Review: Residence

The flyer says “This candlelit promenade performance will guide you though different worlds within Inverlochy House.” I was expecting something that referenced the history of the house. What I got was an exploration of storytelling and creativity.  Each sketch happened in a different room in the house and didn’t seem to be connected to any […]

The kids are just fine at the Capital E National Arts Festival

While the urbanites of the ‘ista are all currently abuzz about the Fringe Festival, those amongst us who are parents (yes, we exist) are more excited about the Capital E National Arts Festival set to happen from March 11-23. During the weeks, the Festival runs an education programme, so expect to see bus loads of […]

Review: The road that wasn’t there

Oliver de Rohan’s mother’s neighbours think she is going mad. Oliver is pretty sure she’s always been mad. She’s always been fanciful anyway, telling him stories of fairies and taniwha.  Did she really meet his father in a paper world? How did she get there? How did she get back? What is really going on? […]

Review: Perfectly wasted

Long Cloud Youth Theatre Summer School have worked with A Slightly Isolated Dog to investigate then recreate a night out. The show is frenetic with lots of short scenes from a typical night out. There’s a lot of drinking, some dancing. There are some ongoing stories but most of the action and interest is in […]

Review: Richard Meros Salutes the Southern Man

“Welcome to the Desert of the Real,” muttered Laurence Fishburne in 1999, proffering a pill-toting hand to lead us through the impending eschaton. Another decade, another looming ontological singularity, and whose palm are we to grasp? A glance down Courtenay Place offers the obvious answer: beckoning on the threshold, a towering Gandalf with more storeys […]

Review: The mousetrap

Agatha Christie’s The mousetrap is now in its sixtieth year of continuous production. It opened in 1952 (1952!) and is quite possibly more famous for being famous now, rather than the quality of the work. As part of the celebrations of the show’s longevity, 60 professional productions have been licensed around the world. The Australian […]

Review: The Tigers of Wrath

“Our parents do not follow a traditional perspective, growing smaller on approach. Only later will their true scale be apparent.” – Alan Moore, The Birth Caul Once, so the legend goes, there were a race of beautiful fiery-eyed children who heard the clarion-call of a new and brighter age; and buoyed by the prosperity wrest […]

Review: Paper Sky

Henry is a reclusive writer with a deadline (and a sad secret). He’s being hounded by his boss, his new neighbour is distracting, and to top it all off, his character, Lumina,  is fighting for her life.  Will his imagination help him come to terms with his problems in the real world? Red Leap Theatre‘s […]

Review: The truth game

Frank Stone (Alan Lovell) is acting editor of a daily newspaper. He’s been away and is back in the office and on the job again much sooner than his colleagues expected. There’s Ralph Jones (Brian Sergent),  long-serving journalist, Sam Hunter (Jessica Robinson), well-regarded journalist, Jo Pointer (Acushla-Tara Sutton), newbie journalist (who has come from blogging  […]

We’ll be WOWed for another nine years

This morning it was announced that the World of Wearable Arts has signed a contract with Wellington for the next nine years. That’s great news. WOW might not be your cup of tea, but it’s a big boost to our hospitality and retail sectors (worth more than $15.1 million, apparently). Sure, friends who work in […]