A selection of recent reviews from Theatreview from the last week including reviews of I Heart Camping, Riverside Drive, Did I Believe It, and The Guru of Chai.

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

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BATS, Wellington - I HEART CAMPING: True heart obliterated by a buffeting storm of over-acting

- reviewed by John Smythe

The central relationship, between honeymooners Samantha and William – played by Sophie Henderson and Curtis Vowel, who also co-wrote I Heart Camping – is beautifully nuanced to let pinpricks of doubt escape from the airbed of their newly-wed love.

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Hawea Flat Hall, Hawea - RIVERSIDE DRIVE: Funny, shocking, nostalgic and tender

- reviewed by Laura Williamson

New Zealand, 1954. People sang ‘Rule Britannia!’, young boys had to earn the right to wear long trousers and adolescents were still afraid of their parents.

It was also the year of the Mazengarb Report on juvenile moral indecency ...

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Lake Wanaka Centre, Wanaka - THE GURU OF CHAI: Intriguing blend makes for very fine theatre

- reviewed by Caroline Harker

The Guru of Chai, performed by that guru of performance Jacob Rajan, is remarkable. It’s impossible to imagine it being performed by anyone else. Rajan has shown audiences time and again that he can play all the characters in a piece of theatre with such charm and skill they are completely seduced.

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Theatre Royal, TSB Showplace, New Plymouth - THE GURU OF CHAI: Theatre that intrigues, enthrals and enriches

- reviewed by Ngaire Riley

Jacob Rajan enchants and entertains, magics and mesmerises us through a superbly crafted and skilfully performed modern version of the story of Punchkin that seamlessly links the ancient with today: Kitisar talks to the moon and complains about KFC setting up next to his tea stall.

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1885, 27 Galway Street, Britomart, Auckland - DID I BELIEVE IT?: Retro ridicule of scientific gobbledegook

- reviewed by Stephen Austin

Did I Believe It? has been helping us to think for nearly forty-two years... apparently.

This particular brand of investigative journalism cum science learning show has been a household name since the 70s, examining subjects as diverse as snoring and wind. Now, for the first time, Gavin Batchelor, Dr Gywn Cunny, Ms Lillith Skies and Rick Ricky O’Shea are going live in front of a studio audience to look at the effects, history and science of vodka.

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