... The result is a very competent imitation of an American play; a reflection of those dramatisations (on stage and screen) that use a dysfunctional family as a metaphor for the state of that nation. Or in this case, the state of Shore’s idea of a nation disappointed with itself. [more] |
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reviewed by Lynn Freeman (Capital Times) 16 Mar 2011 |
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American dream on-stage You would think this play has come to us directly from off-Broadway. That’s not just because it’s set in America – it also offers such an insight into the American Dream and the production itself is polished to near perfection. This is its fourth season so that gives it a big advantage, but you get the sense it was sensational from the start. [more] |
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reviewed by Ewen Coleman (The Dominion Post) 12 Mar 2011 |
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Messed up family’s powerful portrayal painful to watch Dysfunctional families are a source for powerful dramas as seen in countless Hollywood movies and American TV soap operas. The disappointment felt by the children, of not only an unloving parent but at their own failings, is often at the heart of family dysfunctionality. [more] |
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reviewed by Janet McAllister 12 Nov 2010 |
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Dysfunctional family compete for misery title Sam Shore writes a good argument – several, in fact – in this lively drama about family dysfunction. He has an ear for middle-class crossfire: an unhappy couple exchange stilted phrases and accusations; a teenager sarkily throws articulate insults at her older siblings who are waaay uncool. [more] |
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reviewed by Caoilinn Hughes 24 Mar 2010 |
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Un-idealistically realistic ... Witty, sexy, entertaining: yes. However, what becomes much more interesting is the less frivolous, self-diagnosed victim of dementia whom Michele Hine portrays with ever-increasing sincerity and weight. [more] |
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reviewed by Karyn Cushen 11 Nov 2010 |
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Thematically depressing yet in equal parts uplifting After sold-out performances earlier this year, The Idea of America has returned for a strictly limited season to once again rouse audiences with its characters’ delusions of grandeur, belts of sibling petulance and the sobriety of alcohol-fuelled dementia. [more] |
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reviewed by The Common Critic (The Common Critic) 10 Nov 2010 |
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Nancy says… Sylvia says… NANCY SAYS If you’ve ever stumbled in on a private argument between two lovers… SYLVIA SAYS The Idea of America, for a brief moment, almost manages to make dementia look glamorous. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 2 Jul 2008 |
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A worthy challenge ... In the first instance, The Illusion depicts how Alcandre, a magician, helps Pridamant a distraught father and lawyer who is facing his own mortality, catch up with the fortunes of his estranged son and heir, by conjuring up scenes of the life he has lived over the 15 years they have been lost to each other ... [more] |
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reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 3 Jul 2008 |
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Emotions and magic collide in lively work The play Tony Kushner wrote before he wrote the play that made him famous, Angels in America, was a free adaptation of Pierre Corneille’s only comedy L’Illusion Comique, which, like other plays of the 16th and 17th centuries (and the 21st), explores theatrical conventions, illusion and reality, the evanescence of memory and the function of theatre. [more] |
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