Review: Wings

Quinn (Victoria Seymour) and her younger sister Bambi (Hannah Botha) are on a road trip to their mother’s funeral. They haven’t seen each other since Quinn left home suddenly 10 years ago. On the way they stop in a remote part of the Waikato to pick up their other sister Mo (Lydia Buckley-Gorman). Quinn doesn’t […]

Review: Don Juan: an adaptation of the play by Moliere

Before we’re in the theatre the performers come to us. “Allo” they cry in their French accents “You are looking gorgeous tonight!” They sweep us before them into their seedy world. It’s part cabaret, part shabby theatre, part sophisticated storytelling, part improv. It feels like a troupe of travelling actors has arrived in town and […]

Review: Spyfinger! A show about spies

My Accomplice tackles the spy film in their latest production which is part of the Comedy Festival. We follow globetrotting Agent Spyman Finger (Alex Greig) around the globe in his efforts to bring the bad guy to justice. He is accompanied by various (in)appropriately named team members (played by Hannah Banks and Paul Waggott). The […]

Review: Triumphs and other alternatives

The lights go up on a mostly bare stage. In the back half of the stage there is a sheet of plastic being used as a curtain. It’s snagged on a table. As it rises a figure becomes visible over a miniature cityscape. The light brightens to reveal not a cityscape but a mess of […]

Review: The showgirl

A NZ written disco noir set in Harlem, 1979. Dancer Fontella Pendavis (Deborah Eve Rea) has been murdered at Studio Soul and Detective Gonzales (Jordan Rivers) has been sent to investigate. There are plenty of possible suspects – Luz Cruz (Brittany Goss), who has inherited Fontella’s job; Ari Sugarman (Ed Blunden), the owner of the […]

Review: Tiny Deaths

A series of 11 monologues about love and sex written by Uther Dean. It’s performed by 6 women – Alice May Connolly, Brianne Kerr, Hannah Banks, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Hilary Penwarden, and Kegan Carr Fransch. From the start we’re invited into a surreal world where the object of love and/or sex might not be human. […]

Theatre review: Brave

One of the few shows on in Wellington that are not part of the Fringe Festival, The Brave is showing at the Hannah Playhouse until the end of February. Auckland-based Massive Company have devised a show which explores the question “What is it to be a man in 2015?” Using the same cast that looked at […]

Review: The two farting sisters

Dad is visiting China. He leaves older sister Stella in charge of the farm. This is a mistake as she promptly sells it, then scarpers off to Paris to spend the proceeds, leaving little sister Daisy the almost useless blackberry patch. However Daisy is very resourceful and hardworking. She is determined to buy the farm […]

New Zealand Fringe Festival

The New Zealand Fringe Festival is coming at you with their 25th year of exciting, frightening, amazing, and puzzling works. As well as local artists there are 39 out-of-town acts bringing their stuff to Wellington. Prices are mostly under the $25 mark but the smart choice is to buy an Addict card. It’s only $15 […]

Review: Richard III

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is in the line for the throne if only the people before him would get out of his way. If they won’t – well, he can help with that… David Lawrence (Richard) is gleefully nasty. The audience is made his conspirators as he wreaks havoc through the lives of those around him. He […]