Review: Three days in the country

Set against the backdrop of 1850’s Russia. Serfs (aka slaves) still work the land under the estate holder’s control.  Reform is coming and the country is restless. Rakitin is visiting his friend Arkady at his country estate.  Arkady’s wife Natalya is recovering from her illness. Their son Kolya, and their ward Vera, are spending time […]

Preview: Kia Mau Festival

New Zealand’s only contemporary indigenous theatre and dance event Kia Mau Festival returns to Wellington from Friday 2 – Saturday 24 June. It’s a unique and innovative opportunity for whānau and communities across the Wellington region to engage with today’s tangata whenua and First Nations artists from across the globe. Led by Wellington’s own Māori and Pasifika theatre […]

BATS fundraiser preview -White Rabbit Red Rabbit

BATS is bringing the “audacious theatrical experiment“ White Rabbit Red Rabbit to Wellington for a fundraising season.  Written by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, the play premiered in 2011 and has since been translated into 20 different languages. There are no rehearsals, no director, a different actor each performance, and a script waiting in a sealed […]

Review: Olive Copperbottom

Penny Ashton presents a new musical inspired by the writings of Charles Dickens as part of Comedy Festival 2017. Olive, a beautiful virtuous orphan, teaches the younger orphans at Mrs Sourtart’s squalid orphanage in exchange for a place to live. Her suitor, Edward Goodsort, was reclaimed from the same establishment by his moneyed family and now lives […]

Review: Onstage Dating

In the age of ‘swiping right’ and ‘reality’ dating shows, the concept of live onstage dating by far provides more entertainment. Bron Batten so brilliantly proved this on her opening night of Onstage Dating. In this show, there’s no opportunity to accept or reject based on appearances and no producers or editors deciding on the […]

Shows on this week

At BATS Theatre: Starting this week is an encore season of Onstage Dating by performance artist Bron Batten. Watch as she goes on first dates on stage. (These are actual first dates with a stranger, not with a performing audience plant.) Witness the vulnerability, thrills and heartbreak of the dating experience up close, as Bron […]

Preview: I am Tasha Fierce

From the mind of Wellington based artist Rose Kirkup, the recipient of the 2016 Fringe Festivals’ NZ Pacific Artist Residency award, comes I Am Tasha Fierce. We’re introduced to Kirkup’s alter ego Tasha: your typical Kiwi chick.  Her time at polytech, as well as following the teachings of Beyoncé, has helped her get out of […]

Review: The First Time – on at BATS theatre

I often look at awkward, self-conscious teens and want to tell them that life is going to be OK. Those years of experiencing things for the first time can strike you down with a plethora of feelings from ecstasy to misery. ‘The First Time’ explores all of those feelings as five talented women take to […]

Review: Dank Comedy: The National Average

Dank Presents is a series of experimental comedy shows created by Wellington comedians and producers. Hosted by Fringe Bar this Fringe, every show is different. I saw The National Average, based on an award winning routine in BATS Theatre’s Late Night Knife Fight. Jonny Potts and Matt Powell are brothers Cosmo and Carl, left a whisky/whiskey […]

On now: Pūtahi Festival

Tawata Productions in association with Victoria University of Wellington and Wellington City Council proudly presents Pūtahi Festival, 2017. The Festival is a presentation of works in development (and is a darn good time). Everything is showing at Studio 77, 77 Fairlie Terrace, Kelburn, Wellington. Most shows are koha but it pays to book a ticket so […]