A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including Drowning In Veronica Lake,  Copenhagen,  The Lion In Winter, and All My Sons.

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 Drowning In Veronica Lake,  Copenhagen,  The Lion In Winter, and All My Sons.

See more recent reviews at theatreview.org, the NZ Performing Arts Review & Directory.
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TSB Showplace, New Plymouth - DROWNING IN VERONICA LAKE: Lost in a lake of self pity
- reviewed by Ngaire Riley

Veronica Lake was a real person. A Hollywood siren who died in 1973. I don’t know this as I take my seat.

There she stands – the golden tresses, the hand on the hip, the bare back almost to the waist, and the luscious long dress beautifully lit with a golden glow.

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - COPENHAGEN: Historical drama richly rewards concentration
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

This excellent revival – 11 years after an Auckland Theatre Company production – is stupendous intellectual stimulation, wonderfully presented and unapologetically wordy.

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The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland - THE LION IN WINTER: Modern twist on wealthy family’s seething ambition works well
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Tadpole Productions aims to bring a professional edge to The PumpHouse's established reputation for high-quality community theatre, and its first outing fulfils the promise with a couple of TV stars joining drama school graduates in a modern interpretation of a seldom-produced historical drama.

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Circa One, Wellington - ALL MY SONS: Salutary revival of a frighteningly topical modern classic
- reviewed by John Smythe

It is simultaneously impressive and depressing that this play, written 65 years ago about the relationship between war and capitalism, remains so relevant in the context of financial corruption in high places and the USA war machine’s continuing exploits.

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Circa One, Wellington - ALL MY SONS: Writer’s skill captured in compelling drama
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

While better known for his later plays Death Of A Salesman and The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s first major work, All My Sons, just opened at Circa Theatre, is no less a compelling piece of drama. It focuses on various issues associated with a post WWII American family.

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Unitec Theatre, Entry 1, Carrington Rd, Unitec Mt Albert, Auckland - ROMEO & JULIET: Singularly attractive and skilfully staged
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

The production is clearly something of a tongue-in-cheek paradox with all Shakespeare’s wonderful roles – male and female – played by women; women who were, in Shakespeare’s time, not permitted on the stage at all. Prior to arriving I had wondered, having a particular interest in how things are gendered, whether the women would play the male characters as women or as faux men.

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - COPENHAGEN: Physics, History, and the Atomic Bomb
- reviewed by Rosabel Tan

Sometimes a play will continue to work on you long after you’ve left the theatre. I don’t mean that the memory lingers, though this happens too, but that the experience continues to grow and transform, the seed of what was planted onstage blossoming over time.

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TSB Showplace, New Plymouth - DIE ROTEN PUNKTE – KUNST ROCK (ART ROCK): Fun and intriguing if musically simplistic
- reviewed by Ngaire Riley

The brother and sister act of Astrid and Otto Rot swirl onto the stage with a rush of wind, some punchy chords, twirling lights and a bucket full of energy. They do several takes and immediately note that one lady in the audience already has her fingers in her ears. They zero in on her and suggest she takes off her mittens and stuffs them in her ears.

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Kenneth Myers Centre, Shortland Street, Auckland - EN ROUTE - GO TO: Dances bring building alive with theatrical ambience
- reviewed by Jenny Stevenson

The first of this series, Go To, explores themes of “finality, ending, moving-on and fare-welling” and is presented as ambulatory theatre with the audience members invited to view works in the various rooms of the magnificent Kenneth Myers Centre in Shortland St. Once a radio and television recording studio the building is alive with theatrical ambience and provides many interesting and varied settings for the works.

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Unitec Theatre, Entry 1, Carrington Rd, Unitec Mt Albert, Auckland - TITUS: Strong all-male company plumbs the depths
- reviewed by Adey Ramsel

In turns shocking, violent, gripping and haunting, this all-male and edited version of Titus Andronicus fires on all cylinders.

Running a little longer than its promised 80 minutes, this is storytelling at its best. Through workshop, traditional technique and, I imagine, rehearsal-based improv, director Benjamin Henson brings all his theatrical trademarks to bear, proving there is more than a little of Peter Brook about him.

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Theatre Royal, TSB Showplace, New Plymouth - IN FLAGRANTE: Artistically erotic and cheeky
- reviewed by Ngaire Riley

The usual sea of white haired women was replaced by a dominance of glossy bald pates and funky clothing at the Theatre Royale New Plymouth, on the 1 June, for a performance of In Flagrante; 13 dances with plenty of cheek.

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - COPENHAGEN: Passionately cerebral gripping yarn
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

The noted German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg is wholly revered in physics circles, though his personal politics in relation to the Nazis and in particular his agenda regarding nuclear fission technology is still hotly debated.

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The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland - THE LION IN WINTER: Entertaining and surprisingly funny
- reviewed by Adey Ramsel

The Lion in Winter may seem a strange choice to launch a company, being neither a home-grown classic nor a particularly well-known play, but the film did make a splash in its day, with its big-name cast and slew of Oscars. The West End revival occurred last year so maybe its day has returned.

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Victoria Theatre (The Vic), 93 Victoria Rd, Devonport, Auckland - NOEL AND GERTIE: Warm, witty, enlightening and enchanting
- reviewed by Shanon O'Sullivan

From the concert halls and West End stages of London to the bright lights of Broadway, Noel and Gertie transports us into a bygone era of glitz, glamour and aplomb.

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St James Theatre, Wellington - RIVERDANCE - THE FAREWELL TOUR 2012: A ravishing river of life and lament
- reviewed by Jennifer Shennan

It’s a pity this programme is titled Riverdance because many folk have seen that show, more than once, and might think they never need to see it again. Hurry to book a ticket then come back and read why you should.

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Basement Studio, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - COURSE RELATED COSTS: Drugs are bad, mmmkay?
- reviewed by James Wenley

You just know that things are going to come crashing down in Course Related Costs, the only questions are how, and how badly.

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Q Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - STANDSTILL: Chasing the elusive dream
- reviewed by Joanna Page

Standstill celebrates the majesty in mediocrity and there’s nothing mediocre about this show. Three actors on three treadmills tear through the hour at a phenomenal pace – and I don’t mean their running tempo.

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

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