The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Shepherd, Shakespeare's Rebels, Under the Same Moon, and The Island.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Shepherd, Shakespeare's Rebels, Under the Same Moon, and The Island.

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

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3 IN 2 1: 3 in 2 1... Go!
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

3 in 2 1... Go! [by Matt Baker] Presented by Etched Dance Productions, 3 in 2 1
is the staging of three short dance works for the 2015 Auckland Fringe Festival.
As a duet, These Our Body addresses several themes that are inevitably raised
when exploring the concept of identity and self. Beginning from a relatively
intellectual narrative [...]

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WHALES: A very community orientated and participatory show
Aotea Square, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

It’s amazing how children have an innate ability to believe. Not just in figures of authority (mum, dad, tall people wearing high viz Binge Culture vests) but in the very reality that they have willingly participated to act out their own particular role in a constructed reality. And of course, the adults often follow suit.

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SHAKESPEARE'S REBELS: Revelling in rebellion
Pah Homestead, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, 72 Hillsborough Road, Auckland
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

The excerpts are loosely connected under the theme of rebellion, though if you were to raise the question posed in The Wild One - "Hey Johnny what are you rebelling against?" – the answer would echo Brando's laconic "Whadda you got?"

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LEGACY PROJECT: YEAR TWO: Memorable stories
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

The Legacy Project is guaranteed to become a permanent fixture on Auckland’s social calendar.

Artistic Director Bruce Brown has curated a cohesive selection of six works to reflect “the modern Kiwi queer experience” and it is undoubtedly one of the highlights of both the Auckland Pride and Auckland Fringe festivals.

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UNDER THE SAME MOON: Inherently interesting elements yet to find cohesion
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

Calling this first outing a development season is spot-on, given the complexity of Renee Liang’s multi-directional story and the challenging demands it puts on the solo actor, director, designers, technical operator and audience. A cast of six, or so, would carry the intricate interweaving stories with ease, but here our attention is constantly diverted towards working who is who and what is happening, as well as why and what it all adds up to.

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SURI VS SHILOH: Just an excuse to giggle at frivolous celebrities
Q Theatre, The Vault, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

So we know that a large portion of the world we live in today is obsessed by celebrity culture. Not just the innocent ‘oh so who’s dating who NOW?’ superficial gossip that you could pick up in your local Woman’s Weekly, but the slightly scarier version: the fans that willingly use the plastic crammed in their designer wallets to put more plastic into their butts and boobs in a last bid attempt to look like clones of their idols.

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SHAKESPEARE'S REBELS: Pleasantly pedestrian
Pah Homestead, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, 72 Hillsborough Road, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

The common thread in this anthological depiction of scenes from the olde Bard’s classic tragedies, comedies and histories is the presence of key characters’ rebellious attitudes, which more often than not profoundly affect the outcome of the larger tale. To this end Artistic Director Grae Burton has assembled a cast of six accomplished thespians, also appearing himself in ‘guest roles’ and fleshing out a couple of mob scenes.

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FRANK THE MIND-READING HOTDOG: He’s great company
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Heidi North-Bailey

After much anticipatory music, out steps Frank (Matt Penny), a grey-haired guy in an uncomfortable looking hotdog suit. And crocs. I don’t think anyone’s going to accuse him of being a hipster. Nor would he want to be. Penny is a guy doing just his thing. The hotdog suit… well, that’s just a bit of weird (with a long-winded morphic psychic energy explanation).

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GIRL ON A CORNER: Innovative theatre
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan

Victor Rodger's vivid imagination thrives on stage.

Victor Rodger's premiere of Girl on a Corneris testament that there are multiple ways to skin a cat.

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LIVE ORGY: Explicit Education
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Amanda Leo

What would Freud say?

Going to the opening night of a comedy show as part of Auckland’s Fringe Festival entitled Live Orgy I expected a night of raucous, explicit humour and was not disappointed in the least.

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3 IN 2 1: Double body double and misfit mafia
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Sarah Knox

The third section of the work is simple and extremely satisfying to watch. The seamless and democratic partnering (now back to two bodies with agency in their relationship) makes a strong statement that aligns with their programme notes. There is an amiable sense of control over one another as well as an easy collaboration between both their bodies. My own artistic/social agenda comes into question when I become aware of my satisfaction that their individuality is less important than the beautiful partnership they have.

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GIRL ON A CORNER: Fabulous
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

It’s 1997 and headlines are made when none other than the Nutty Professor, aka Eddie Murphy, is accused of picking up a ‘girl on a corner’. A year later Shalimar is dead and her twenty-one year old body is returned home. To be buried with a mask and in a suit.

Such are the facts. But Rodger’s play moves beyond the sensationalist news headlines into what could have been for this Samoan princess as she takes the reins of her own story on her own terms.

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LIVE ORGY: Awkwardly brilliant
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Kathryn van Beek

The danger of creating a show that relies heavily on audience participation is that you might end up inviting your reviewer onstage to dress up like a giant clitoris.

But what else could I have expected from a show called Live Orgy ...

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THE COURT JESTERS: SOAPLAND STREET: Outstanding hammy pathos amid ludicrous situations and medical jokes
Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
- reviewed by Erin Harrington

2015 marks the Court Jesters’ 25th year in operation and last year’s programme shake up has clearly proven itself to be a popular move, for this year the company will continue to present multi-part long form shows on Saturday nights to augment their more game-centric Friday night offerings.

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OUTSIDE MULLINGAR: Good Irish neighbourly eruptions
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

Outside Mullingar has many of the elements that we’ve come to expect of Irish plays: rural gloom, family feuds, inheritance anxiety, rain, mud, depression and grimly eloquent humour. But it spares us the darker peat-bog horrors, and has a softer centre than most.

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OUTSIDE MULLINGAR: Delightfully memorable characters
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Somehow, possibly through spawning so many great writers, Ireland has convinced the world that we are all a little bit Irish. If the black humour and swift transitions from laughter to tears seem Chekhovian, the family conflicts in Outside Mullingar are universal, and the feel for the land is surely Kiwi-as, whether involving the wrangle over a right-of-way or the vexed question of inheritance.

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SHEPHERD: Tantalises and startles
Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

What really drives the play are the family relationships as the five Shepherds and one boyfriend work through a series of startling events which gather momentum and impact as the play develops. It would be unfair to detail them but safe to say that they will be recounted by many who see the production.

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MAN MADE A NEW DANCE: Power games
Touch Compass Studio, 40 Ethel Street, Auckland
- reviewed by Paul Young

The movement challenges space in a recognisably youthful way with images drawn from possibilities as diverse as rave culture, quadrupedal animals and modeling. It’s ebullient, hardcore and testosterone-y! Thrusting butts, pumping fists and boxing footwork combine elements of sport, combat, posturing and sex. I have no beef with a skillfully weilded cliché. Its a bit sexy, a bit psycho and fun. The sound supports, and is supported by this action and I feel a visceral response to the pulsing and pumping movement. The performers are giving us something we can feel, something we can recognise and relate to as something we might do, or want to do. Am I just being seduced by ‘good’ dancing? Well there isn’t enough of it for me. Expand the material, do it twice, Retrograde it, we are not bored with it yet. It feels too brief .

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CONVERSATIONS WITH MY PENIS: A smut-free, heartfelt play
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman (2) [Reproduced with permission of Fairfax Media]

Having had a successful outing earlier last year, Dean Hewison’s Conversations (with my penis) returns to Bats on the Propeller Stage.

However for this production it is a different pair of actors, with Tom’s Penis now being played by a female, Carrie Green.

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CONVERSATIONS WITH MY PENIS: Quirky, amusing and more
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by Lori Leigh

To be fair, I am probably not the target audience for Conversations (With My Penis) so I account it a true testament to the piece that I was engaged and had an enjoyable time. I cannot explain exactly how, but it helped the complexity of the show and made for a less alienating experience to have Tom’s Penis portrayed by a woman.

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THE ISLAND: Creative skills could deliver more potent satire
Te Whaea - Basement, 11 Hutchison Rd, Newtown, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

On a day when debate rages in the UK on the ethics of genetically modifying babies and Don Brash resurfaces to regurgitate his warped views on race relations and our socio-economic priorities, the themes of The Island prove to be as topical as ever.

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PETER PAN: High good spirits; no dull moments
Riccarton Bush (outside Riccarton House), Christchurch
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

Albeit not quite delivering on the promotional material (“the joys and wonderment of childhood, sprinkled with the dark fears and bitter-sweet moments that inhabit our youth”), this early evening romp in the glorious park around Riccarton House is probably all the better for that. It is a zippy, no-frills romp through plum situations from the familiar story, given a fresh face by a troupe of highly energised young actors and a sprinkle of established professionals.

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

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