Review: Concept for a Film

A Beautiful Harmony of Theatre, Music and So Mush Spore.   I loved the novel format of storytelling that ‘Concept for a Film’ delivered. The scene opens with Max Barton, sitting at a desk that faces the audience, reading out the script for a film. These readings are intermittently dispersed with many disruptions including phone calls […]

Review: Limits

Reviewed by Nadia Freeman Photo credit: David Vagg This is no typical dance number meant to distract and delight you with sparkles and clap-along numbers.  Limits sits in the realm of theatre that is to challenge its audience and give them a chance to view what it might be like to step into the shoes […]

Review: Homemade Takeaways

I don’t think anyone will disagree with me that it’s been one hell of a year, and Christmas is descending on us fast.  So it seemed completely appropriate to be watching a show about people who’ve had a hell of a year, too, drawn together at Christmas. Annie and Will have gravitated back to the […]

Review: Olive Copperbottom

Leaving Circa on Wednesday after the opening night of Olive Copperbottom, one of the many things I was feeling was deep regret that it was the very first of Penny Ashton’s shows that I’d seen, and I’d missed so many others.  Ashton is a bright light.  Her energy, her wit, and her joy were incandescent […]

Review: Owls Do Cry

Owls Do Cry is not your typical theatrical retelling of a book. Instead, it is a complete reinterpretation of the work through movement, design and song.   The show starts very light-hearted with a chorus of singing, movement and audience interaction. As the show continues, however, it draws you into the real pain and fragility of […]

Review: Popcorn

Wellington Repertory Theatre’s newest offering is Popcorn, Ben Elton’s play. The dialogue is witty, the scripting tight and the themes prescient despite being written in 1996. Set in the home of a exploitation cinema director, Bruce Delametri, Popcorn takes place over one night as the legendary Mall Murderers invade Bruce’s house after he wins an […]

Review: The Look Of Love

I’ve seen Ali Harper before, at Old St Paul’s in 2012, and I was struck by her humour and professionalism then.  It was a fun night out with my Robot Mum and we both enjoyed hearing songs we knew, and some we didn’t, performed by someone who knew her craft and was super skilled. On […]

That’s All She Wrote – Review

I’ve  found myself in a very lovely, very privileged, and deeply uncomfortable space.  I’ve seen three previous Red Scare Theatre Company shows, and I’ve genuinely loved them all.  I will have to enlist one of my ‘Ista comrades to review their shows in future, to preclude claims of bias and shameless fangirling. Each of those […]

Review – Oddacity

Oddacity promised an “award-winning, best-of spectacular with a cast of international luminaries performing stylish acts”, under the beautiful skylight in Bats’ Heyday Dome.   I wasn’t sure what to expect, knowing the theatre wouldn’t suit aerials or acrobatics, but I hoped  for clowns.  I was not disappointed in that sense. Oddacity is usually Sachie Mikawa, Trent […]

Review: DND Live at the Fringe: When Dwarves Cry

I wouldn’t necessarily say that Dungeons and Dragons has gone mainstream, but it’s become a lot more popular in the last twenty years.  It probably helps that there are so many TV shows these days with a fantasy element, as well as movies like the Lord of the Rings series making sword-and-sorcery stuff cooler. DnD […]