Circa Theatre’s The Importance of Being Earnest has marked itself down as a fantastic retelling of my favourite non-New Zealand play, and an excellent night out besides. Staged in a thrust stage in Circa One, Jonathan Price’s directorial hand is evident as a play that is often so caught in (delightful) internal conversations is broadened […]
Reviewed by Talia Carlisle “Where does talent come from?” This is the key question asked by character Sylvia St. Croix (Bea Lee-Smith) in Kauri Theatre’s talent-full production of Ruthless at Gryphon Theatre on until Saturday. The show, directed by Bonita Edwards is brimming with talent from Bea Lee-Smith’s sequin covered entrance. There’s cheerful dance numbers, […]
This show was incredibly popular and got reviewed multiple times during the Improv Fest! Check out a variety of those reviews below. – Reviewed by Thalia Kehoe Rowden In an intense, moving 60-minute show, the cast of four take inspiration from real-life journal entries – unseen until the performance – and invent and explore the […]
Reviewed by Rebecca Stubbing. Friday the 13th was the perfect occasion for NO SLEEP, a joyfully chaotic improv show presented at this year’s New Zealand Improv Festival. The show began at 9:30pm on the wonderful Stage at BATS Theatre, and the slightly sleepy audience were immediately reassured by the performers not to worry, we were […]
Nelson Designer Gill Saunders was awarded The World of Wearable Art’s Supreme Award this Friday for her design, Earthling (pictured). Taking its inspiration from the rising popularity of adult colouring books and promoting mindfulness in a “world under increasing stress”, Earthling celebrates earth’s natural wonders in a beautifully crafted garment made from EVA foam, acrylic […]
Te Auaha’s Musical Theatre cohort for 2023 is bringing Mamma Mia! to our shores this September, and we are all better for it. A spellbinding, fabulous version of Catherine Johnson/ABBA’s jukebox musical knocked my absolute socks off last night, and I’m seriously considering going back to see it again. You might have seen the 2008 […]
Noted Wellington improv troupe Best on Tap is back performing this month with a new iteration of their grounded and clever improv in a show using your music suggestions! Music To Die For takes six songs that you (the audience) would play at your funeral and uses them to inspire layered, complex scenes about the […]
By Talia Carlisle An ode to joy! For the first time recently I joined a choir, and as we joined together as strangers to sing, holding our music and raising our voices in harmony, I could feel such joy and togetherness lifting everyone up, and connecting us together while also creating a melodic story told […]
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 […]
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 […]
The first thing that grips me as soon as I walk into Circa Two is Lucas Neal’s gorgeous set design for this show – a huge pohutakawa that stretches up and across the entire stage, a white picket fence, and the outside edge of a traditional weatherboard kiwi house. Cicadas chirp (beautiful sound design by […]
Reviewed by Talia Carlisle. On a rain-splattered Wellington evening, I find myself refuge in BATS Theatre’s Studio space where paper “worries” are hung on string across the small stage. An eager smattering of audience members buzz in excitement, waiting for Ray Shipley to enter, fresh from a popular Christchurch season with a well-crafted set ready […]
Image credit: Stephen A’Court Reviewed by Talia Carlisle What a magical place Wellington is, when you can start your evening with gin and fresh seafood at Cinderella’s for the Wellington on a Plate Launch – and pop down to the St James Theatre, home of the Royal New Zealand Ballet for their opening night of […]
Image credit: Maeve O’Connell. Reviewed by Talia Carlisle Not dissimilar to the high fashion of the Met Gala, I adorned my best tiara and lavender frock, ready to descend Te Auaha’s stairs to Witch Music Theatre’s Into The Woods. There isn’t a more magical staircase to a fairytale full of laughter. If the eye-catching advertising […]
A Beautiful Harmony of Theatre, Music and So Mush Spore. I loved the novel format of storytelling that ‘Concept for a Film’ delivered. The scene opens with Max Barton, sitting at a desk that faces the audience, reading out the script for a film. These readings are intermittently dispersed with many disruptions including phone calls […]
Produced by ‘Woman’s Move’ from Switzerland and co-directed by choreographers Elsa Couvreur and Iona D’Annunzio. The Sensemaker starts as a clever and understated comedy that uses dance, movement and sound as its main devices. Theatre like this is at its best when minimal and perfectly timed, which is a key strength of The Sensemaker. The […]
The Culture, starts before the performers come on stage with a montage of video footage of news articles on systemic and political misogyny. This sets the scene for the everyday ways women are disadvantaged that are so embedded, that they often go unnoticed. The newsfeed soon fades out, the lights come up, and Will and […]
Reviewed by Nadia Freeman Photo credit: David Vagg This is no typical dance number meant to distract and delight you with sparkles and clap-along numbers. Limits sits in the realm of theatre that is to challenge its audience and give them a chance to view what it might be like to step into the shoes […]
Judy’s return something to talk about By Talia Carlisle Pour the champagne because Judy Garland has come to town. Peter Quilter’s smash hit show End of the Rainbow opened to loud belly laughs, big smiles and plenty of cheers at the Wellington Opera House this weekend. While the audience and stars were dressed to impress, […]
I’ve never seen a show at the zoo before, but that’s where Professor Wild Returns takes me for my first review of NZ Fringe 2023. Another entry in the incredible Austin Harrison Theatrical Universe, this solo show resurrects Harrison’s segment ‘Professor Wild’ from What Now in 2009 as a full-length show for adults, set amongst the climbs of the […]
Reviewed by Nadia Freeman Jacob Dombroski is all heart in his performance of Big J A New Legacy. It is clear that he relives the feelings of every story he shares. This vulnerability is most evident during his dance pieces. From krump to graceful, emotive sections, his actions are deliberate. He can switch from raw […]
Reviewed by Talia Carlisle. The tinsel is untangled, the star perfectly in place at the top of the tree. The only thing left is to make your way to BATS theatre to watch Pōneke’s own Pāua Ballads totally f*ck Christmas up – their word not mine! There are naughty elves and a secretive Santa, squabbling […]
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is back for their final offering this year, a trio of celestial ballets within the show Venus Rising. I’ve been waiting to see this show for a couple of years now, for it’s been delayed twice by COVID, so it was an absolute delight to finally catch it at its […]
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 […]
We need more shows like this. The kind that effortlessly transports you to the same childlike sense of wonder, akin to the first time you are read what will become your favourite story. And it is no coincidence that The Griegol, written by Hannah Smith and Ralph McCubbin Howell, revolves around the power of storytelling. […]
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 […]
A whiteboard greets us at the top of the stairs of BATS’ Dome Theatre. 10am – Dancing with Craig (R18). It reads. 1.45pm – Knitting with Craig (R18), then 8pm – Dave & Bryan Impov Thing. And that is what we’re here to see (though I am particularly taken by the concept of 12.45pm – Autopsy for Beginners.) We’re at […]
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 […]
Reviewed by Lox Dixon. Presented as a part of the TAHI Festival, 2022. Effy is a piece of physical theatre performed by a masked actor, and featuring no verbal communication. The show takes place in what ostensibly looks like a public park. A rubbish bin sits on one side of the stage, an old wooden […]
See it first and see it free! Be the first to see Ngā Taniwha o Rūpapa | Dinosaurs of Patagonia presented by the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Argentina. This […]
Last Sunday we began a new church year, beginning with the Season of Advent. We are now in Year B, and the Gospel of Mark. Mark’s Gospel is often under-rated, […]
Contemporary plays hot off the press, performed in a series of FREE play-readings by Asian Pōneke-based artists. These play-reads are written, read and directed by Asian practitioners.
