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Reviews and Performing Arts

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    • Review: and the Lochburns
      • The Lochburn family have moved into Circa Theatre from the 5th of October to the 2nd of November, filling the stage with family drama, nostalgia, and lots of music. and the Lochburns, by married couple William Duignan and Andrew Paterson—playwright and director, respectively—presents an authentic depiction of a family moving through grief and change (with an ensemble cast of talented actor-musicians).
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        • Circa Theatre, Cable Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Ngā Rorirori
      • After debuting in 2022 with great success, Ngā Rorirori is back and better than ever. Combining contemporary dance, commedia farce, and traditional theatre, this show is like no other Māori lands settlement story you've seen before. Set in the wharekai of a rural marae, Ngā Rorirori centres around a brother and sister's newfound ownership of their rohe as the last two members of their hapū. Pillow, the tungane (Manuel Solomon), is a convicted fraudster recently released from prison looking to sink his teeth into another cash-grab project. Manuela, the pōtiki (Mycah Keall), is a forthright activist trying to keep her whānau from falling apart. As the new owners, they have an incredible responsibility placed on them. And today is the day that the Department of Whakapapa, Whenua and Whatever will come to cement their title as rangatira. Will Pillow give up the whenua to make some big-time mulla? Or will Manuela save the day with mana wāhine?
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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    • Review: Lizzie
      • By Talia Carlisle Have you ever heard someone scream bloody murder? It’s worth cutting down the door to watch LIZZIE, the rocking hit musical by WITCH Music Theatre, where murder sounds hellishly good…. This punk rock’n’rollercoaster will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. So tighten your corset and quieten […]
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        • Circa Theatre, Cable Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: First Reserve | "Alice"
      • If you have engaged with the Wellington music scene at all, I’m sure you have heard of First Reserve. Often spotted performing at San Fran, the singer and bassist has just released his latest single, “Alice”. Last week, San Fran hosted a release show featuring a thrilling performance by First Reserve, alongside supporting acts Keira Batten Coogan and Red Necklace. As someone who has seen both the openers multiple times, I can safely say that they never disappoint, successfully building the energy of the crowd and setting the stage perfectly for First Reserve's entrance.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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    • REVIEW: Blunt Dog: Bullet Train to Dunedin
      • In addition to playing an Eyegum Wednesday at San Fran, Blunt Dog spent the weekend recording their upcoming album at the Massey University studio. The album, titled Bullet Train To Dunedin, promises a warm and unpolished sound reminiscent of old home recordings. This album marks a significant departure from their first album, How is a Dog So Honest?. The new tracks, primarily derived from guitarist and vocalist Dom’s demos, are both harder and softer, expanding on the range of their earlier work. The album concept originated from drummer Logan’s whimsical idea of a Japanese bullet train travelling from Britomart station in Auckland to Dunedin, described by the band as “a moment of genius and a passage of jest.”
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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        • San Francisco Bath House, Swan Lane, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Iphigeneia at Aulis
      • Words by: Lyra Caughley (she/her) Victoria Ancient Theatre Society’s first offering this year, Iphigeneia at Aulis, adapted Euripides’s tragedy concerning Agamemnon’s mythic decision to sacrifice his own daughter. As someone who’s been obsessed with classical myth during past studies, I was enchanted by this show’s atmosphere and the chilling clarity of its storytelling.
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        • BATS Theatre, 1, Kent Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Lipstick
      • How do I even begin to describe this band? I’ve been dying to write about Lipstick since I saw them for the first time at Valhalla in April. Without a doubt, Lipstick has become my favorite band to see live, and I’ve been hooked since that very first show. Since their debut as a band at the end of March, they’ve become a prominent presence in the gig scene—and for good reason.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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    • Review: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
      • Words by: Ngan Dang (she/they) Picture Credit: WITCH Musical Theatre Dream-like and grandiose; Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 was a memorable experience which thoroughly entertained me. I expected a messy love story, but the melancholy was balanced out with just as much fun and wit—this was truly a show of anticipation and charging emotions. In this classic Broadway musical, co-directors Maya Handa Naff and Nick Lerew take a youthful twist to the lavish 19th-century Moscow from Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Through the stories of “young” Natasha and “warm-hearted” Pierre, the show explores their journey to navigate love, purpose, and pleasure in the heart of emotional turmoil and conflict.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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        • Hannah Playhouse, 12, Cambridge Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Call The Plumber Tour—Frank on Tap and Wet Denim
      • Frank on Tap and Wet Denim concluded their “Call The Plumber” tour in Wellington at San Fran this past Saturday. Co-headlining the tour, the show was nothing if not a striking finale. With supporting artists, First Reserve, Messie, and Swimcap, the venue was packed and brimming with excitement—there wasn’t a single bad spot to watch the show from. Taking the stage as the first headliner, Frank on Tap delivered a vibrant pop-rock performance that raised the energy of the whole room. There wasn’t a single person either fully immersed and dancing or at least nodding their head along to the beat. From captivating vocals to energising drum beats, there wasn’t an uninteresting second of their set.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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        • San Francisco Bath House, Swan Lane, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Sandwich Artist
      • Maybe I’m being subjective here, but a show playing “Man or Muppet” as house music is bound to be good fun. And Sandwich Artist was! A heartwarming and silly musical, that poked fun at the genre conventions while being a genuinely well-put together show, with a lot of love and just a bit more to it than only sliced bread. The story follows Sammy Rye (Phoebe Caldeiro), an unrecognised sandwich genius working for an unnamed sandwich chain, who’s unorthodox, off-menu sandwiches get her fired, despite how good they are. She gambles it all on a bus ride to Wellington, where a fellowship is formed with a despondent carrot farmer (Catherine Gavigan-Binnie), a butcher with attachment issues (Anna Barker), and a strangely shifty baker (Dylan Hutton). Phoebe and Jack McGee worked together on a story that does a lot with very little: only 6 major speaking roles and minimal props or set.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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        • Te Auaha, Dixon Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: blackpill
      • Content Warning: Misogyny, sexual content Before I watched this show I was warned it would ‘challenge me.' Naturally, a show about incel culture should not be easy to digest. However, as the show unfolded, I found myself facing a different kind of challenge than I had expected—one that tested my empathy and ability to connect with others. As expected from the topic, the show's title, blackpill, is derived from the incel community, and its definition is essentially what the show presents. In short, the ‘blackpill ideology’ maintains that physical attractiveness is the most important factor in attracting women, and that certain physical and social factors are necessary for success.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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        • BATS Theatre, 1, Kent Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: An Old-Fashioned Lesbian Love Story
      • Whisking us back to a world of swing jazz and giggle juice, Bars Behind Bars is an immersive experience. From the moment the audience enters, the actors are scattered about, welcoming us, having secret conversations in the hallway, sending us back in time. The show begins with a fourth-wall-breaking introduction to the characters and their lives at The Cat’s Pajamas, an illicit bar in Manhattan during the prohibition. When the bar’s owner is murdered in the back room, his wife Annie is the primary suspect of the interrogation.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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        • Ivy Bar, Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: After the Storm
      • Emma Salzano's After the Storm was originally a project created at Te Auaha, then went through a development season as a Lift-Off piece, and now it's making its world premiere at the New Zealand Fringe Festival. And let me tell you, I'm thrilled that it's back. It's been quite some time since I've seen a play that has genuinely touched me. And I don't say this to be disrespectful, but perhaps to acknowledge my own desensitisation towards such things. After the Storm changed that. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a good love story. But this play is more than just a romance; at its core, it's about grief and how our emotions shape our lives. The story takes place in the 1930s and follows a group of Italian immigrants who leave their volcanic island of Stromboli and start anew on the shores of Island Bay.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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        • Te Auaha, Dixon Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Twenty Minutes to Nine
      • am genuinely lost for words, trying to describe Twenty Minutes to Nine. It was nostalgic, raw, grim and witty, heart-sinking and furious and so painfully wise. Absolutely phenomenal. The show is personal even before it starts. I’m sitting in the front of two rows of seats, so there’s no doubt it’ll be an intimate show. Amanda (Santuccione (They/Her), the show’s writer and performer) asks what we’re up to afterwards, if we’d be alright to wait another 5 minutes for the last few people. In the end it’s me, a mother-and-adult-son duo, three other women and Amanda. We chat back and forth about hills and penguins, public transport and spilt beer. Then suddenly, with only the quieting of the house music, it begins.
      • Accepted from Salient 2024 by tonytw1
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    • Review: Prima Facie
      • By Nadia Freeman Prima Facie shares an authentic story of a woman’s experience of assault and navigating the judicial system to seek justice. The nearly sell-out season demonstrates that despite the raw and challenging subject, there is a strong calling for stories like this.   Rape is a word people don’t want to say, and for […]
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    • Review: 35mm
      • By Talia Carlisle Everyone is talking about 35mm, and it’s not a measurement, but a movement it seems, from the sound of new fans I’ve talked to. 35mm is a musical written by Ryan Scott Oliver on at Gryphon Theatre until Saturday, which incorporates music, original choreography and a live band led by musical director […]
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    • Review: Macbeth
      • I went into Macbeth at the St James completely cold – I know Verdi’s later operas, including his later Shakespeare operas; Otello and Falstaff.  But I’ve somehow missed Macbeth, and decided to keep it that way, I guess because it’s so exciting to go into something completely fresh and new, even if it was written […]
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    • Review: Back to Square One?
      • Reviewed by Shona Jaunas Back to Square One invites you into conversation between 95 year old Inga’s living room in Denmark and her grandson, Anders Falstie-Jensen in New Zealand. It starts with the audience all writing their names on the stage front in chalk which immediately brings us into the space; we are all involved […]
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        • Circa Theatre, Cable Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Skin Tight
      • Skin Tight is my favourite ever play and I’ve been wanting to see it performed since I first read it. Circa Theatre did not disappoint with their iteration of this show; a gloriously evocative piece with incredible staging, performances and movement. The play is not just a love story to its characters – and the highs […]
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        • Circa Theatre, Cable Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Review: Illegally Blind
      • Now, I’m literally in this show so I figured probably not the best for me to review it. This week we’ve got the lovely Cordy Black writing some kind words! The experience starts in the foyer, after a ritual of scanning and phone-waving – the default programme for Illegally Blind is presented to the visitor […]
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        • BATS Theatre, 1, Kent Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


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