Review: The Undertow

The Undertow is a massive theatrical epic presented by 35 performers from Te Rākau Theatre. Written by Helen Pearse-Otene and directed by Jim Moriarty it follows the story of seven generations of Wellingtonians – Māori and Pākehā – as they carve out a life in Ōwhiro. Each of the four plays explores the experience of […]

Preview: Theatre shows on this week

  It’s all singing and dancing this week at Circa and BATS. (Just what I need to get me through my second to last week at work before the holidays tbh.) Scarlet and Gold continues at Circa Theatre as does Roger Hall’s “Jack and The Beanstalk”. (My review of Scarlet and Gold here. I haven’t […]

Wellington Theatre Awards 2016

The Wellington Theatre Awards were held at Te Whaea on Sunday night. Hosted by James Nokise with support from Allan Henry and music provided by Hayley Sproull it was an evening celebrating the last year of professional theatre in Wellington. Linda Wilson from Circa Theatre was recognised for her contribution to Wellington theatre with the […]

Preview: The Better Best Possible Album Party That Anybody Has Ever Been Two

I’m pretty excited that Album Party is the first show to benefit from BATS Theatre and The Basement Theatre (Auckland) working together to support the best new emerging shows to tour to both cities. A concert, a comedy gig and a play all rolled into one, The Better Best Possible Album Party That Anybody Has […]

Review: Scarlet and gold

This play dramatises the real events of the 1912 Waihi goldminers’ strike which started in March and went through to November.  It follows the fortunes of the strikers’ families and parallels the struggle with the Suffragette movement in England. Playwright Lorae Parry focuses much of the script on the women in the strikers’ families. (There […]

Review: Making Friends Collective double bill

Stand up love  Freddy is a comedian and has a drinking problem. Ana wants him to stop. Their relationship has problems but they love each other. Isn’t that enough? I find the messy set – a bed with a couch backed on to the bedhead plus living items strewn around – appealing, reflecting as it does the […]

Preview: Some shows and a party

Wow this week is FULL of shows and there’s a party at the end of it. Let’s go! Hudson & Halls is still going strong at the Hannah Playhouse. I loved it, Mr Goulter loved it, the Wellington Theatre Awards judges loved it. Don’t miss it. Across the road at BATS Theatre Musique Romantique, Stand […]

Review: Hudson and Halls Live

Hudson & Halls Live!‘s Wellington season at the Hannah Playhouse began with an usher  welcoming crowds to the performance, assuring them the theatre had been certified quake-safe, and explaining that some years after the time in which the play was set, one of the protagonists would die of cancer and the other would take his own life.   […]

Preview: Hudson and Halls

Silo Theatre is bringing last year’s Auckland festive hit “Hudson and Halls” to the Hannah Playhouse. I’ve heard positive reviews from my Auckland friends and I’m so looking forward to seeing it when it’s down here. Peter Hudson and David Halls were on New Zealand television from 1976-1986 with a cooking show that included camp […]

Preview: The Rime of the Modern Mariner

BATS Theatre celebrates 21 years of STAB annual commissions with a production of The Rime of the Modern Mariner by The PlayGround Collective. In this adaptation “the Mariner sets out to sea to catch the ultimate prize, but when he carelessly fells an albatross a curse befalls his ship. Stranded in the north Pacific Gyre […]