A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week - including the NZ International Comedy Festival 2011.

A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week - including the NZ International Comedy Festival 2011.

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

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Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland - FAUX REAL: Almost saved by the finale

- reviewed by Karyn Cushen

After a successful 2010 season at the Basement, Faux Real has returned to the Auckland theatre circuit as part of the 2011 New Zealand International Comedy Festival. This time with a few script tweaks, some sponsorship and plenty more Johnny Farnham.

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BATS, Wellington - JAMIE BOWEN IN MUNFRED BERNSTEIN’S CABINET OF WONDER: Very engaging in its own strange way

- reviewed by John Smythe

Billed as “a rambunctious and ramshackle opus from a man unhinged”, Munfred Bernstein’s Cabinet of Wonder delivers a whimsical hour of idiosyncratic humour that entertains by transporting us from our ordinary world into his parallel universe and raising some questions about who exactly got where and why.

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Foxglove Queens Wharf Ballroom, 33 Queens Wharf, Wellington - DID I BELIEVE IT?: If this is the answer, what was the question?

- reviewed by John Smythe

There is no programme as such but the promo flyer promises “New style, interactive theatre which revolutionises the audience experience.”

Does it deliver on that promise?

No. It’s an extended revue sketch.

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BATS, Wellington - PENNY ASHTON’S HOT PINK TEETH ’N’ TITS: Fizzing comedy served with a side of smarts and lycra

- reviewed by Christine Brooks

Penny Ashton’s latest offering, Hot Pink Teeth 'n' Tits, is a smart, fun and funny show that delves into the world of beauty pageants.

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Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba & Vivian, Wellington - CAMERON MURRAY IN LOGICAL ODDITY: Outrageous similes galore

- reviewed by Robbie Ellis

Nobody can accuse Cameron Murray of being too high energy: his Billy T Award-nominated show is what I’d call an understated meander. However, the whole presentation is better than my opening sentence would suggest.

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Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - GOD OF CARNAGE: How grown up are the grown ups?

- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

The title and scary poster image promise carnage, and carnage we certainly get. Hurrah! Nothing like watching other people behaving very badly to make us feel better about ourselves.

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Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - GOD OF CARNAGE: Funny mix of brutality, refinement

- reviewed by Barbara Frame

If the barbarism of Dafur is at one end of the scale, surely Michel's and Veronique's stylish Paris home is at the other. So why does the place look so much like a battlefield?

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San Francisco Bathhouse, 171 Cuba St, Wellington - THE BOY WITH TAPE ON HIS FACE: Uplifted audience left with smiles on their faces

- reviewed by Robbie Ellis

The Boy With Tape On His Face (real name Sam Wills) doesn’t say a word for the whole show; wears a black-and-white striped shirt; and uses the accordion-and-glockenspiel soundtrack to Amélie as his default background music, yet I can’t, strictly speaking, call it mime either.

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Basement Theatre, Auckland - NATALIE MEDLOCK IN DAN IS DEAD/I AM A YETI: Despite the ridiculousness and somewhat murky plotline, the show works

- reviewed by Karyn Cushen

Based in a bedsit in Avondale, Dan is Dead/I am a Yeti, follows the trials and tribulations of a conniving Yeti that develops a crush on her flatmate Tom, an overweight struggling scriptwriter and Star Wars enthusiast, despite the fact that he lives with his newlywed bride Yvette, who owns a rather fetching negligee.

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Basement Theatre, Auckland - SPACE RACE: Plenty of laughs and left wanting more

- reviewed by Stephen Austin

Laurie Marshall (Simon Ward) lives with his Nana, is the local tractor repairman and in his spare time invents new and un-thought-of gadgets in the shed at the bottom of his garden. When he hears of the plans over the wireless that the Americans are to launch a rocket into space, he hatches a plan to get his home town of Sanson on the map ...

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