A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including: The Road That Wasn't There, Manawa, Brothers in Palms, and Vampimple.

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

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A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including: The Road That Wasn't There, Manawa, Brothers in Palms, and Vampimple.

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

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Opera House, Wellington - FOOTNOTE FORTE SERIES 2013 - WE HAVE BEEN THERE: Altogether a different “speed of seeing”
- reviewed by Sam Trubridge

No one dancer is singled out from the others. Instead there is a constant weave of action on stage, an assemblage or ‘choreo-scape’ of slowly building energy. All the same each of the Footnote dancers are immaculate in their patience with the work, almost seeming to haunt their own movements as their bodies start to move faster, gathering in a tight social flurry of movement that circles the unornamented stage. Throbbing sound-scores and tight knots of arms, fingers and hands create a density of action in this vast space. Bodies come apart and recombine in a tangle of purposes and different directions. It is dramatic and meaningful in a way that bypasses language, evoking the many ways that bodies communicate and interact through physical and emotional proximity.

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Centrepoint, Palmerston North - MANAWA: Striking contrasts
- reviewed by John Ross

This is outstandingly Jamie McCaskill’s play. Not only did he write it but he delivers an electric performance in the lead role of the young career gaol-bird Jimmy King, as well as doing bit parts.

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The Classic, Auckland - BROTHERS IN PALMS: Wonderfully self-aware
- reviewed by Cherie Moore

A rapping white man in his fifties and a flowing haired Tongan Brian Tamaki look-a-like seem an unlikely pair for a comedy duo. Brothers in Palms is a two part comedy show playing at The Classic this week as part of The Fringe Festival.

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Nineteen Tory Street, Wellington - VAMPIMPLE: Popping the pustules of teenage hopes, dreams, fears and vulnerabilities

- reviewed by Charlotte Simmonds

Alice May Connolly plays a nerdy, perpetually seventeen year-old vampire who works to dispel the various vampire myths that we as humans have accumulated over a couple of centuries of pulp literature.

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The Classic Studio, Auckland - THE ALMANAC EXPERIMENT: Delightfully clever
- reviewed by Naomi Cohen

Although most of the survival techniques require him to delve back into his childhood in the 60s and reveal how this compares to the current generation, his stories are still fully applicable to all ages. I was probably one of the youngest audience members and I was in hysterics.

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Auckland City Mission, 140 Hobson Street, Auckland - SCENES FROM A NIGHT: An undeniable core of truth

- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Among the characters present we are witness to the spontaneous betrothal of a long-suffering couple (who already have six kids), the reunion of childhood mates, and a remorseful hirsute derelict ‘Budgie’ who milks his buddies for all the drinks he can scrounge on the basis of his broken heart since his sweetheart Elsie disappeared.

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Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba & Vivian, Wellington - THUNDERPLUMP: Insightful, unexpected and entertaining

- reviewed by Lucy O'Connor

Gina Garvey is a fantastic story teller. Focussed around the premise that all variations of flirting are awkward, we are taken on a journey from her 8 year old crush on Jesus to years later when a moth flies out of her underwear which coincidentally coincides with the day she asks her physio therapist on a date.

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Central Auckland starting location will be revealed via text message, Auckland - EN ROUTE: All the world is indeed a stage

- reviewed by Nik Smythe

What ensues is an originally constructed four-dimensional geographical collage. It’s not about historic landmarks or geographic features as such; this isn’t that kind of sightseeing tourist attraction. It’s an immersive artistic journey, involving an extensive credit-list of artists, musicians, poets and technical crew et al.

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Central Auckland starting location will be revealed via text message, Auckland - EN ROUTE: Going with the flow reveals city's treats
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

Walking tours – especially those guided by a remote, apparently all-seeing, all-knowing central HQ – are full of tantalising possibilities: where will I be going? How will I know how to get there?

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Festival Club, Aotea Square, Auckland - CANTINA: Dark and Steamy
- reviewed by Frances Morton

As he writhes at the peak of the Festival Club’s spiegeltent it’s hard to tell why the chiselled acrobat bothered to wrap his head in a blindfold like a hooded Abu Ghraib detainee. The elegance of his precise twists and leaps on the rope are wowing enough. Then he tumbles towards the stage...

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Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba & Vivian, Wellington - TAKE BACK THE HOOD: Comedy used as a powerful tool to drive away fear and ignorance

- reviewed by James McKinnon

But as fertile as the story has been over the centuries, Take Back the Hood marks the first time it has been transformed into a distinctively Kiwi, one-woman comedy show about dealing with the lifelong aftershocks of childhood trauma.

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Wunderbar, 19 London Street, Lyttelton - THE ROAD THAT WASN'T THERE: The delightful frisson of dualitie
- reviewed by Erin Harrington

It was received with warmth and enthusiasm in Lyttleton, and provoked laughter, gasps, and tears. It’s such a treat to come out of a show feeling like you’re 8 years old and have just been to see a play for the first time. If for nothing else, Trick of the Light deserves thanks for this.

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BIZDOJO Co.Space, 155B Karangahape Road, Auckland - KICK ASS PLAYS – NINE | FRIEND OF THE DECEASED | THE LAST NICKEL: Intriguing life-affirming trilogy
- reviewed by Gus Simonovic

Life needs space and time for silence or reflection. Without that, life dies. The Kick Ass Plays inspire us to keep communicating and feeling.

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Festival Club, Aotea Square, Auckland - CANTINA: Rough-housing, insouciance and disingenuousness
- reviewed by Jenny Stevenson

The most impressive aspect of the show was the sheer staying power of these performers as they tested themselves to the limit and carried off their feats of daring with aplomb – never even pausing to milk the applause.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - SQUIDBOY: Impossible not to love

- reviewed by Heidi North-Bailey

Wakenshaw studied in Paris at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier, and his show is testament to his clowning training with a hilarious dash of interpretive dance and lip-syncing thrown in for good measure. Added to this winning mix are Wakenshaw’s vocal effects, which he uses to maximum effect to keep the audience riveted to the (imaginary) action.

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Whammy Bar, St Kevin’s Arcade, K' Road, Auckland - TICKING TIME BOMB: An hilarious, recognisable and truly screwed up small town

- reviewed by Stephen Lunt

Many of the best comedy character actors started in sketch shows like Ticking Time Bomb, and Loren Mason and Caroline Muller are no exception. Each actress takes on countless small town characters and, for the most part, portrays them using only their physicality and voice.

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93KP Theatre – 93 Kelburn Parade, Wellington - STAND UP FOR CHARLIE: Stylistic mash-up subverts potential

- reviewed by John Smythe

Thanks to them I am happy to buy the developing story, grotesque as it is, as a searing satire on the sociopathic nature of stand-up comedy, as practiced by some. Comedians are a race apart and here is a chance to examine what make them tick – or a certain sub-species of them, anyway.

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Galatos, Auckland - OH! IS FOR OPERA: A naughty night at the opera

- reviewed by Glen Pickering

Ever thought the history of opera sounded a bit boring? Would it appeal more if it were told in an irreverent and funny manner, with immodestly dressed attractive young women?

The full house at the opening night of Oh! Is for Opera would seem to suggest the answer is a resounding yes!

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Old Folks Association Hall, 8 Gundry St, Newton, Auckland - GORGE: Darker themes beneath the pink
- reviewed by Naomi Cohen

It is Molly’s birthday and she is having a carnival theme party run by the lovely Pick and Mix who have organised a luscious spread of cakes and sweets. But there is something not quite right ...

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Bodega, Wellington - DUSKY MAIDENS AND NOBLE SAVAGES: Sharing equal space

- reviewed by John Smythe

Clad in a fusion of traditional and contemporary clothing, the line-up is a splendid sight, simultaneously celebrating identity and challenging our assumptions and expectations. Likewise their diverse range of 23 poems are lively, clear, insightful, enlightening, sometimes challenging and often humorous.

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The Basement Studio, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - MOVING STATIONERY: Makes making doing easy things look hard look easy

- reviewed by Nik Smythe

It’s about the simplest plotline I can recall in anything I’ve seen: Man goes to work, has a snack and stuffs an envelope. Yet somehow, through the distinctively undignified medium of clown, it manages to take almost three quarters of an hour to reach the charming, if anti-climactic twist.

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Thistle Hall, Wellington - ‘BEEP TEST*: Testing times

- reviewed by John Smythe

Motivational messages in large letters adorn the foyer, stairwell and upstairs space of Thistle Hall. “DIETRYING” bemuses me until I separate the words. “EMBRACE THE PACE”, “U ARE CAPABLE”, etc, set the tone. A projected ‘clock face’ sets out what we might expect: Welcome; Pep Talk; Beep Test; Warm Up Act; What’s Cookin’; Meet the Audience, Language of Love; Exam; Beep Test.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - THE SILLY HAT SAUSAGE SIZZLE SPECTACULAR BIRTHDAY BASH BONANZA EXTRAVAGANZA: Brutally good masterful cabaret noir
- reviewed by Jan Maree

Imagine never having had a birthday. Imagine adopting a foster child and him never having a birthday either (simply because you have never had one so you wouldn't know where to start). Therein lies the dilemma for Dame Ginger and Sausie. And so this spectacular begins.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - HOME / THE HILARIOUS COMEDY ABOUT HOW I NEARLY KILLED MYSELF / A PLAY ABOUT HOW I NEARLY DIED BUT DIDN'T THEN LEARNED A LOT ABOUT LIFE AFTERWARD: Deeply frank self-portrait a generous and oddly entertaining gift

- reviewed by Nik Smythe

The title reads like the basic plot points of a typical disease-of-the-week movie. Singing along to Jennifer Rush, Freya Madelaine Eng Desmarais warmly greets us as we cross through her onstage bedroom to our seats. There’s a curious ambiguity in the black rings around her eyes: physical abuse, lack of sleep, or just too much make-up?

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The Basement Studio, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - PRIVATISING PARTS: Cute, witty, sarcastic, energetic and manic
- reviewed by Jan Maree

Expecting a rhetorical bashing of the current National-led Government I am chilled to learn that the theorising is actually based on the exceptional job the Labour Government of the '80s did of privatising state assets and some of the lofty ways in which said privatisation was delivered to the NZ public.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - THE LAST TANIWHA: An important and thought-provoking work

- reviewed by Heidi North-Bailey

The Last Taniwha is a story woven out of a myth of a people who have turned away from their true path, and a modern day Maori community who are locked in a cycle of domestic violence.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - CANNONBALL: Flawless physical transformations a delight to behold

- reviewed by Heidi North-Bailey

Cannonball is a one-woman wonder. Emily Taylor, winner of the Tiki Tour Ready Award at the 2012 Melbourne Fringe Festival, brings us a kaleidoscope of ten characters all connected in some way to the glass tower of the Land Land Shopping centre.

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Private Home (directions given upon booking), Wellington - DEFINITION OF ME: Subtly employed creative flair produces a gem

- reviewed by John Smythe

Surprise parties can have unexpected results, especially when the birthday person doesn’t turn up, and Definition Of Me is some of them.

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BATS - Out Of Site - Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND STILL APPEAR NORMAL (2013): Clearly articulated ideas and desperate dance
- reviewed by Virginia Kennard

This theatrical choreography has choreography in it too – movement-wise the highlight occurs early on with the three bodies in a vertical line facing the back. Moody one-sided side lighting ripples over almost bare backs that indulge in twisting necks and spiraling spines. Hands push over faces and arms as if asking “What is my body?” Audio that haunts and hums, the vocals of Flo Wilson reaching out and grabbing the audience. Emi Pogoni’s composition of street sounds and typewriter-esque bings are a perfect marriage with this work.

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Te Marae O Hine, The Square, Palmerston North - THE TEMPEST: Attractive and captivating
- reviewed by Richard Mays

From the decision to move Summer Shakespeare from its traditional venue in Palmerston North’s Victoria Esplanade and place it right in the city centre, to the lighting, original soundscape, steam-punk set and costumes, The Tempest is ripe to attract a whole new audience.

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Te Marae O Hine, The Square, Palmerston North - THE TEMPEST: Playful use of Steampunk
- reviewed by John Ross

How does this highly challenging play come across, when mounted outdoors, in three separate venues, within our city’s Square? With all actors using headset mikes? With much of the cast costumed in Steampunk-style mock-Victorian garb? With the central character Prospero rendered as female ...

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Old Arts Quad of the Maidment Theatre, Auckland - KING LEAR: Richness of text shines in King Lear
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

The play does not require any contemporary references to underline its relevance, but news of the Pope's resignation presents an uncanny analogy to Lear's rash decision to divide his kingdom among his daughters.

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The Audio Foundation, Poynton Terrace, Auckland - … HIM: Deeply impressive
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

At the beginning of this atmospheric devised one-man show, our hero (Barnie Duncan) tries to get out of bed, only to be tugged back down by his affectionate companion. But this companion is odd: it is the man's own coat stuffed full of newspaper.

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Old Arts Quad of the Maidment Theatre, Auckland - KING LEAR: Game of Thrones

- reviewed by James Wenley

When I consider King Lear I think of the high grand tragedy, the demands of the title role and the master actors who have played him, and I conjure the harrowing image of the old man against the storm on the heath. It was pleasing to be reminded that the play begins (where it all begins really) with humorous sexual bawdy concerning the mother of Gloucester’s bastard son Edmund – “good sport at his making” – rather than anything loftier.

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Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE: Costume drama takes on a different meaning
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

It's all about the clothes. Women's lives have changed considerably in recent decades, but the selection, mixing, matching, agonising about the colours, the hemline, the shoes, the bag, and the lamentations about wardrobe inadequacies in general, continue to be a daily fact of life.

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The Audio Foundation, Poynton Terrace, Auckland - … HIM: Impeccable physicality in captivating, articulate performance
- reviewed by Gus Simonovic

The ‘he’ of … him is a reclusive newspaper hoarder. He comes out of his newspaper-made bed, hardly able to separate himself from his made-of-newspaper sleeping buddy. He puts on his newspaper-made shoes and takes us on a journey through his media-obsessed, poisoned mind.

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Meow, Edward St CBD, Wellington - GOBSMACKED: SHOWBIZ AND DATING: Talent in spades; could use a director

- reviewed by Nancy Catherine Fulford

Gobsmacked – Showbiz and Dating is a whirlwind musical extravaganza brought to us by James Burgess and Nikki Aitken. Meow is an excellent venue for the cabaret styled show which you should definitely calendar as a must-do if you are a fan of either comedy or musical theatre.

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Old Arts Quad of the Maidment Theatre, Auckland - KING LEAR: Told with passion and heart, and easily followed

- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

It should be said at the outset that this is a conventional production of the play and a conventional reading of the text, If you come expecting ‘Baz’ Luhrmann interpretative brilliance and eccentricity in staging you’ll be disappointed. Do come though, because, if you’re a Shakespeare nut you won’t be disappointed at all.

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Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE: Sartorial sassiness
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Clothes chart relationships too, starting of course with the terrible battles with mother (“Are you wearing that just to annoy me?”), and help a woman define herself – is she the demure powder blue prom gown or the sexy black outfit? And ah the fun of trying on for size each of Madonna’s incarnations!

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BATS - Out Of Site - Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - LIGHT SLEEPERS’ WAKE: Great promise
- reviewed by Helen Sims

They all perform with great energy and commitment, but at times delineation between and development of characters could be clearer. The exceptions are the radio host and eccentric collector, who are beautifully realised and progress throughout the show.

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ARTWORKS, 2 Korora Rd, Oneroa, Waiheke Island - DUALITY: Like an Escher Drawing where the down staircase is really going up
- reviewed by Johnny Givins

Duality uses the device of the doctor-patient relationship as the dramatic pivot. Patterson plays the doctor /scientific researcher trying to pin down the dreams and sparks of creativity of the marvellous, naive and talented Forrest Denize’s Psych patient.

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Meow, Edward St CBD, Wellington - BUDDYPALFRIEND: Awkwardly stuck

- reviewed by James McKinnon

Buddypalfriend investigates the concept (and experience) of the ‘Friend zone’, defined by Wikipedia as “a platonic relationship wherein one person wishes to enter into a romantic relationship, while the other does not.”

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Freyburg Place, Auckland - STREET SONGS AND OTHER FANCIES: An air of mystery
- reviewed by Barbara Snook

A young woman with a skeletal umbrella entered the space, wandering amongst those assembled, interacting with some. She was joined by another dancer and the movement became more stylised. The dancers reached and gestured, moving fluidly and taking opportunities to relate to passers-by. Jess Quaid and Sam Wood-Rawnsley adopted the characters of Rainman and Melancholy Baby as they engaged in some mesmerising movement vocabulary. The thread of a loose narrative was woven throughout the work.

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Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba & Vivian, Wellington - THE ALMANAC EXPERIMENT: Questionable material and delivery from likeable character

- reviewed by Nancy Catherine Fulford

The Almanac Experiment by Mark Scott is based on an idea with some potential. That is introducing the almanac as an umbrella framework for delivering a series of alphabet sequential short stories designed to lead us to the funny side of things.

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Jewish Prayer House, West Coast Rd, Oratia, Auckland - THE REMARKABLE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS: Excellence, generosity, beautiful harmony and bawdiness

- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

If he were alive today Samuel Pepys would definitely be one of my peeps. He would love social media, the cult of the celebrity, gossip columns, pop culture and our deeply sexualised society. He’d be tweeting, facebooking, googling, pinning and linking-in with the best of them and we’d be hanging on his every word.

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The Basement, Auckland - AWKWARD ALTARS: A wild collaboration
- reviewed by Christina Houghton

The performance plays out in this elongated space that creates slanted perspectives on the action, and provides multiple perspectives of the encounter. Within the soundscape of Canadian meditation music, the flat lined narrations have a feel of a Markus Schinwald dance film. The voiceover talks about the everyday mundane forces of the city and continues over the video projection of the construction of Britomart transport centre and hyped reality of the internet, which creates a sense of foreboding. The performers appear as de-sensitised and on occasion over-sensitised cut-outs of their former selves, contorting and responding to the surrounding media.

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La Mama, Melbourne, Australia - DARK STARS: Dignity sacrificed in the quest for fame
- reviewed by Andrew Fuhrmann

What does it mean that practically all of the hundred or so characters past and present from Neighbours have their own Wikipedia page but Irving Sayles, at one time among the most-famous entertainers in Australia, gets bupkis? That dark stars are indeed hard to see?

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Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba & Vivian, Wellington - A COLLECTION OF NOISES: Beautifully acted, cleverly-scripted, surprisingly dark …
- reviewed by Stewart Lund

It truly is a harrowing experience, both the events in the play and to be an audience member. What I find so engaging is how these two seem to mix. Us audience folk end up almost becoming a part of the story; it really is quite frightening.

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St Johns Bar Green, Wellington - CAMPGROUND CHAOS: Most amazed by a toothbrush trick

- reviewed by Charlotte Simmonds

If you enjoy clowning but are afraid of clowns, like aerobatics but are scared of heights, and if you prefer to confront your fears vicariously from the relative (sitting up front) safety of your own plot of grass, this may be the thing you want this summer!

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Pearce Street Hall, 3 Pearce Street, Onehunga, Auckland - YOU: Underwhelming

- reviewed by Melissa Fergusson

I am disappointed with the costumes being so canvas, the makeup so watered down. When Gaga is so outrageous, what’s happened? There are no wigs, hats, meat dresses, wedge shoes or corsetry.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - LA VIE DANS UNE MARIONETTE: World class New Zealand theatre

- reviewed by Glen Pickering

La Vie Dans Une Marionette is the simple and charming story of a reclusive concert pianist who lives alone in his one bedroom flat. His only companion is the moon who disappears each morning. One morning the pianist has a giant box delivered to his house.

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - MILK AND MUCUS 2: Catwalk perils!
- reviewed by Briar Wilson

The performance replicates a fashion parade with a T shaped catwalk, the foot of which is down front, and lined on both sides not by lights, but by empty plastic bottles. The models wear fitting white clothes that are mostly quite normal, none too outrageous. The shock is in the shoes - one foot is in either a fashionable really high stiletto or a high platform. The other foot is in a monstrous looking contraption of a boot or shoe.

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Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland - ONE BY ONE: Strength in numbers

- reviewed by Matt Baker

Two people meet at a particular place at a particular time, and things are irreversibly changed. This is, arguably, a primary necessity for dramatic action, and it is the premise of Lab Theatre’s production of One by One.

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Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba & Vivian, Wellington - THE SECRETS OF MAGICIANS: More magic wanted

- reviewed by Lucy O'Connor

We are told an enchanting tale about his first memory of witnessing magic – or, as he puts it, astonishment when a simple light bulb appeared to float in midair right before his eyes. And so he presents us with that light bulb which emerges unexpectedly from ...

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Alleluya Bar and Cafe, Auckland - DARLING TODAY WE’RE GOING TO DIE: Light-hearted look at the end

- reviewed by Melissa Fergusson

The content of this play is more, a 'slice of life', and with some more direction and depth, the work could be profound.

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Whitireia Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington - [TITLE OF SHOW]: Confident, energetic, enjoyable

- reviewed by Caoilinn Hughes

Energy Theatre’s production of the show in Whitirea Theatre is the New Zealand premiere, and it is a perfect Fringe Festival fit. In fact, performing it as part of the Fringe adds a layer of complexity to the play, as one of its themes is the new writer’s struggle with compromising their work to fit mainstream conventions...

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Circa Two, Wellington - TALKING OF KATHERINE MANSFIELD: Powerful writings and readings

- reviewed by John Smythe

Now Downes’ focus is more on Mansfield’s awareness of social injustice, the quest for survival in the face of insuperable odds and her own mortality. And the paradox here is that her resistance is not to her impending premature death but to succumbing to the fear of it, and to maudlin self pity.

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Circa Two, Wellington - TALKING OF KATHERINE MANSFIELD: Seizing the quest for life lived to the full

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

I seem to remember that Cathy Downes started her solo play, the acclaimed The Case for Katherine Mansfield, by standing on her head. As the title suggests she is not as athletic in Talking of Katherine Mansfield, but she is just as compelling as she was all those years ago.

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Cuba Mall, just north of Left Bank, Wellington - IN AND OUT OF CONTEXT: Welcome spectacle but comedy falls short

- reviewed by Fiona McNamara

The performers work hard and the spectacle they create – with their energetic performances, a large ladder with trapeze, loud music and bright lights – draws crowds in Cuba Mall; and some local dwellers even sit on their balconies to watch from above. It is indeed an interruption to daily narrative, and the people who chance upon it seem ready.

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Rose Centre Belmont, Auckland - DARK TALES – DREAMS AND DESIRES: Semi-cute, semi-cringy
- reviewed by Gus Simonovic

Not knowing what kind of traffic to expect, driving over the Harbour Bridge any time of day or night, I arrive in Belmont quite early, 7.30pm, to find the theatre car park is already full and atmosphere festive. How lovely to see the awesome Auckland Fringe, in its third incarnation, spreading its tentacles and vibes across our supercity.

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Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - RIFLEMAN'S DOUBLE BILL -- TERRAIN AND AMANIMAL: Fringe dance offerings delicate, fierce and funny

- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

Week two of the Auckland Fringe Festival for dance lovers opened at the Basement with Wellington-based Jen McArthur's insightful and exquisite Echolalia,.... and continues with two separate works from Wellington-based Rifleman Productions at Q Loft.

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BATS - Out Of Site - Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - FEET OF CLAY: Earthy connections - place, settlement, landscape, soil, and society
- reviewed by Sam Trubridge

The dancers are all strong, and complement one another’s physicality beautifully. Chan’s movements are always in beautiful control, with terse accuracy and broad expressive power. Anna Flaherty’s dance really shows its power in the last sequence with some strong lifts and the emergence of an emotional rawness in her movements. Dancing in boots for the whole show, her presence is naturally more threatening, and in the final moments this fractious character resolves itself in a slow walk across the hair and fingers of the others.

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Leys Institute Gymnasium Hall, Ponsonby, Auckland - STANDOUT: Energetically driven with watchable moments

- reviewed by Felicity Molloy

The performers arel a pick-and-mix of charm and exuberance, with movement phrases only slightly marred by chaotically driven choreographic interactions.

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Q, The Vault, Auckland - JUST ABOVE THE CLOUDS: Bittersweet triumphs of the imagination
- reviewed by Kathryn van Beek

If you only have time to see one Fringe Festival show this season, Just Above The Clouds by Ben Anderson might be the one. The endearing show is everything fringe theatre should be. Sometimes poignant, sometimes confusing, always whimsical ...

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - PUPPET FICTION: Has cult smash written all over it

- reviewed by Hannah Smith

The puppets are incredible – lovingly made, well-observed, and with loads of character, even in repose. Jon Coddington is a gifted artist and a craftsman – and his John Travolta impersonation is totally credible, too.

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

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