The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Oh What a Lovely War, Not in Our Neighbourhood, and Turning Page.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Oh What a Lovely War, Not in Our Neighbourhood, and Turning Page.

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

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TREATS: Sophisticated, elegant, thought-provoking, disturbing
Te Pou Theatre, 44a Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

If casting is the key to success then Browning has picked the perfect team, not just onstage but off, where he has surrounded himself with a gifted team who fit the production needs like a handsomely tailored glove. His programme note tells us that he has wanted to direct Treats since he first read it, presumably many years ago.

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NOT IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD: Powerful and effective theatre for social change
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by Fiona McNamara

Jamie McCaskill’s script and Tikapa Productions’ production of Not in Our Neighbourhood is an important contribution both to theatre and to increasing awareness of domestic violence in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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KISS THE FISH: Delightfully entertaining team success
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Bronwyn Elsmore

If monkeys don’t do it for you, there’s plenty more that might appeal. How about, Indian culture, Balinese art forms, tales of expectations of different generations or of tradition versus ‘progress’, music, even Freddie Mercury.

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ROSE MATAFEO - FINALLY DEAD: Fully nailed, sleek and shiny
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Lucy O'Connor

Rose is full of sarcastic wit and her direct off the cuff humour is well on form. This is definitely not due to her over-consuming the energy drink, which was, by the way, selfless enough to sponsor the funeral. How very modern. I bet they required a photo of the can to be Instagrammed live from the event. She’s a bit of a realist, and this show allows her to embody the selfish, but only human thoughts we have when we attend a funeral. And yes, those sandwiches are fit to feature in the ‘Magic Eye’ books we all read as children (what an illusion!). She forces us to face the uncomfortable possibility of dying before our time, and there are definitely life take-out from the show. I’ll never watch a stupid movie on a plane again.

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TURNING PAGE: Two characters in search of a playwright
Circa One, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

of an Off-Broadway or out-of-town tryout, Circa theatre has the privilege of hosting this out-of-country tryout.

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SUCCESS: Comedy rich with jokes and believable characters
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson [Reproduced with permission of Fairfax Media]

In Stephen Sinclair’s latest comedy, Success, Carl Evans, Derek Turnbull, and Jules Donovan are three Kiwi stand-up comedians, friends from way back when they toured in a van playing remote pubs and halls in the South Island as The Hoolum Brothers.

Now Derek and Jules share a house in Wellington and they only rarely perform stand-up as their careers have stalled.

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DUST PILGRIM – A TALE OF FREEDOM: The Anti-Arrival
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by James Wenley

Going in, the talking point is how Red Leap have downsized from their large ensemble company, the world-building of The Arrival, and the giant creatures of Sea. Dust Pilgrim is a nimble show for a smaller venue and three performers (plus crew member), designed artistically and economically for ease of touring.

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EDGE: Impossible not to be drawn in
Circa One, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

Angelica embodies the subjective reality of Sylvia – or Sivvy, as her mother called her – with a profound blend of insight, vulnerability, sardonic humour and bitter-sweet compassion. This is no hard-done-by victim but a tragic heroine; a self-aware, all-knowing literary genius and abuse addict, deeply complicit in forging her own cataclysmic fate.

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NIU SILA: Flexible, hugely energetic and versatile playing
Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

It is a headlong rush through their shared childhood experiences but covers a range from school to religion, fishing to orchestral concert and cricket. Inevitably it seems, police, booze and the justice system come into it, but there are laughs all the way and the audience is simply charmed.

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FOOTPRINTS/TAPUWAE: A daring vision
The Gym, The Arts Centre, Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

It is over a decade since the original staging of this extraordinary blending of Maori and European performance treasure. At that stage, the converted lecture theatre on the University of Canterbury's former town site seemed scarcely able to contain the wealth of creative forces embodied in the piece. In the new premises, the scale and significance of its ideas are beautifully shaped.

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KISS THE FISH: Well worth the punt
Baycourt Theatre, Tauranga
- reviewed by Emily Mowbray-Marks

It’s a love story with simple recognisable characters: the lovers; the miser; the fool turned hero; the fortune teller; the beauty; the wise one ... Those archetypes found in soap operas and commedia dell’arte shows.

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SALUTE - REMEMBERING WORLD WAR: Ballets evoking weighty issues
Regent Theatre (Dunedin), Dunedin
- reviewed by Jonathan W. Marshall

Here at last one has a dance drama which could perhaps be read as honouring not just the soldiers but the conscientious objectors, not just the Czech bishops who urged their compatriots to join a supposedly just battle against a murderous foe, but also those Quakers, pacifists and deserting soldiers who stood their ground and said no. In short, this dance—uniquely within this program—is sufficiently open to permit it to embrace multiple dissenting histories.

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DAYS LIKE TODAY: Maybe another day
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

The combination of Auckland Playwright Collective's Read Raw in 2008 and The Court Theatre's Fresh Ink new play development programme in 2010 has certainly given substance to Laurence Dolan's play, Days Like Today, but substance is not enough for a play to make the transition from page to stage.

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SUCCESS: Mature skills pay off and there is more to explore and exploit
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

By the time Derek has got them a cuppa and they’re all sitting down (as Jules and Derek have done, throughout their duologue scenes), I’m wondering if this all we are in for: alternating scenes of stand-up and sit-down. What stops that being a bad thing is the inescapable credibility of the characters, both in their writing and performance.

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DUST PILGRIM – A TALE OF FREEDOM: Delightful, purposeful, ambitious and earnestly ambiguous
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

I love Red Leap. There is a certain sensibility to all their work; as well as signature forms like ropes and pulleys, original puppetry and multi-purpose constructions on wheels, it is typically underpinned by an ethereal, dreamlike essence as oddly familiar as it is curiously alien.

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AT THE END OF MY HANDS: An extended hand of sharing and understanding
TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
- reviewed by Chloe Baynes

It's been a long time since I've seen theatre so personally and earnestly performed by a cast. The knowledge of their ownership gave their content emotional weight, and their personal connection to these voices screamed in evidence through their articulation of performance.

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SALUTE - REMEMBERING WORLD WAR: Diversely commemorative dance works
Regent Theatre (Dunedin), Dunedin
- reviewed by Hannah Molloy

This mixed bill is very much a male dancer-focussed show, perhaps unsurprisingly considering its subject matter but it is very different to watch compared to a ‘usual’ ballet and I liked seeing these incredible men as the heroes of the works in every sense of the word.

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HAMLET GLOBE TO GLOBE: Slick show feeds hunger for bard
SKYCITY Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Having participated in launching the Globe to Globe project with a remarkable Maori language version of Troilus & Cressida, it is wonderfully appropriate to see Rawiri Paratene bringing it all back home with a multicultural cast breathing fresh life into Shakespeare's best known work.

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OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR: Rich in irony
Playhouse, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton
- reviewed by Gail Pittaway

In the absence of a new satire and in the face of continuing apathy alternating with worrying nationalism from all nations, Oh What A Lovely War puts war in its place, as nonsensical. But I mustn’t make it sound too serious. It is a very funny show ...

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THE WIDOW: Comedy compromised but commitment strong
Studio 77, VUW, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

It may be that this production’s stylistic conventions are not conducive to playing with 17th century English city manners and revealing the human foibles and character quirks that could make the play resonate beyond itself.

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HAMLET GLOBE TO GLOBE: Fast and furious
Opera House, Wellington
- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

This Globe to Globe Hamlet is a remarkable event when you consider the many different stages, auditoria, and empty spaces that this likely Guinness Book of Records touring production has already performed in and will perform in in the near future.

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

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