A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including: Pandemic, Verbatim, Whistle Solo, and On the Upside-Down of the World.

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: Pandemic, Verbatim, Whistle Solo, and On the Upside-Down of the World.

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

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - VERBATIM: Enough said?
- reviewed by Matt Baker

While I wholly appreciate writer/creator Miranda Harcourt’s personal sentiment that “The poetry of the way real people speak has always been [her] favourite form”, I cannot help but reflect on exactly how it is that verbatim theatre has the ability to make the impact that it can. Recently, I was confronted with the contention that it is impossible for dialogue based on, for example, a legal transcript to ever come close to the prose of the greatest playwrights. The answer, I believe, is the editing of the text into an engaging narrative.

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BATS - Out Of Site - Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - WHISTLE SOLO: So who did end the Cold War?
- reviewed by John Smythe

A clever conflation of fictionalised fact and actual fiction brings us Queen Elizabeth II of the UK and Commonwealth and her speech adviser Rex, the Prime Minister of NZ David Lange and his speechwriter /paramour Margaret Pope, Klaus and Rudi of the German hard rock /heavy metal band The Scorpions, and a teenage Kiwi pop singer called Pania. They coalesce around the question of “Who ended the Cold War?”

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Lower NZI, Level 1, Aotea Centre, Auckland - LIVE AT SIX: You will not watch the news with the same confidence ever again
- reviewed by Johnny Givins

You may remember the time when people believed in the news! Live at Six skewers the depressing and disappointing standards which have guided our news programmes in the last 10 years. There are lots of reasons for the decline in journalistic standards on TV: competition between the networks; pressure to be first, to gather the largest audience for the advertisers; the pressure for pictures; the fear of losing the audience with too much information; the pursuit of emotion over fact; the desire to entertain not inform. More importantly, the undermining of ‘TRUTH’.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - VERBATIM: Cuts to the quick
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Each script is the result of a hundred or so meetings with violent offenders, the offenders’ families, and the families of the offenders’ victims. There’s no hiding behind any brilliantly written turns of phrase; character composites and one or two contrived scenarios aside, every word spoken, seemingly every cough, stutter and self-correction are, as the title explains, recited verbatim from interviewees who actually endured these horrific experiences.

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BATS - Out Of Site - Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - PANDEMIC: Unbeatable immersive history lesson
- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

What is so impressive about Pandemic is the sheer size of the enterprise and the logistics of creating all the settings which are done in detail right down to an unused old-fashioned bed pan and hot water bottle which hardly anyone will see hidden under a bed.

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Theatre Row: 410 West 42nd Street, NYC, USA - ON THE UPSIDE-DOWN OF THE WORLD: A compelling character and fascinating and globally significant part of history brought to life in New York
- reviewed by Alison Walls

Any solo show naturally rests on its performer, and perhaps even more so with a single central character. Devenie upholds this responsibility beautifully. What initially seems some rather affected acting is ultimately justified by her – Martin’s – development over the course of the show. As she divests herself of the more cumbersome elements of Victorian dress, so does she of the clipped voice and manner. Somewhere in there is the sense that the Maori language has deepened and softened more than her tonality.

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New PLymouth Girls' High School, New Plymouth - TUTUS ON TOUR (2013): Family Friendly Fun
- reviewed by Holly Shanahan

The second Pas de deux - 'Charlie' from Mark Baldwin's FrENzy - is an erotically charged, contemporary slanted piece with unexpected lines and rhythms, depicting what I saw as a couple in transition. It was almost a little too sexy for some of the teenage students in the audience I'm sure! Maree White and Loughlan Prior danced with a fluid urgency, and great connection between the two made this piece really fly for me on the night.

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - VOIX DE VILLE: Sparkly, glittery, other-worldly, fantastical, escapist
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

“Ladies and Gentlemen … what happens when a glamorous show girl and eccentric drag queen are brought together by fate …?”

That’s what the teaser for Voix de Ville tantalises us with when we check it out on the internet in advance. It tells us a lot more, too, but that’s enough to get the juices flowing and I have no doubt that’s what was intended, some gentle titillation that would result in my buying a ticket – or ten.

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Streets of Greytown, Wairarapa - WHEN THE POET DREAMED AN ANGEL: Truly momentous community art event
- reviewed by Heidi Holbrook

Large ensemble dance pieces dominate the structure of the production. It is refreshing to see different body shapes, ages and mixed abilities taking to the stage and beaming enthusiastically through their performances. ‘Forgive Me’ features Justine swinging and spinning a young Alexander Walsh, who has Down Syndrome. His delight is unabashed and it is a moment of pure joy and simplicity - a pleasing counterpoint to the epic scenes.

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Auckland Town Hall, Auckland - SKY DANCER: Fantastical, haunting, astounding
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

The Sky Dancer narrative is loosely based on Witi Ihimaera’s rhapsodic novel, a work that lends itself perfectly to adaption in exactly the manner necessary to interact with Farr’s glorious score. Heke represents all the old ways and Bognuda the contemporary and the two meld seamlessly into a whole. There’s a wee hint of Bruce Mason in the house and that’s no bad thing, no bad thing at all.

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Playhouse, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton - LOVE AND INFORMATION: Arresting and touching
- reviewed by Jan Maree

Caryl Churchill is well known for her unique approach to writing and Love and Information only serves as a testament to the fact. This is only the second time that the play has been staged since it premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in September last year so there is really some strong invention from artistic director Gaye Pool in the presentation of this work.

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Pleasance Theatre, Islington, London - EXPECTATIONS: Expectations: brave triumph of NZ playwright’s debut play
- reviewed by Charlotte Everett

Although the play is intense – enhanced by the use of intimate studio space, and a striking set dressed in red, black and white – it is far from depressing. Moments of heartache are balanced with a high dose of humour. The play is set within a game show – “Let’s play Expectations! Where you can play to win the BIG PRIZE!” – the relevant irony being of course that it’s possible for both teams to win the “big prize”, as well as for neither team to win the big prize.

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Tararua Tramping Club, Mt Victoria, Wellington - LAZY SUZY BOY: Intimate, cosy and unpretentious
- reviewed by Jillian Davey

Dancers Julie Van Renen, Liz Kirk, and Liana Yew were of obvious professional quality even if the production and venue qualities were not. But that was half the fun of this quirky work; the juxtaposition of succinct, professional movement and kitsch, low budget props made for some great surprising moments. One of which delighted me like a small child watching a magic trick; when all three dancers were revealed behind the moving screens, but one panel continued to move of its own accord.

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Opera House, Wellington - KOWHITI 2013 ATARAU FESTIVAL OF INDIGENOUS CONTEMPORARY DANCE: Kowhiti Atarau - broadly indigenous performances
- reviewed by Lyne Pringle

The performers of Dancing Earth from the Americas have travelled a great distance to bring their poignant message to us at a time when our own struggling rivers become sites for negotiation between the economic imperatives of dairying and the need to provide clean natural waterways for our children. They remind us that ‘Ancient and futuristic, our dances are an elemental language of bone and blood memory in motion’.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - CAMINO REAL: Acting on the Camino Real
- reviewed by James Wenley

At the Camino Real, to borrow from The Eagles, you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.

To mark the public debut of the second crop of actors from the industry-geared The Actors' Program, Benjamin Henson directs them in arguably Tennessee Williams’ most experimental and misunderstood work ...

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

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