The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Samarpana - An Offering Through Dance, and Downton Adlib.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Samarpana - An Offering Through Dance, and Downton Adlib.

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

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CLEANSKIN: Reality resisted makes for absorbing theatre
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

It would be easy to write Andrew Clarke’s Cleanskin off as a play about the self-involved self-imploding, just as Irish critic Vivian Mercier summarised Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot as “a play in which nothing happens, twice.” But in both cases there is something strangely compelling …

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LYSISTRATA: Focus on inoffensive offensive farce
BATS Theatre, The Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by James Wenley

Has anyone written a better sex comedy since Aristophanes did it 2400 years ago? Lysistrata has innuendo, erect phalluses, and a full on battle of the sexes, but strip it bare and you find a hard-hitting political message about the futility of ongoing war amongst the Greek states. Phwoarr.

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LYSISTRATA: Make love... and theatre... not war
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

Staying true to the original text, Hurst does not hold back on any of the stereotypical attributes Aristophanes placed on either gender. The women gabble and gossip, Amanda Billing's titular character being the sole motivator of their cause, while the men's excessive egotism wanes in direct opposition to their erections.

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DOWNTON ADLIB: Meet the Twatingtons!
Circa Two, Wellington
- reviewed by Lori Leigh

Despite its absurdity, the aristocracy-hating cat-horse monster named Satan is actually very funny, and they even manage to weave in a Gareth Morgan reference.

The humour excels, however, when the content comes from the genre /style itself ...

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LYSISTRATA: From deeply shallow to rich emotional sophistication
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

It’s an incredibly heterosexual work and, in this instance, that’s totally OK given the nature of the plot and the increasing horniness of all the characters: the women struggling to remain true to their chaste vow and the men doing everything they conceivably can to break the women’s will without actually signing up to any dreaded peace accord. Therein lies the crux of the humour, of course.

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SAMARPANA - AN OFFERING THROUGH DANCE: Superb artistry and precision of Bharata-Natyam
Whitireia Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington
- reviewed by Chris Jannides

A distinct feature of Bharata-Natyam is that it mixes highly stylised movement with equal amounts of emotional expression and role-playing. The performers act as much as they dance. Extreme changes of mood and character in any one dancer can be very swift. In terms of a stand-out person in this regard, Varshini Suresh has to be mentioned. Her extremely expressive eyes and face and virtuosic dancing is both impressive and compelling. In contrast to her colleague, Kaajal, Varshini leaves nothing in reserve, yet is able to produce unexpected surprises and subtleties of emotion.

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ONCE ON CHUNUK BAIR: Battles within battles
Air Force Museum, Wigram, Christchurch
- reviewed by Erin Harrington

Each character is given an opportunity to present their case: their reasons for fighting, their attitude towards the war, their hopes, their relationship with home, their identity as a New Zealander. There is a demonstrable camaraderie, as both characters and castmates, which elevates some of the more prosaic and didactic sections of text.

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SUCCESS: Study in failure proves success
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Playwright Stephen Sinclair's latest work could be seen as a meditation on the extreme poles of his own career which has swung between spectacular international success and the hard grind of low-budget productions in studio theatres.

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SUCCESS: High Achiever
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Tim George

It is hard to write a dramatic story involving stand-up comedians, mainly because it requires good jokes. Everyone remembers Punchline, the Tom Hanks movie about the gritty backstage world of standup, right? No, of course not.

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

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