Review: When the rain stops falling
‘When the rain stops falling’ has a challenging narrative and structure — one actor (x2) plays two characters, two actors (x2) play one character, three characters have the same name, and the timeline spans 80 years. There’s a family tree in the programme to help keep the characters sorted but even then it can be […]
Post show look at: ‘Awhi Tapu’ and ‘An Oak Tree’
‘Awhi Tapu’ and ‘An Oak Tree’ are on until the end of the week. I found both fascinating for the way the story was told as much as for the narrative. Awhi Tapu at Downstage is set in a small ex-timber town. Wendyl is the leader holding Raj, Casper, and Girl Girl, together. He’s hoping […]
The semi-naked truth: Strip clubs in Wellington
So, you want to see some breasts. Nothing wrong with that. Where in Wellington should you go to see them? For the purposes of scientific research, we headed to Dream Girls and Mermaids to find out what you can expect. We also had a chat to a girl who’s worked in both places for the […]
Did I Believe You Should Look Around You?
At the Wellingtonista, we love us some live theatre and comedy. About the only things we love more are bars and hard liquor, so when a PR company offered us some vodka to give away as a promotion for a comedy show staged in a bar, how could we resist? As it turns out, quite […]
Review: Long Cloud Youth Theatre
For the last few weeks, a group of bright young actors have been hard at work at the Long Cloud Youth Theatre’s summer school workshop. The summer school attendees — aged from 16 to 21 — were split into two groups that produced Daughters of Heaven and The Picture of Dorian Gray. And these two […]
Review: Heat
Baby, it’s cold outside. “Heat”, by New Zealand playwright Linda Chanwai-Earle, returns to Wellington after its 2008 debut at Bats. I didn’t quite know what to expect of this icy Antarctic tale, but I ended up really enjoying it, and found it surprisingly moving. Set in an isolated research hut in Antarctica, it focuses on […]
Review: Etiquette
A man and a woman sit across a table from one another at a Wellington cafe. He’s making something from a ball of Blu-tack, she’s drawing something with chalk. The latest production from Downstage, Etiquette, does things a little differently. Gone is the familiar location of the Hannah Playhouse. Instead the action takes place at […]
Camping at Circa
While lots of Wellingtonians are off holidaying in remote parts of the country (huddling under canvas, finding sandbags to keep the creek out, hoping the caravan doesn’t blow away) Circa Theatre have kindly brought the camp site to those of us who stayed at home — in the form of Dave Armstrong’s new play The […]
Review: The Second Test
Jonathan Brugh’s one-man play The Second Test returns to Wellington, this time playing at Circa. The Second Test tells the amazing true-life story of New Zealand cricketer Bob Blair, whose fiancee Nerissa Love was tragically killed in the Tangiwai disaster while Bob was in South Africa on tour with the New Zealand cricket team (also […]
On a Mission
Did Apollo 13: Mission Control do the business, flick my switches, get lift-off etc?