I don’t think anyone will disagree with me that it’s been one hell of a year, and Christmas is descending on us fast. So it seemed completely appropriate to be watching a show about people who’ve had a hell of a year, too, drawn together at Christmas. Annie and Will have gravitated back to the […]
Leaving Circa on Wednesday after the opening night of Olive Copperbottom, one of the many things I was feeling was deep regret that it was the very first of Penny Ashton’s shows that I’d seen, and I’d missed so many others. Ashton is a bright light. Her energy, her wit, and her joy were incandescent […]
Owls Do Cry is not your typical theatrical retelling of a book. Instead, it is a complete reinterpretation of the work through movement, design and song. The show starts very light-hearted with a chorus of singing, movement and audience interaction. As the show continues, however, it draws you into the real pain and fragility of […]
Wellington Repertory Theatre’s newest offering is Popcorn, Ben Elton’s play. The dialogue is witty, the scripting tight and the themes prescient despite being written in 1996. Set in the home of a exploitation cinema director, Bruce Delametri, Popcorn takes place over one night as the legendary Mall Murderers invade Bruce’s house after he wins an […]
I’ve seen Ali Harper before, at Old St Paul’s in 2012, and I was struck by her humour and professionalism then. It was a fun night out with my Robot Mum and we both enjoyed hearing songs we knew, and some we didn’t, performed by someone who knew her craft and was super skilled. On […]
I’ve found myself in a very lovely, very privileged, and deeply uncomfortable space. I’ve seen three previous Red Scare Theatre Company shows, and I’ve genuinely loved them all. I will have to enlist one of my ‘Ista comrades to review their shows in future, to preclude claims of bias and shameless fangirling. Each of those […]
Oddacity promised an “award-winning, best-of spectacular with a cast of international luminaries performing stylish acts”, under the beautiful skylight in Bats’ Heyday Dome. I wasn’t sure what to expect, knowing the theatre wouldn’t suit aerials or acrobatics, but I hoped for clowns. I was not disappointed in that sense. Oddacity is usually Sachie Mikawa, Trent […]
I wouldn’t necessarily say that Dungeons and Dragons has gone mainstream, but it’s become a lot more popular in the last twenty years. It probably helps that there are so many TV shows these days with a fantasy element, as well as movies like the Lord of the Rings series making sword-and-sorcery stuff cooler. DnD […]
It was weird for me to go to a show at 93 Kelburn Parade, having completed my own humble BA at Vic almost 20 years ago. In fact, #93 was the site of at least one audition and more than a few rehearsals for me. It’s had a bit of a facelift, now being an […]
Four Nights In the Green Barrow Pub is the third of Cassandra Tse’s shows I’ve seen, and each one was wildly different from the others. M’Lady had me in stitches, The Aliens, in tears. Four Nights, though, took me down memory lane. Having a hundred noisy musical Irish cousins of my own, I was probably […]