Review: The basement tapes

After her Grandma’s death a woman is tasked with cleaning out the basement of her house. As she sifts through what seems like every single thing her Grandma ever owned she discovers a tape recorder. Then she finds a box of tapes – some of which work, and some which don’t. As she listens to the […]

Acting Local

Not that long ago, we thought we’d have to keep a careful eye out for the slow, creeping rise of fascism in America; now it’s coming on as a rapid, terrifying avalanche. The massive, spontaneous airport protests against Trump’s latest vile Executive Order give some hope for the rise of resistance in the US itself, but sometimes […]

Review: Jekyll and Hyde

Famous French* company A Slightly Isolated Dog (so French, so famous) is back with Jekyll & Hyde. It’s about a very good man – Dr Jekyll – who indulges his very bad side – Mr Hyde – by drinking a potion. Only it’s not long before he doesn’t need to drink the potion for his dark […]

Review: The Undertow

The Undertow is a massive theatrical epic presented by 35 performers from Te Rākau Theatre. Written by Helen Pearse-Otene and directed by Jim Moriarty it follows the story of seven generations of Wellingtonians – Māori and Pākehā – as they carve out a life in Ōwhiro. Each of the four plays explores the experience of […]

Where the Wild Wind Blows

Where the Wild Wind Blows

We’re expecting some severe winds overnight and in the morning, and sensible people are battening down their metaphorical (and occasionally literal) hatches. I saw a comment on a friend’s Facebook page from someone overseas saying “but surely Wellington houses are built for the wind?”, and the answer is yes, but gusts of 160km/h are extreme enough […]

What Summer?

You’ve heard the complaints. You may even have uttered them yourself. “What happened to summer?” “Call this a summer!?” “Bloody Wellington summer.” And the half of official summer that Wellington’s had so far is definitely significantly less warm than usual. But is it really that unusual, and are we perhaps expecting too much from a Wellington […]

Cruisy

Evidently, spending fourteen nights on board a luxurious floating hotel can be a little disorientating so every night at midnight a crew member goes around all the elevators on the ship and swaps out a little plaque on the floor with the correct day of the week. This is one of several fairly astounding facts this […]

Everyone’s Adventure

At the Wellingtonista, we mostly like to try the experiences we talk about before we talk about them. However, it’s that time of year when every timeline compresses in on itself, and maybe all you really want to do is curl up in a ball and wait until 2016 ends. So we didn’t quite get around to […]

Preview: Theatre shows on this week

  It’s all singing and dancing this week at Circa and BATS. (Just what I need to get me through my second to last week at work before the holidays tbh.) Scarlet and Gold continues at Circa Theatre as does Roger Hall’s “Jack and The Beanstalk”. (My review of Scarlet and Gold here. I haven’t […]

Wellington Theatre Awards 2016

The Wellington Theatre Awards were held at Te Whaea on Sunday night. Hosted by James Nokise with support from Allan Henry and music provided by Hayley Sproull it was an evening celebrating the last year of professional theatre in Wellington. Linda Wilson from Circa Theatre was recognised for her contribution to Wellington theatre with the […]