The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of How to Catch a Grim Reaper, Caterpillars, and Now 2015.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of How to Catch a Grim Reaper, Caterpillars, and Now 2015.

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

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CATERPILLARS: Sweet, tantalising and elusive
Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland
- reviewed by Finn and Lexie Matheson

What unfolds is a delicately told but wordless narrative based on the life cycle of the butterfly, illustrated from start to finish in the most extraordinarily imaginative ways possible.

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K'RD STRIP - A PLACE TO STAND: Sassy and stylish, a touching tribute to a kiwi icon and the people who make it what it is
Q Theatre Loft (return season), Auckland
- reviewed by Adam Naughton

Karangahape Road is a beautifully diverse landscape where opposites collide and difference is desired. Each performer presents a unique character, the main three being Samoan/Kiwi Queen (Adam Burrell), who sure ain’t no princess, dazzling Destiny (Tai Royal), who has all the answers you need, and the homeless horse/man played brilliantly by Jason Te Mete. These characters take us into the world of the K'Rd Strip where we get a personal perspective of life on the condom-scattered concrete. As well as having the glamour of a courageous cabaret, the show shares deeply sad moments where characters reveal their fragile vulnerability and at times tragic existence.

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NOW 2015: Investigating new territory
Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre, 11 Hutchison Rd, Newtown, Wellington
- reviewed by Jo Randerson

The NOW 2015 program shows the dancers as a versatile and diverse company, open to new investigations. Footnote have always provided platforms for a variety of voices, and here they continue their commitment to creating pathways and platforms for emerging artists. It’s a great night out of fresh dance.

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THE UGLY ONE: A minimalist beauty
Circa Two, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

Austerity is the word that leaps to mind. The Ugly One distils minimalism to a whole new level. There’s nothing new in four actors playing eight characters, of course, or staging the plays with no set or costume changes. But keeping the same names and voices, and sliding into different characters and settings without missing a beat, brings simplicity to a whole new level.

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THE UGLY ONE: Taut telling and quality acting
Circa Two, Wellington
- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

If you are naive enough to believe looks aren't everything and it's what's inside us that counts then you had better see the excellent New Zealand premiere of Marius von Mayenburg's international hit The Ugly One.

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STEALING GAMES: Stimulating at every level
Hannah Playhouse, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

All four actors capture the nuances of prepubescent childhood behaviour perfectly, compelling our empathy every step of the way. With minimal costume changes they slip into a range of adult characters, sometimes quite highly caricatured but always to the point, and entertaining with it. Their physicality is fantastic throughout.

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RANGI AND MAU’S AMAZING RACE: Funny, fast-paced, educational entertainment
Te Oro, 98 Line Road, Glen Innes, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

The laid-back, homespun sensibility of Rangi and Mau’s Amazing Race is supercharged with fast-paced energy, spirit and infectious humour. Playing to a rather light Saturday evening crowd of twenty odd doesn’t stop anyone on stage fully investing their hearts and souls, producing an instructive and entertaining showcase with commitment and generosity.

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THE 21ST NARCISSUS: Lost in cyberspace dodging debris
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

You have to be Facebook-savvy, at least, to get this play. Those who are may know the feeling of being marooned in a maelstrom of status updates, likes, comments, shares, omfgs, wtfs, lols and the like before managing to make your overdue re-entry from cyberspace.

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THE FIRST 7500 DAYS OF MY LIFE: Intriguing ontological study
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

Maria Williams completely inhabits the highly voluble and ultimately vulnerable role of Max, compelling us to bring the humanity she appears to lack to our ever-changing assessments of her present behaviour and personal history-to-date.

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HOW TO CATCH A GRIM REAPER: A pleasure to suspend disbelief and engage
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

It’s a while since we saw a play at Bats Theatre set in a student flat. But Helen Vivienne Fletcher’s very well crafted How to Catch a Grim Reaper is not about flat politics. Nor are the characters slackers. They are very focused, for various reasons, on the titular objective.

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ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA: Another interesting production and interpretation
The Atrium, Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science & History, Main Street, Palmerston North
- reviewed by John Ross

This version of Shakespeare’s play is adapted to Prohibition-era,1920s USA, with Antony, Octavius and Sextus Pompey as gangsterish rival tycoons who battle each other, offstage, with mobs of gunmen and dodgy lawyers. It comes with a bundle of tweakings to the dialogue, costuming, set-design (what there is of it), incidental music (jazzy) and stage-business.

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NOW 2015: Diverse demands, fantastic cohesion
Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre, 11 Hutchison Rd, Newtown, Wellington
- reviewed by Sam Trubridge

Revilery is a work best understood through its changes: the beautifully crafted way that newcomer Jeremy Beck collapses from a failing shoulder stand, or how the work moves within a heartbeat from unified movement to taut solos, duets, or scrambling knots of limbs. Near the end Lana Phillips is left along on stage as her body condenses with self-comforting gestures, curling into a foetal shape, balanced on her buttocks with her legs close to her face, afloat in the dark room. Revilery is my highlight of the night – for its slick, nervous, and beautifully crafted movement that took us on a journey through the body’s tics, habits, and vulnerability.

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THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER: A school holiday treat
4 Moncrieff St., Mt. Victoria, Wellington
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

A simple but very creative adaption of the Brothers Grimm fairytale, The Elves and the Shoemaker is KidzStuff Theatre for Children's school holiday production.

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THE SWORD IN THE STONE: Uninspired
Gryphon, Wellington
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

Kapitall Kids Theatre's The Sword In the Stone is another well known story freely adapted for the stage. However, while it has the potential to be an interesting one, a number of elements in this show don't quite work.

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YOURS TRULY… A JACK THE RIPPER STORY: A riveting take on who did what to whom and why
Gryphon, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

Because we know in advance it is about Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders, Belz puts the focus on the people, relationships and events that led up to them, dwelling more on motive than means and opportunity.

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THE EARLY EARLY LATE SHOW 2015: A warming, enriching experience
Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
- reviewed by Grant Hindin Miller

When children run out to play in an open space the first thing they do is set boundaries: a bag for one end of the goal, a coat for the other; that line of trees will be the sideline and ‘if you kick the ball over the fence you’re out’. Scriptless theatre works in the same way.

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KISS THE FISH: The joke of human progress revealed
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

Only afterwards is there time to register the accomplishment of four actors who can bring to such vivid life eleven characters, each so clearly defined, as well as playing scampering monkeys throughout the play.

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PRINCE SETH AND THE PRINCESS – TIME TRAVEL: Playful energy well paced and lively
Centrepoint, Palmerston North
- reviewed by Adam Dodd

The kids are soon joyfully calling out hellos and warnings to the cast as they encounter robots, dinosaurs, and jungle beasties – as well as playing with their imagination-powered Galaxy Controller wrist watches while travelling through time itself.

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

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