The Wellingtonista

Random stuff about Wellington since 2005

Theatre

Review: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

by Emma Maguire April 2, 2021

There’s something so delightful about going into a theatre show completely blind. I knew nothing about this play, had read nothing about it, all I knew was the charming aesthetic of the publicity photos and the fact that this was a New Zealand premiere. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is a true telling of the perpetuity of love […]

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Preview: New Zealand Improv Festival 2020

by librarykris September 24, 2020

Every year improvisers gather in Wellington to celebrate the New Zealand Improv Festival (NZIF), but this year improvisors from overseas have been COVID-19-blocked. Festival director Jennifer O’Sullivan says, “We have built the festival on a platform of collaboration and connection, reaching nationally and internationally and bringing together amazing talent and perspectives. Of course, the current […]

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Preview: The Glitter Garden

by librarykris September 22, 2020

The Glitter Garden is a drag musical extravaganza for kids featuring dazzling outfits and fierce lip syncing. Join Hugo the Gardener on Pride Parade as he attempts to embrace self-care, personal growth and planter boxes, all with the help of his glittering garden friends. Created by TVNZ’s ‘House of Drag’ winner Hugo Grrrl (George Fowler) […]

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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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Preview: Ecology in Fifths

by librarykris August 18, 2020

Award-winning director and performance designer Sam Trubridge is bringing a bold new performance to Te Whaea this August. Taking inspiration from H Guthrie Smith’s ‘Tutira: The Story of an NZ Sheep Station’ (1921), Ecology in Fifths enacts this obsessive account of NZ ecology — now a recognised classic in environmental science worldwide. Piece by piece, the […]

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That’s All She Wrote – Review

by Sophie August 13, 2020

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 […]

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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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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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