Review: Meremere
Simply put, Meremere is a memoir come to life. I don’t feel qualified to ‘review’ the piece and the rich layers of culture, history, identity, and art contained within. It’s not quite dance, nor a film or a play – there’s a rawness that will appeal to those well-versed in the performing arts as much […]
Review: The Elixir of Love
Friends, ploughmen and countrymen, you’re invited to the Elixir of Love, NZ Opera’s utterly madcap new creation. Though my companion and I were likely the youngest and the poorest in the audience (opera continues to be an art form seemingly granted to those above a certain age), it was a show that could be enjoyed […]
Preview: Meremere
Meremere is a powerful and moving performance in which dancer Rodney Bell (Ngāti Maniapoto) brings to life his incredible journey; ranging from the highs of an international performance career to the lows of homelessness in America to redemption in the form of a return to Aotearoa and reconnection with his Māori and artistic heritage. It […]
Review: The Blender (Sundays with BaseJump Improv)
With a dash of insanity, a smidge of ridiculousness, and a lot of Wellingtonian wit, BaseJump Improv’s new show The Blender is a wild ride for your Sunday evening. We don’t tend to see Sundays as a ‘going to theatre day’ but with a show running at roughly forty-five minutes long, this piece is easily manageable between […]
Review: Beneath skin and bone
Poto Manawa has a new flat. She took a quick trip to pick up a few things from her Mum’s place…and now her relatives won’t stop phoning her. They want her to come to a whānau hui. She’s reluctant to return to the homestead although she can’t quite remember why. Until Paia comes along to […]
Review: The Atom Room
150 years into the future Sarah and Danny meet, fall in love, and get married in a Wellington devastated by earthquakes, climate change, and the effects of a distant nuclear explosion. Then their careers separate them by distance – Danny in Wellington working to save the Earth, Sarah on Mars working to create a new […]
My predictions for Wellington on a Plate 2018
Tomorrow is my favourite launch of the year – the Wellington on a Plate programme. In advance, and without having looked at their website, here’s what I think it will include (or not) so we can look tomorrow and see if I was right or wrong. There’s always a trending meat (wow is that a […]
NZSO Shed Series: “Juxtaposition”
My first trip to the new Shed 6 was a few weeks ago to see contemporary music outfit Stroma. They were playing a sampler of modern art music, stretching from Ravel and Schoenberg, through Boulez and Berio, to more recent work by Gillian Whitehead and David Lang. Music writer Alex Ross was our tour guide, […]