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

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Kia Mau Festival 2016
VERSIONS OF ALLAH: Deceptively simple, profoundly engaging
BATS Theatre, The Heyday Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written by Moana Ete
Directed by Rose Marie Kirkup 
Produced by Ohokomo
- reviewed by John Smythe

The common denominator in this tale of four cousins is their Samoan Catholic Grandmother who now lives in Wellington. That is playwright Moana Ete’s clever unifying device for capturing aspects of contemporary life in ways that question who and what ‘God’ may be, and where such a concept lives these days.

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MANA WAHINE: Embracing the inherent power of mana wahine as a collective force
Q Theatre. Rangatira - return season, Auckland
Artistic Directors/Choreographers: Taiaroa Royal, Taane Mete; Guest Choreographer: Malia Johnston
Te Ariki Tapairu/Kuikui O Ōkareka Dance Company: Tui Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

Okareka have created a finely wrought contemporary work that is deeply indigenous and profoundly modern. The aesthetics are sublime. Rowan Pierce’s AV design is meticulous and exacting, the multiple simultaneous projections giving life but also channelling the mauri into every aspect of the work. Complementing the projection, Tracey Collins’ set design is appropriately minimalist yet equally, spacious and flexible while Elizabeth Whiting’s palette is replete with natural tones that allow the dancers movement and flexibility.

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POTATO STAMP MEGALOMANIAC: Fervent philosophical conversations on existential revolution blend with inquiry into clinical hypomania
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Written and performed by Andrew Gunn
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

The first thing we’re told in Potato Stamp Megalomaniac is that we’re not here to watch a play; we are here to take part in a revolution. We are told this by a tall warrior-like shaman clad in strikingly stylised armour composed of corrugated cardboard and gaffer tape, so it feels prudent to believe it.

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EVEREST UNTOLD: A taste of the raw experience
Circa Two, Wellington
By Gareth Davies 
Directed by Toby Leech 
Presented by Ffynroc Productions
- reviewed by Patrick Davies

I have little background information apart from what one might be expected to know as a New Zealander. It is a great credit to the teamwork of Gareth Davies’ script, Toby Leach’s direction and the actors that every aspect is crystal clear and I feel I belong with the other attendees at the OUCC.

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SHAM: Plenty to warm the belly in tasty feud
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Jess Sayer 
Directed by Conrad Newport
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

Lord, but it's good to see Annie Whittle ham the hell out of a bombastic role. As Dame Neva Faris – a magnificent monster of a grand opera singer – she's the femme formidable pivot of this comedic family feud.

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YOU DANCE 2016: YouDance: Yes, you certainly can dance
Raye Freedman ARTS CENTRE, Gillies Avenue (Cnr Silver Road) Epsom, Auckland

- reviewed by Sarah Knox

We all know that dance can be a vehicle for social transformation, learning to understand people not like us, for communicating what cannot be said in words. The young people involved in YouDance have got this down. The dance works in the programme speak to issues that are meaningful and real in their worlds: identity, consent, relationships, self-discovery and cultural histories. These young people ‘show up’ consistently in every piece with bodies, hearts, and minds. They look fiercely out to the audience with confidence and pride. They remind me what a feat it is to stand in the bright lights looking out into the dark, quiet theatre hoping that the people will like you. It is terrifying and exhilarating. This is confidence building, community strengthening and identity affirming in their very best moments.

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SHAM: Exposing the absurdity of family feuds
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Jess Sayer 
Directed by Conrad Newport
- reviewed by Elle Wooton

Entertainingly dark, sumptuously tense, surprisingly tender and at times absolutely absurd: whatever your sense of humour is, playwright Jess Sayer, director Conrad Newport and their performers are bound to hit your funny bone at some point in the world premiere of Sham.

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SHAM: Well-rounded, sublimely performed
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Jess Sayer 
Directed by Conrad Newport
- reviewed by Amy Jane Bedwell

he one act play of sixty minutes explores a tumultuous remains of a relationship between two vastly dissimilar sisters after a twenty-year separation, and the familial fallout that follows their unpleasant re-acquaintance.

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SHAM: Sham-a-lot
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Jess Sayer 
Directed by Conrad Newport
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth

The charm of Sham is not the shock factor that she has gained her reputation for. Sham is incredibly universal, with much of the story themed around family dynamics, including sibling rivalry and parent-child relationships.

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OPHELIA THINKS HARDER: The thing to catch the conscience of us all
Whitireia Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington
by Jean Betts and William Shakespeare 
Presented by Lord Lackbeards
- reviewed by Saran Goldie-Anderson

Watching The Lord Lackbeards Touring Company tackle – and absolutely ace – Ophelia Thinks Harder, Jean Betts' radical feminist face punch of a Hamlet revision, gives this long-time feminist reviewer a lot of things to think harder about and a lot of complicated feelings.

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DE SADE: You can’t have your cake and direct it too
The Cavern Club, 22 Allen Street, Wellington
Written and performed by Alexander Sparrow
- reviewed by Patrick Davies

The show ostensibly is an explanation: how he came to be incarcerated, how he came to write what he wrote and do what he did; not so much an apology as a request for us to follow in his footsteps and to claim pleasure through truth.

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AMATEUR GIRL: Dissociation by exploitation poignantly explored
Isaac Theatre Royal, The Gloucester Room, Christchurch
By Amanda Whittington 
Produced and directed by Garry Thomas 
Presented by A Little Box At The Top Of The Stairs
- reviewed by Grant Hindin Miller

It is something when theatregoers do not want to leave the theatre at the final curtain. It means the audience has bonded with the character – portrayed, in the case of Amateur Girl, by a solitary actress.

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EVITA: Timely staging of Evita hits all the right notes
Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber 
Lyrics by Tim Rice 
Originally directed by Harold Prince 
Direction by Richard Neame 
Musical Direction by Zac Johns and Mark Bradley 
Choreography by Karen Ruske 
Presented by Auckland Musical Theatre 
by arrangement with ORIGIN™ Theatrical on behalf of the REALLY USEFUL GROUP LIMITED
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Post-war Argentine strongman Juan Peron and his glamorous wife Evita may have faded from our collective memory, but with America's heartland falling under the spell of an unlikely saviour, a local revival of Evita couldn't be better timed.

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BLUE MAN GROUP: Blue my Mind
The Civic - Auckland Live, Auckland
Co-founded by Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton 
Presented by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan

Described as a comical musical & artistic show featuring lots of audience interaction with a blue-painted cast, Blue Man Group definitely do what they say on the tin.

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

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