The Wellingtonista

Random stuff about Wellington since 2005

Emma Maguire

Review: PLAY

by Emma Maguire September 5, 2020

It’s strange to be back in a place like BATS during times like these, but I’m very pleased I went along to see PLAY, a gay dating dramedy here from Auckland. It’s a play within a play, of a sort – the first twenty minutes or so being a form of a drawing-room comedy, then the show […]

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Review: PSA – Election 2020

by Emma Maguire August 27, 2020

Has it really been a year since I last reviewed an interation of Public Service Announcements? Apparently so. The political satire is back, mixing COVID, controversy, and Election Night into one wild and very timely show. Our actors take the stage with a parody of a well-known ABBA song, now rebranded as “MMP”. This trend of […]

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Interview Feature: Venus Rising

by Emma Maguire August 10, 2020

I sat down with Katherine Minor, a soloist with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, to discuss rehearsing during COVID lockdown, what it’s like being back in the studio, and the RNZB’s upcoming Venus Rising tour.  The Royal New Zealand Ballet will be one of the first dance companies in the world to return to the […]

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Review: Dungeoning and Dragoning

by Emma Maguire July 27, 2020

The show is exactly thus – four great actors playing Dungeons and Dragons on stage, led by an eminently likeable DM. I must admit I had my qualms when coming to this show, as I’ve always found playing D&D to be more fun than watching it, but the cast is excellent, the mood appropriate, and the […]

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A Definitive Ranking of Some of Wellington’s Most Cursed Locations

by Emma Maguire July 24, 2020

Cursed places. You might be familiar with them. Places you walk into and it feels like there’s ghosts, places that are a bit spooky or a bit weird or send a chill up your spine. To put it more colloquially – bad vibes. A place doesn’t have to be dilapidated to be cursed – I […]

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Review: It’s Behind You!

by Emma Maguire June 3, 2020

We’ve all had terrible Zoom calls over lockdown. Nightmarish ones, perhaps. However, they’ve never been quite as deadly as this. Trick of the Light Theatre’s (via Circa Theatre) work It’s Behind You! is a piece of digital theatre born out of the COVID-19 lockdown. First performed live online on 28 May, and available until 30 […]

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Review: Bay’s Anatomy

by Emma Maguire March 15, 2020

I once again embarked on the odyssey that seems to be one of Kickin’ Rad/Soap Factory’s Fringe schticks these days – an improvised soap opera, set in Wellington, with a cast of ten and new episodes on the hour every hour from 1-11pm. Having stumbled exhaustedly but also with a great sense of excitement from […]

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Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

by Emma Maguire February 14, 2020

A Midsummer Night’s Dream was the perfect pick for Summer Shakespeare, traditionally held in the Dell in Wellington’s Botanical Gardens at night in the middle of summer, but then the production moved to the basement theatre at Te Whaea in Newtown, and things pivoted from the usual. It was odd not to be sitting on […]

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Review: Alice in Wonderland

by Emma Maguire November 18, 2019

Circa’s panto this year is Alice in Wonderland, and it is a mystical journey down the rabbit hole (Mt Vic tunnel), to discover fun, some quality Kiwi bangers, and utter manicism (in a good way). Written by Circa stalwarts, Gavin Rutherford and Simon Leary (who play the Dame and the Mad Hatter respectively), it’s a […]

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Review: Cock

by Emma Maguire October 13, 2019

Cock is tense. It is beautiful, jarringly intimate, and phenomenally crafted. It’s also completely heartbreaking. Circa One’s set (designed by Sean Lynch) inspires thoughts of a boxing ring, or a fashion show – in the round, with bright lights cast down onto a white floor below. The audience sits on three sides; I view the […]

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