A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including: Blessed Union, Titanic: The Marionette Show, No Holds Bard, and Dancing in the Wake: The Story of Lucia Joyce.

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

A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including: Blessed Union, Titanic: The Marionette Show, No Holds Bard, and Dancing in the Wake: The Story of Lucia Joyce.

See more recent reviews at theatreview.org, the NZ Performing Arts Review & Directory.
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BATS - Out Of Site - Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - TITANIC: THE MARIONETTE SHOW: Feels thrown together
- reviewed by Hannah Smith

Do not be misled by the title – this is not the story of The Titanic told with marionettes. It is hard to put ones finger on what exactly it is instead, but it is certainly an unexpected theatrical experience.

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The Basement, Auckland - NO HOLDS BARD: Hilarious, awe-inspiring great fun

- reviewed by Johnny Givins

This is a one man inferno of energy blown through the prism of Shakespeare and forged with the skill of a craftsman. Not only does Hurst perform the text with superb clarity, he captures the essence of the greatest of Shakespeare’s male characters.

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Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland - SHORT+SWEET DANCE 2013 WEEK 2: Surprisingly bewildering

- reviewed by Dr Linda Ashley

Whose Dance is it anyway? (Phoebe Heyhoe & dancers) is the most engaging piece of the evening. The audience is invited to interact with a series of Dance Sport sketches by a compellingly comedic host who rises to the challenges of certain demanding individuals with good humour and quickfire wit. Fearless! We are allowed to bestow Oscars and kill the dancers whenever we please- it is fun on a stick and without apology. The dancers too improvise generously meeting all the obstacles put in their way - delightful connoisseurship of the mundane.

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Allen Hall Theatre, Dunedin - DANCING IN THE WAKE: THE STORY OF LUCIA JOYCE: Rich and rewarding
- reviewed by Jonathan W. Marshall

In the wonderfully charismatic, lithe, free and yet disciplined dance of Sacha Copland in the role of young Lucia, this is more than apparent. There is, to be sure, a bleak Beckettian ambience to this play. The message seems to be that death takes us all, and we are barely remembered by anyone, despite our own fantasies of surviving on in such memories. Lucia dreams of being remembered through her inspirational influence as a muse for the two great authors she has known, namely Samuel Beckett and her father James. It is far from clear though that this influence is more real than imagined. Lucia’s legacy, if it exists at all, is poetic and ineffable, much like the trajectory of her life which is wispily sketched out in her on stage memories as the night unfolds.

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Kenneth Myers Centre, Shortland Street, Auckland - RITES - NEW RITUALS FOR THE LIVING: Vagaries of Spring
- reviewed by Jesse Quaid

The final piece of the evening was an interesting interpretation through body percussion of the rhythms of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps. Sophie Williams and Nita Latu’s “Rite Something New”, although lacking consistency, achieved moments where movement and music combined in unusual and beautifully precise ways. The final image of two women dancing, surrounded by a circle of looming figures, was a direct reference to the narrative of the Rite, and provided a powerful ending before darkness descended to the plaintive sound of fading drumming.

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Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland - SHORT + SWEET DANCE - WILDCARDS 2013: Extremely variegated Wildcards
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

Amelia Grey’s There was a Time is thematically the heavyweight for this programme, dealing with the residue of psychological loss that stays in the body and goes on shaping human interactions for some time. It is impressively performed with gravitas by her trio of Casey Reid, Monique Westerdaal and Tori Manley to music by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and is definitely much appreciated by the audience.

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Paramount, Wellington - PLAYSHOP LIVE: Where the audience can be partly blamed for crap

- reviewed by Charlotte Simmonds

The good thing about going to see a show that’s being written during performance is, as the MC Dan Pengelly kindly points out, if it’s crap, you never have to see it again.

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WHITIREIA THEATRE - return season, Wellington - ROMEO AND TUSI: Big hearts and enthusiasm – but is the play dated?
- reviewed by Maraea Rakuraku

In a week where a certain cartoon lampooned M?ori and Polynesians, I’m not sure if it’s beneficial for us to reinforce even our own racist beliefs because we end up aligning ourselves with mainstream views of us. I’m not saying that’s the intention here with this Jandals Inc production because I absolutely celebrate their tenacity and obvious love for this work. I’m just saying it’s something we need to be wary of and think about. Obviously in this re-working there was a commitment to including modern day references and music. If that’s the case surely it can apply thematically and in other areas as well?

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - BLESSED UNION: Sainsburistic
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Impressively versatile solo performer Lee Smith Gibbons bursts onto the conventionally minimal set as the first of several distinct characters: fresh-out-of-rehab Julia Christie, on the phone discussing catering for the impending special day with mother-of-the-groom Dee. From there we are introduced in turn to the said groom-to-be Seth, his best man, the bride, her father and sister, as well as a handful of characters present but not performed.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - ERNEST RUTHERFORD: EVERYONE CAN SCIENCE!: Side Splitty Stuff
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan

I worry about the title of Nic Sampson’s new show Ernest Rutherford: Everyone Can Science! mainly because people might get the wrong impression thinking that it is a boring show about splitting the atom. And although Sampson hails from Gen Y, I suspect a majority of his generation may not even equate Rutherford with splitting the atom, but may have seen him on the 100 Kiwi ‘pound’ note.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - ERNEST RUTHERFORD: EVERYONE CAN SCIENCE!: Embellishing history
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

I’m not sure how contingent the Basement Theatre’s no-risk initiative is in bringing such random works as Nic Sampson’s Ernest Rutherford: Everyone Can Science to the stage. The vibrancy and unapologetic concoction of originality and cliché has a brisk, unusually relaxed air about it such that some analytical pedant might suggest it’s a result of a lack of pecuniary concern.

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Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - TITUS: A bold reflection on human depravity
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Director brings great clarity to Shakespeare's complex drama, with all-male cast filling demanding roles

It is never difficult to find contemporary events that point to the relevance of Titus Andronicus, but Shakespeare's reflections on the extremes of human cruelty are given particular poignancy by the recent murder of a young soldier on a London street.

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

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