Lara has only the weekend to track down her partner as she traverses the world of public housing, drug dealing, and addiction. The Weekend is based on a situation that first time playwright that Henrietta Baird (from Kuku Yalanji/Yidinji country in Queensland’s Far North) experienced. From this she’s written an extremely funny, emotionally horrifying one-woman […]
This is the world premiere of the play by Jason Te Mete. The script shared the Adam New Zealand Play Award for Best Play by a Māori Playwright in 2018. It is a theatrical representation of one way depression can manifest. It starts with a mihi from Te Mete (also director and musical director) welcoming […]
Mincing is a joy and I absolutely loved it. Jimini Jolly Snr (Tom Sainsbury) runs the best butchery in Timaru, alongside his wife Marge-Irine (Kura Forrester), their son Jimini Jnr (Chris Parker) and their daughter Nicole (Brynley Stent). Jimini Jnr is off to New York to go to tap school, Marge-Irine is on a jaunt […]
Uther Dean Reads 300 Haiku is indeed that. 300 haiku in a row. But what the title doesn’t tell you is the wandering narrative Uther tells through the 300 haiku. “These haiku were written by Peter the Poet,” he says. Yes, we agree, though I’m not convinced. Peter is desperately in love with Janine, who is a […]
Craig Geenty comes from a large and extended family. They’re gregarious. They like a bit of a drink. They’ve been whispering about a family secret for years. Great-grandfather Joseph is still officially missing after disappearing on his way back home after making a delivery in town in 1921. Did he crash? Did he run away? […]
You’ll remember Emma from her reviews right here on the ‘ista. Turns out she’s putting her money where her mouth is, so I had a chat with her about it. Why are we still here? February 5-9pm Bats Theatre Emma! You’re doing a play! What’s it all about? Four women break into an abandoned theatre […]
Santa Claus brings A Slightly Isolated Dog’s usual charm, wit and innuendo to BATS’ Random Stage for the telling of a tale about a Santa Claus who is rather tired of putting up with naughty people’s bullshit. I shall not go too far into the plot of this sixty-minute show – to save you all from […]
Reviewed by our fantastic guest reviewer, Shannon Gillies (@dashrightin) on Twitter! The audience arrived warm and willing to be entertained – and they were. Actual Fact explored story telling. Not in a way that is generally celebrated in our society – such as I’m an adventurer, sportsperson, a politician – listen to or read of […]
I saw four improv shows last night as part of the New Zealand Improv Festival. In the interests of brevity, here’s a joint review of all four. Austen Found Penny Ashton’s Austen Found is a perambulation into the world of one of Jane Austen’s lost musicals – in this case, the story of one Victoria Sandybottom, who […]
I leaned over to my theatre-going companion just before the start of this show and pointed at one of the audience-made spaceships lying on the floor of BATS’ Random Stage. “That spaceship looks a lot like a dildo,” I remarked, presciently as always, and he agreed. The audience, in an ode to predictability, chose it. […]