Review: The last five years

Cathy is an actress. Jamie is a writer. Both of them are at the beginning of their careers when they meet. Five years later after success for both of them they are breaking up. Their individual stories are told from different point of the relationship. Cathy’s story starts at the end of the relationship and […]

Review: All our sons

World War I needs more men to fight and Maori from Mataira Mountain are being asked to go. Grandma Mataira is vehemently against their going. Her son Waru believes fighting alongside Pakeha will bring Maori equal rights in New Zealand. With his son Tai and Tai’s best Pakeha friend Alec Campbell, he volunteers. Their experience […]

Preview: The Show Some Love Show

The Show Some Love Show is a variety fundraiser to raise money for Wellington Women’s Refuge and Te Whare Rokiroki Maori Women’s Refuge. It will feature some of NZ’s best musicians, comedians, dancers, and poets; including The Eastern, Alice Brine, James Nokise and Fanciforia Foxglove. Domestic and intimate partner violence is one of NZ’s biggest […]

Review: Ache

A Man and a Woman meet. There’s definitely something between them that both would like to explore further… but his girlfriend shows up. They run into each other again. But she’s trying to make it work with someone and he’s got a different girlfriend. Through comedy and tragedy they keep meeting each other. Will they […]

Review: Dead Men’s Wars

Three high school students from Australia and New Zealand have won a competition to visit Gallipoli for the ANZAC day commemorations. They are escorted over by two company representatives. Everything is going according to the schedule when one of the students goes off script. The fallout affects them all. This is the 2015 STAB production […]

Reviews of The Angry Brigade and Gifted

Two wordy plays are currently showing in Wellington. Both are very good. The Angry Brigade by James Graham, directed by Samuel Phillips Four police officers are in a basement office in London trying to track down some terrorists. Threats have been made. Bombs have gone off. It’s not the IRA. In fact, they’re not like […]

Review: Bubblelands by Renee Liang

The clinking of cutlery and mumbled conversation greet us as we walk into the theatre. Blue glowing lines show the edges of the fishtank. It’s a sparse place but I guess the fish aren’t there to live. Blue Cod (Hweiling Ow) is preparing to be chosen. She is joined unexpectedly by Crayfish (Bemjamin Teh) who […]

Preview: Bubblelands by Renee Liang

A Bluecod has been in the tank of a Chinese restaurant for an indeterminate amount of time. She’s not sure how she got there or what life was like before the tank. Then a Crayfish arrives. He’s energetic and she starts to think about life again. Meanwhile there’s always the possibility that one of them […]

New Zealand Improv Festival 6-10 October 2015

Improv shows are always different depending on the energy of the performers, the prompts they are given, and the energy of the audience. Most of the ones I’ve seen in Wellington have been entertaining. Some are sublime and contain moments of pure theatrical genius. The kind where the whole audience holds its breathe then exhales […]

Review: The travelling squirrel by Robert Lord

Bart (Paul Waggot) is a writer who is married to Jane, (Acushla-Tara Sutton). Jane is an actress who is nervous about her job security and therefore is keen to cultivate a working relationship with Wallace (Gavin Rutherford) a gossip columnist. Wallace throws a party where Jane and Bart meet Terry (Andrew Paterson) who can help […]