The Wellingtonista

Random stuff about Wellington since 2005

Theatre

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 […]

0 comments Read the full article →

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 […]

0 comments Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

Review – Oddacity

by Sophie March 9, 2020

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 […]

Read the full article →

Review: DND Live at the Fringe: When Dwarves Cry

by Sophie March 9, 2020

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 […]

Read the full article →

Review: Dr Drama Makes a Show

by Sophie March 4, 2020

It was weird for me to go to a show at 93 Kelburn Parade, having completed my own humble BA at Vic almost 20 years ago.  In fact, #93 was the site of at least one audition and more than a few rehearsals for me.  It’s had a bit of a facelift, now being an […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries