The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Nga Pou Wahine, The Bookbinder, and Punk Rock.

See more recent reviews at theatreview.org, the NZ Performing Arts Review & Directory

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Nga Pou Wahine, The Bookbinder, and Punk Rock.

See more recent reviews at theatreview.org, the NZ Performing Arts Review & Directory

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THE MOURNING AFTER: Humour amid the poignant portraits
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Bronwyn Elsmore

There’s much humour revealed in the characterisations and the cultural differences. Shekar finds his relatives don’t understand his references to what, to him, is quintessential Sri Lanka: Dilmah tea. Yet the strength of the story lies in the poignant situation of the few still present in the place following the devastation.

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BEN FAGAN: UNDER THE TABLE: Vulnerability and a good dose of earnestness
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Candice Lewis

From the moment he whistles ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ in order to impress a girl (woman/female/womyn) the tone of this performance really picks up. I’m in. I’m present for this now.

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ORANGUTAN: Captivating wordless character study deserves to be ‘heard’ worldwide
The Basement Studio, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

By no means a super-realistic depiction, particularly given her white shirt and black pants, the curiosity and contemplation evoked by the mask and her superb expressive characterisation, effectively transport us into its world.

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THE BOOKBINDER: Fresh and simple show uplifts and inspires
Baycourt X-Space, Tauranga
- reviewed by Gin Mabey

Ralph introduces the scene and the characters as a book binding shop, a veteran book binder, and his delightfully Kiwi-accented apprentice. Ralph switches from character to character with wonderful skill using body, voice and accent.

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ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD: Risky and challenging
Rose Centre Belmont, Auckland
- reviewed by Geoff Allen

Stoppard’s play is a must see for any lover of theatre. It’s not a traditional beginning, middle and end story ... Life and death and what does it all mean. To be or not to be, and if you be… what should you be and how… and what direction should you take, and where is east anyway?

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PUNK ROCK: Topical, shocking dissection of society
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

The Fortune’s new play bursts onto the stage as riotously as its title promises - but it would be a mistake to expect Punk Rock to be any sort of musical.

When newcomer Lilly, confident but brittle, joins senior students hanging out in a school library, she quickly disturbs the group’s equilibrium.

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THE BEAUTIFUL ONES: Unique and innovative mash-up of genres
Circa One, Wellington
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

In his programme notes for the beautiful ones, writer/director Hone Kouka describes the production as "loud, brash and youthful". And while it is all of these it is also poetic, lyrical and highly original with some exquisite dance routines.

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NGA POU WAHINE: Poetic, appealing and perfectly pitched
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

A Matariki offering from Taki Rua demonstrates the depth of Maori theatre as a 20-year-old play resurfaces with its sparkle undiminished by the passage of time.

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PUNK ROCK: A chance to understand them: so beautiful, so evil, so vulnerable
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Gut-wrenching, gob-smacking, mind-blowing – Punk Rock, the latest in the Fortune’s great True Grit series, is altogether visceral theatre. How could it be other, when it authentically delves into that thrilling and dangerous time we call adolescence? When body and brain send crazily confused but utterly compelling commands that must be acted on without thought?

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RUPERT: The razzle dazzle of media hegemony
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

McColl’s adroit direction provides optimum clarity within a wholly complex and relentlessly forward-moving tale. The excellent ensemble cast comes to the party with myriad mostly exaggerated depictions of the people that played critical roles in the eponymous anti-hero’s journey from 50s Marxist Oxford slacker to modern day freemarket tycoon.

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RUPERT: Rupert Bare
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth

It's rare that a show about someone's life is introduced by the main character as "a show about my life" but Rupert, a biography of media moghul Rupert Murdoch breaks many of the norms of theatre as he does the fourth wall.

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THE BEAUTIFUL ONES: Formidable talent in search of a theme-rich story
Circa One, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

Sure there’s an opportunity to get up and join in the dancing – to a hard-to-hear song from Ardie – and the performers are really into it throughout but I can’t help feeling so much attention has been paid to the music, singing, dancing and digital imagery that the vestigial story has been left as an unfulfilled outline.

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NGA POU WAHINE: Mana Wahine
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth

In many ways it's hard to believe that Nga Pou Wahine premiered two decades ago. Yes Maori theatre has moved on, gaining more and more prominence within the New Zealand theatre tapestry, however many of the themes that the play touches upon are still relevant today.

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NGA POU WAHINE: Inspiring and enriching
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Tamati Patuwai

Partaking in a Briar Grace-Smith play is truly a blessed thing. Her attention to our Maori nuance is second to none. Characters emerge so authentically from the writing with at times appropriate sophistication and panache, other times with bush styles and gruffery ...

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SLEEPING BEAUTY ON ICE: Fairytale brought to life
The Civic – THE EDGE, Auckland
- reviewed by Candice Frankland

The final scene fulfills every little girl's fantasy of a fairytale wedding. The use of aerials creates a fluidity in the air that reflects the fluidity of the movement on the ice and gives a multi-dimensional experience for the audience. The celebrations transition into the encore which treats the spectators to a happy indulgence, showing off each performer's finest tricks.

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SALUTE - REMEMBERING WORLD WAR: Movement knows no bounds
Municipal Theatre, Napier
- reviewed by Kim Buckley

A light-hearted and fluffy choreography from Johan Kobborg, Salute was originally choreographed for student dancers of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2010. The portrayed universality of youthful and unabashed soldiers and pretty besotted girls is saccharine. ‘Girls love a man in uniform’ seems to be the fine line here. But underneath all this, is the uncertainty of war. Strong muscular boys in uniform may be strutting their stuff like peacocks, and bravely asking a girl for a dance, but this might be the last time they kiss a girl. This might be the last time they dance. They just might be on the way to their own very real acknowledgement of impending death. Kobberg’s choreographed frivolity has an underlying sadness tenderly attached.

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NGA POU WAHINE: Full of life and very welcome
Te Papa Tongarewa, Te Marae, Cable Street, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

This is no linear narrative. What we are witnessing – in Kura Forrester’s subtly centred yet ebullient performance, delivered with a comic sensibility – is Kura’s state-of-being, as a desire for liberation into a wider word beckons her from the cocoon of extended whanau and her small town life.

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See more recent reviews at theatreview.org.nz, the NZ Performing Arts Review & Directory

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