The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Public Service Announcements: Election Special, Hubbub, Belleville, and Ted Poppy and World War Two.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Public Service Announcements: Election Special, Hubbub, Belleville, and Ted Poppy and World War Two.

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

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HUBBUB: Revealing laughable societal constraints
The Basement Studio, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Lucy O'Connor

The seating on stage resembles a bus and each girl eventually takes her seat. They sit appropriately away from one another, of course. The girls begin to reveal tidbits of personal thought as the bus journey continues and distinct characters start to emerge. The tone is comical as they

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BELLEVILLE: Satisfying, meaty and complex study of challenging relationship
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

A knock at the door sounds like hammering with an anvil in this Silo Theatre production, but clever, compelling Belleville is really only playing dress-up as a thriller. Its taut, insightful portrait of a millennial marriage is the real element of interest here.

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EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2014 - TASTER: Alienating, intoxicating, captivating | Exquisite | Highly refined with vitality | Incredibly profound and moving | Spectacle on a massive scale
Various Festival Venues, Edinburgh, Scotland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

As a NZ stage critic in Edinburgh during this season and privy to watching numerous shows, I feel the majority of these works at the Festival do indeed reflect that unswerving commitment not to simply honour the past - but also the tragedy that has endured after it.

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TED POPPY AND WORLD WAR TWO: A rich tapestry of valued heritage
Regent Theatre, Greymouth
- reviewed by Karen Grant

Kiwi-Possum Productions’ set layout brings the audience into a shared space; like a community coming together. The cast moving freely within the central space are not directing their performance at me, so, like a fly on the wall, I feel I am witnessing the stories being told.

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THE ILLUSIONISTS 2.0: Amazing sights and tricks
Civic Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Bronwyn Elsmore

Though they are all, without exception, masterful performances, the greatest gasps come with the more spectacular acts. It’s a good change to find that, rather than saw a woman in half as the old generation did, this new generation Deceptionist slices himself in two, and later escapes a burning box to appear elsewhere in the theatre.

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ONCE WE BUILT A TOWER: Rare to be so engaged and swept up in idealism for an entire performance
Otago Pioneer Women's Hall, Dunedin
- reviewed by Alison Embleton

“They used to tell me I was building a dream…”

Dean Parker’s latest theatrical offering, Once We Built a Tower, brought to life by the undeniably fabulous Bacchanals ensemble, is a striking political narrative – perfect for an election year.

Centred around a forgotten hero in the establishment of our welfare state in the 1930s, Dr Gervan McMillan ...

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A PUBLIC READING OF AN UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY ABOUT THE DEATH OF WALT DISNEY: Not the happiest place on Earth
Circa One, Wellington
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

While A Public Reading of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death of Walt Disney is a fictionalised account of the man, and the screenplay that is at the heart of the play may never have been written, it nevertheless shows an interesting side of one of the greatest lights of entertainment.

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DESTINATION BEEHIVE: Parody breaks up political stodge
Circa Two, Wellington
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

It was pre-millennium when Lorae Parry and Pink Agnew successfully brought their alter-egos Helen Clarke and Jenny Shipley to the screen. And although they have moved on from these their prowess as writers of political satire hasn’t waned, as evidenced in their latest show Destination Beehive.

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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS: ELECTION SPECIAL: Full of humour, energy and commitment
BATS Theatre (Out Of Site), Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

Currently there is much out in the political arena that provides good fodder for this type of show and writer James Nokise, along with Simon Leary and Thom Adams, have put together a witty and often accurate script about those vying for political office.

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BELLEVILLE: Ca Va
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

Other than its professed Hitchcockian style and some season-orientated pensive posters, I wasn't sure what to expect from Silo's production of Amy Herzog's Belleville other than a psychological relationship thriller. Hitchcock, however, was the undisputed master of suspense. Red herrings are not MacGuffins, and where Hitchcock would show, Herzog tells.

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SLEEPING OCEAN: Not your everyday walk in the park: Sleeping Ocean phase one
49 Cape Horn Road, Hillsborough, Auckland
- reviewed by Jesse Quaid

Following the guidance of our captain, we wend from one beautifully staged setting to the next. A scattering of white paper boats is vibrant against a green lawn. The drummer, Reuben Jelleyman, sits writing furiously in a battered wooden dinghy amidst daffodils. Where there is dance it is often slow, extended and internally focused. The childish energy of the transitions and the quasi-philosophical musings of the acted moments play against this, leaving the piece as a whole unsettled.

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A PUBLIC READING OF AN UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY ABOUT THE DEATH OF WALT DISNEY: All a bit of a slog
Circa One, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

There is an inherent danger in seeing a play in one part of the world then mounting a new production in another, expecting it to work as well in the new cultural context. To be in New York feeling disinclined to follow the mobs to the big ticket shows and opt instead for an Off-Broadway play which someone has mentioned in passing, and to feel enamoured of its apparent refusal to conform to basic dramaturgical principles, is one thing. To then produce it in Wellington’s major mainstream theatre is … risky.

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I AM: IT IS a conversation with the gods
The Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

Spearheaded by Ponifasio, artist and activist, I AM is a poetic and visceral invocation that requires, no actually demands, that you relinquish the cerebral demands for comprehension and simply immerse yourself in a complete saturation of the senses.

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SHORT + SWEET 2014 THEATRE WILDCARD: Four out of nine head for the Gala
TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
- reviewed by Bronwyn Elsmore

Can a stage play that lasts just ten minutes tell a complete story and leave the viewer satisfied? I’ve sat through many full-length plays only to conclude they would be better condensed to a much shorter time. So generally I welcome the brevity of these short and sweet offerings.

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DESTINATION BEEHIVE: The hottest ticket in town
Circa Two, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

‘Simply the Best’ is the tune that hums in my head long after the last of many wonderfully executed numbers ends the show. Destination Beehive is cleverly crafted, wittily written, dynamically directed and choreographed, sublimely sung and ebulliently performed.

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JAMES NOKISE'S V.I.P - VOTER INFORMATION PACK: Penetrating intelligence in political commentary
BATS Theatre (Out Of Site), Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington
- reviewed by Lena Fransham

We like laughing at those more powerful than ourselves. We may have limited power to call them to account for their injustices but we can draw satisfaction from seeing their hypocrisy exposed. It is such a release when someone can finally articulate exactly how butt-naked the emperor is.

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BELLEVILLE: A test of actors’ stamina and audience generosity
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Vanessa Byrnes

Silo Theatre’s latest offering of this single setting drama is not an easy night out. Packed as it is with four fabulous actors on John Verryt’s semi-naturalistic set, it has all the elements of a tight drama. But overall, it sidesteps its audience and fails to deliver the punch it seeks.

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OKLAHOMA!: Revolutionary once, irrelevant now
Opera House, Wellington
- reviewed by Maraea Rakuraku

I don’t wish to be unkind because of the obvious hard work of the cast and crew, and props to anyone able to sing and dance onstage, but c’mon, we live in a racially and sexually diverse world here and narratives like this contribute little to nothing to the Aotearoa I sit within.

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GOODBYE MY FELENI: Essentially fulfilling
The Playhouse, Glen Eden, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

While set almost entirely in a training camp in Papakura, the roots of D F Mamea’s historical play are widespread. Focussing on the camaraderie between four Pacific Island infantrymen in the 28th Maori Battalion as they prepare to join the war in Europe in 1943, the story examines the definitively human themes of friendship, family, pride and regret.

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EARNEST: Earnest goes Wilde
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth

It’s interesting that The Importance of Being Earnest is often performed as a ‘straight’ interpretation, which is ironic given the gay essence of the closeted homosexual playwright’s well-known work. And to be honest a key reason I was keen to see this version was its premise of a fresh innovative take on this tried and tested classic.

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EARNEST: Reimagining a classic creates a romp on the Wilde side
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

The party fun starts even before you enter the theatre for this Importance of Being Earnest, fabulously reimagined as an all-male dandy revel. Magnificent creature Stephen Butterworth - resplendent in feathered turban, frilly knickers and beard - welcomes all-comers with a flick of green fingernails, a flash of diamanted nipples and a flutter of glittered eyelashes.

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CIRQUE DU SOLEIL TOTEM: Cirque Evolution
Alexandra Park, Auckland
- reviewed by James Wenley

Theatre-types will be interested to know that Totem comes to Auckland via collaboration between Quebec’s Cirque Du Soleil (now celebrating their 30th year) and Quebec’s writer-director Robert Lepage. Theatre visionary Lepage, whose work Needles and Opium and The Andersen Project have toured to the Wellington and Auckland Festivals respectively, is known for fusion of technology and performance and transformative visual spectacle.

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EDINBURGH FRINGE 2014 WRAP #3: Important questions | Much to offer | Beautiful writing vs frenetic acting | Clever and confident | Largely unimaginative | Much to like | Polished but lacks substance | Inspiring
Various Fringe venues, Edinburgh, Scotland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

At a time when war once more is leering at her victims in Gaza it isn’t surprising that a number of works address the issues of responsibility, corruption and – yes – fundamentalism across both camps.

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SHORT + SWEET 2014 THEATRE WEEK ONE: Ten-minute theatrical turns a treat
TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

This week, 10 light-hearted "slice of life" plays start the month-long Short+Sweet suite of theatre, song and dance. Next week sees another round of 10-minute plays before the dancers and musicals get a week each.

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EARNEST: Refreshing messing wickedly funny
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Vanessa Byrnes

This modern retelling of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a sharp, energetic, beautifully pitched piece of theatre. Fractious Tash and Last Tapes Theatre Co have a hit on their hands and are to be toasted for pulling off such a stylish, complete piece of theatre.

Benjamin Henson skillfully directs the company of eight wonderful male actors with rhythmic flair.

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

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