Review: Stutterpop: the Queen’s speech

Stutterpop written and performed by Sam Brooks is entertaining mixture of lipsyncing and storytelling which explores Brooks’ love life, and his love for life. He walks onto the stage looking fabulous in a long hooded cape. It’s whipped off to reveal a glittery top and sparkling heels leaving him looking a little like classic Eddie Izzard. […]

Lord of the Dance – Dangerous Games

My son’s friend John, who is Irish, said that there’s always something sexual in Irish dancing (he probably just calls it “dancing”). Malo explained this to me when I expressed surprise that all the women Irish dancers in Lord of the Dance – Dangerous Games had stripped off their pretty traditional outfits to bras and […]

Music to brew your beer to

Wellington on a Plate is well known for its exquisite dining, incredible burgers and interesting events and this year San Fran are putting on a fantastic series. Music2Brew2 brings together three Wellington breweries who have been brewing under the influence. Inspired by three Wellington bands Panhead, Garage Project and Tuatara have all brewed a beer that […]

WOAP: those doughnuts

The doughnut popup web page said Wednesday! Leeds Street Bakery! Rhubarb and cream! Salted caramel and bacon! Chocolate and hazelnut! This all sounded pretty promising. So I circled the day on the calendar and wondered. Would the doughnuts be ironically Simpsonesque, or would they be inspired by Portland’s finest? This morning, having heard the popup […]

The hill that isn’t there

Last week saw the launch of Pukeahu: an Exploratory Anthology, an online collection of writing and photography exploring Pukeahu/Mt Cook from historical, cultural, geographic and imaginative perspectives. Collated and published by staff and students of Massey University, it explores a part of Wellington that’s seen more than its share of anguish, conflict and grandeur. It features work […]

WOAP: Dining through the Decades

This is going to sound a bit silly, but I choose my Wellington on a Plate events looking for value for money.  The silly part, obviously, is that no one needs to drop over a hundred dollars a head on dinner, but if you’re looking to have a degustation and matched wines, you’re going to spend […]

Our advice for Wellington on a Plate 2015

Tomorrow begins that most magical time of the year. The stupid film festival has released my friends from its evil clutches and it’s time to eat, eat, eat. We’ve been covering Wellington on a Plate for a  long time now and I think we’re getting pretty good at knowing what’s what. So here’s our thoughts. […]

Notional Significance: Lagoons

[Alf’s back after a long absence! You can catch up on his previous post in this series, or read all Notional Significance posts.] The path skirts the six-lane highway, compressed between traffic and hillside, passing beneath stolid, galvanised totems that awaken onrushing commuters to an imminent decision. Soon the curve of the carriageway straightens, but the scrubby […]

Review: Krishnan’s Dairy

Review: Krishnan’s Dairy

   One of New Zealand’s most-loved plays has returned for a short season at the Hannah Playhouse. Having not seen it before (despite it coming around every couple of years for almost the last twenty!) we took the chance to finally go see it. Gobi Krishnan (“a small man”, as the McGlashan-esque song/narrator would have […]

The Phoenix Foundation – Mountain

The new Phoenix Foundation track ‘Mountain’ (first single off their forthcoming album ‘Give up your Dreams‘) and accompanying video are very good. Enjoy. And head over to their website to get your hands on some of the fantastic looking limited edition copies (12″ vinyl!) of the new album.