Review: The Turn of the Screw
During the interval of last night’s performance of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, I popped outside for a bit of cold air and second-hand smoke. As I stood reading the playbills, a group of four people bustled out, one of whom was loudly and petulantly proclaiming “But I want PUCCINI!!!” They did not […]
Preview: Show Me Shorts 2019 Programme Announced!
With its largest ever programme, the Show Me Shorts Film Festival opens at cinemas across Aotearoa from the 5th of October. With sixty short films and three music videos – all chosen from a record 2040 entries – this festival is sure to be one to remember. Eight Kiwi films will be making their word […]
Review: Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God
Liz and Frank have spent the past few years achieving the sort of anaemic existence that passed for middle-class success for my parents’ generation. Careers, a house, a child. Carefully curated shelves of books and knick-knacks in the living room. This living room is the stage for a reunion dinner party; two old friends […]
Review: The Pink Hammer
Circa One has been turned into a man-cave, complete with a nude calendar – permanently set to July – a fridge full of beers and a Ryobi power drill for The Pink Hammer, being performed until early October. The show itself is a critique of Kiwi masculinity (of a sort), a bit of feminist fun […]
Tasty tastings
Rules around advertising alcohol are pretty strict. That’s why Highball, Wellington’s first spirits & cocktail festival, was not able to tell you that for your $50 entry fee, you would absolutely be able to get your money’s worth of drunk in free samples. So instead it looked like you’d pay a lot of money to […]
Preview: Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God
‘Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God’ by Roland Schimmelpfennig is opening at Circa Theatre next week. A New Zealand premiere appropriate for our modern lives, this play examines colonialist attitudes over freshly baked bread, and discusses quarantines and vaccinations while sharing drinks – it’s irony, of a sort. Are we doing enough to help […]
Review: Death Comes To Us All
Death takes her by the hand, leads her to a pool of light at the apron of the stage and she tells us her last moments. There’s light at the end, she says, and disappears off stage. I sniff, a little, and hold back tears. Death Comes To Us All is a remarkably honest, very […]
Polishing the Crown Jewels – a clothing pop-up sale for fat people
I have been busy, and that is why there is almost no content from me on this site anymore, although you will find me on the tweets, as per usual, though there are of course about a dozen of us who have access to the ‘ista twitter account. But that’s not what I’m here to […]
Review: Rigoletto
Verdi’s Rigoletto is a classic, and deservedly so. The story was based on a Victor Hugo play, adapted somewhat to avoid censorship. Hugo, by all accounts, was not at all happy that his play was being plagiarised (and by an Italian!) until he attended and was amazed by a performance. Musically it was rather revolutionary, […]
Don’t feed dogs chocolate – put it in beer instead
Guest post by Krystle, thanks Krystle! Coffee, chocolate, and beer…these are a few of Wellingtonians’ favorite things – and thanks to a collab, you can now drink a fusion of all three. Local legends Black Dog Brewery and Wellington Chocolate Factory have teamed up to produce the Bean Me Up Mocha Stout. You may be […]