 reviewed by Lynn Freeman (Capital Times) 30 Jan 2008 |
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Big laughs but too much over-acting The premise is promising – a dodgy entrepreneur (Phil Darkins) tries to bring together New Zealand’s answer to Hi5 and the Wiggles. However the mismatched crew all have personal issues inflamed by jealousies and insecurities, which lead to on and off stage dramas. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 30 Jan 2008 |
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Objective awareness fails to engage Having seen the third performance of this show, as an adjunct to Thomas’s review (and Laurie’s, Helen’s & Lynn’s), I offer a theory: that Ground was initially written as a radio play. As such, the constant and often repetitive dialogue is designed to feed the listeners’ imaginations and keep reminding them were the characters are and what’s happening. [more] |
 reviewed by Helen Sims (The Lumiere Reader) 29 Jan 2008 |
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More style than substance? Upon walking into Circa One for Rabbit you notice several things that are out of character ... Firstly, the seating block has been altered to be in a “theatre in the round” ... Secondly, the set is downright stylish, accented with incredibly “now” blue and red lights. Set designer Brian King has done an excellent job of creating a modern, trendy bar atmosphere … [more] |
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reviewed by Laurie Atkinson (The Dominion Post) 28 Jan 2008 |
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Paradise found – and lost amid a welter of words Fiona Farrell’s Ground is, in effect, a comic précis of anthropologist Robert Ardrey’s The Territorial Imperative. Ardrey’s opening sentence of his 1966 work states that “A territory is an area of space, whether of water or earth or air, which an animal or group of animals defends as an exclusive preserve.” [more] |
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reviewed by Helen Sims (The Lumiere Reader) 28 Jan 2008 |
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Entertaining, if a little light weight ... The play is light hearted in tone, but prompts a consideration about our possessive tendencies towards property, particularly land ... [more] |
 reviewed by Timothy O'Brien (New Zealand Listener) 28 Jan 2008 |
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The price of paua The SEEyD Theatre Company has a justified reputation as one of Wellington’s most innovative devisers of new plays. The company specialises in placing topical subjects like genetic modification and infant immunisation within intense personal-relationship dramas. Added to this has been the use of unusual locations where spatial properties have been exploited to maximum theatrical effect. [more] |
 reviewed by Timothy O'Brien (New Zealand Listener) 28 Jan 2008 |
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Balancing acts Circa’s 2008 programme got off to a stylish start with Armslength at Circa 2. Branwen Millar’s play concerns the interconnected loves and aspirations of five people looking for balance between their desire for happy relationships and their ambitions for successful careers. [more] |
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reviewed by Timothy O'Brien (New Zealand Listener) 28 Jan 2008 |
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Dazzling surface; fine, smart performances Circa’s main stage (Circa One) has Nina Raine’s Rabbit, a play set in very similar territory [to Armslength]. Five twentysomething London professionals have gathered in a London wine bar to celebrate the 29th birthday of Bella ... [more] |
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reviewed by Thomas LaHood 27 Jan 2008 |
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Cross-purposed script, performances and design Ground is the tale of a couple of ‘kiwi battlers,’ forced to share their perfect camping spot with an unwanted caravan that obscures their view and destroys their portable TV reception ... Fiona Farrell’s script is described by the director as ‘a playful and light-hearted nudge’, which intimates the lack of depth that is its major weakness. [more] |
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reviewed by Simon Sweetman (Sunday Star Times) 27 Jan 2008 |
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Action, intrigue, overt physicality with political/ecological message makes for a must-see winner This is a comedy-thriller with plenty of action and intrigue – and the complex plot plays out as a series of brilliantly conceived interludes, cleverly lit and staged – using the irregular shape of Downstage and the crafty minds of the actors/writers who devised this sequence of sketches ... [more] |
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