John Smythe
John Smythe has trained and worked professionally in New Zealand, Australia then back in New Zealand as a playwright, director, screenwriter (& screenwriting teacher), actor, theatre critic and book writer.
His formal qualifications include a Bachelor of Dramatic Art from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (Sydney) and a Certificate in Screenwriting from the Australian Film Television and Radio School. He has also completed honours papers and a range of script writing courses.
Theatre directing credits in Australia include plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Gorki, and world premieres of plays by himself, Len Radic, David Williamson, Louis Esson, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Jack Hibberd and David O’Brien. Back in NZ he directed his own trilogy of short plays – ENTRANCING EXITS: Ms Conception; Nothing Twisted; Used Heads, at Bats Theatre, Wellington International Festival of the Arts; Faulty (sic) Towers & Blackadder’s Banquet at the Museum Hotel.
Playwright credits include Entrancing Exits (BATS Theatre), Conundra (Ensemble Productions), Swaggy Mack and his Magic Back Track (Arena Theatre), The Seven Stages of Hugh Mann (Melbourne University Theatre), Party Games (Jane St Theatre; La Mama) and Making A Play (Melbourne Theatre Company; Central Theatre), Where There’s a Will (BATS Theatre). Unproduced plays include Thelma, Weather and The Virtues of Reality.
John has also written The Peace Monster (Vintage, 1991); Downstage Upfront: the first 40 years of New Zealand’s longest-running professional theatre (Victoria University Press, November 2004) and The Plays of Bruce Mason – a survey (VUP & Playmarket, November 2015).
Amid a wide range of acting roles on stage, television and film, John has played Polonius and the Gravedigger in Hamlet twice (2006 and 2011). In 2012 and with Arts On Tour NZ in 2013 he played James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Carl Jung in Jan Bolwell’s Dancing in the Wake. In 2015 he played Barry Scanlan in his own play, Where There’s a Will, at BATS Theatre. (Since 2000 he has also played Birdboot in an annual VUW English Dept reading of Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound.)
Before becoming the founding Managing Editor of Theatreview.org.nz in 2006, John was a theatre critic for The Melbourne Times, The Australian, Theatre Australia Magazine, The National Business Review.
John Smythe's reviews
The Operation of the Sun in the Garden at the End of the World. Part 1: The Victorians
Wellington
24/02/2006 - 03/03/2006
"I feel uninvited..
Delicates
Wellington
22/02/2006 - 26/03/2006
"Rich mix in powerful spin..
Two
Wellington
21/02/2006 - 26/03/2006
"Versatile actors..
"Accomplished and accessible..
More reviews
Conspiracy 911
Wellington
22/02/2006 - 24/03/2006
"The road to paranoia and perdition..
Full of Sound and Fury
Wellington
20/02/2006 - 04/03/2006
"Two actors in search of a playwright..
Arctic Antarctic: a bipolar play
Wellington
20/02/2006 - 23/02/2006
"A manic world..
"Desperately seeking equilibrium..
Wheel
Wellington
17/02/2006 - 20/02/2006
"Original & thought-provoking..
"A playwright to watch..
PLAYING MISS HAVISHAM
Christchurch, Whangarei, Wellington, (not a specified venue), Auckland, New Zealand wide
17/02/2006 - 30/08/2013
"A delightful, gentle piece of theatre..
"Eccentrically entertaining quest for fulfilment..
More reviews
The All-New Old-Time Radio Show
Wellington
12/01/2006 - 21/01/2006
"Improv show should improve..
"Many memorable moments..
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Heavenly Burlesque
Wellington
16/02/2006 - 04/03/2006
"High notes..
"A hit..
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Inside My Head, Out Of My Mind
Wellington
17/02/2006 - 25/02/2006
"Beyond therapy..
Shadows of Care
Wellington
16/02/2006 - 20/02/2006
"The lightness and darkness of love..
32 Flavours
Wellington
16/02/2006 - 19/02/2006
"Director badly needed..
"Tasty talent could do better..
Lance A Boyle's Audition
Wellington
15/02/2006 - 18/02/2006
"Ghastly..
"Complete disregard for audience..
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Cold Fire
Wellington
15/02/2006 - 25/02/2006
"The ethics of care..
"Contrasts and similarities..
Absolutely Positively Walking! tours
Wellington
10/02/2006 - 19/02/2006
"Stepping into nature and supernature..
Te Tapa Toru
Wellington
13/02/2006 - 16/02/2006
"Concrete to mystical..
"Youthful quest overblown..
Theatre Militia’s Symposium
Wellington
12/02/2006 - 15/02/2006
"Distinctive yet unpredictable..
"Phallocentric philosophic fun..
After Service
Palmerston North, Wellington
12/02/2006 - 23/09/2006
"Black comedy launches new theatre venue..
"Classy Kiwi theatre..
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You know what? I really don’t like you!
Wellington
11/02/2006 - 16/02/2006
"Nowhere to go, no way to grow..
"Forced humour..
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The Taming of the Shrew
Wellington
03/02/2006 - 18/02/2006
"Out for a gold rush duck..
Shanghai Sheba & The China Monologues
Wellington
09/02/2006 - 09/02/2006
"Cheongsam songstress..