The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of  Tama Ma, Tertiary Colours 2014, Kafka’s Amerika, and The Last Letter.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of  Tama Ma, Tertiary Colours 2014, Kafka’s Amerika, and The Last Letter.

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

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TAMA MA: Biographical dance journey a pleasure to watch
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Briar Wilson

The next section, Hand to Hand, choreographed by Michael Parmenter, starts with Royal alone on a dark stage, dressed in a suit, anxiously waiting for someone. Mete, also in a suit, turns up and they shake hands, and gradually get comfortable with each other. So develops this duet as they remove jackets, then socks and shoes, and with more confidence, are able to dance together, almost continuously in touch to build up a marvellous display of exchange of weight and support. Eden Mulholland provides the music.

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TERTIARY COLOURS 2014: Sophisticated, cheeky, contemplative and contemporary
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Kerry-Ann Stanton

The audience is an expectant fan club as we begin in Q Loft, dance and dancers up close. This is a high quality, energetic show. Skilful curation of the pieces provides good flow through the diverse range of styles. The works bear testimony to skilful choreographic process by both student and professional choreographers alike. I relax and enjoy the evening as piece after piece is delivered with mood, energy and movement vocabulary coherent to the intent. Each work has individual merit and this Tertiary Colours shows development from earlier years.

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KAFKA’S AMERIKA: Extraordinary creative drive
The Gym, The Arts Centre, Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

Boldly interactive theatre using multimedia technology and multi-talented casts has become a hallmark of this enterprising group, as has its community spirit. In this first significant new work at the Arts Centre, Falkenberg's team of actors, singers, musicians, trapeze artists, designers and technicians brings an appropriately engaging but challenging experience to all who cross the threshold of the Free Theatre's new home, in what was once the gymnasium of the University of Canterbury.

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THE LAST LETTER: A strong, naturalistic character piece
Meteor Theatre, Hamilton
- reviewed by Ross MacLeod

In the lead role, Emma Koretz shines, delivering a naturalistic and multifaceted performance. She lets her character and dialogue stand, never playing up for laughs or for tears. Quite often Clear is frustrating, standoffish and generally unlikable but Koretz never makes her unsympathetic, and in doing so holds our attention.

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TUT: To be savoured for its moments of brilliance
BATS Theatre (Out Of Site), Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington
- reviewed by Hannah August

Tut should come with a warning: ‘May induce extreme fondness for possums’. If you’ve been hoarding that stash of 1080, waiting for an opportune moment to avenge the death of all those native trees, see this show and you’ll probably want to flush it down the loo. (Don’t do this: it’s not great for the environment.)

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ONEONE: Achieving a super-natural aesthetic
Toitu Settler's Museum, Dunedin
- reviewed by Jonathan W. Marshall

Shifting geometric lines punctuated by white junction points also shift and lock across the space. One sees Belton and Donnine Harrison (I think), in profile, arms gently teasing out and shaping the forward margins of the horizontal plane which they are travelling across, moving within or resting atop a giant stone. As they slowly transit and gently feel out the currents flowing across the black background and within the soundscape, one has the impression that they, together with Dufty and Kaan (who also appears) are all part of a ritual group charting and responding sympathetically to this super-natural space.

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SEI ‘O FAFINE: An unexpected treasure
Kavanagh Auditorium, Kavanagh College, 255A Rattray St, Dunedin
- reviewed by Hannah Molloy

The performance is a juxtaposition of contemporary and traditional movement, song and dialogue. The blend worked well, weaving the eternal story of one generation not understanding the next – or the one before. The presence of three singers on stage periodically, dressed in black and covered with black lace veils made me think of the three Furies, or perhaps the Muses, depending on the moment. Their voices were beautiful and harmonic, adding a delicious aural layer to the performance.

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FRESH (2014): Communication goal shared bydivergent dances
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

In the FRESH showcase at Tempo Dance Festival 2014, the communication of ideas through the dancing body is still the primary focus of this new generation of dance artists, but the ways in which that body dances are divergent.

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NICK: AN ACCIDENTAL HERO: Deeply affecting and inspiring
Fortune Theatre Studio, Dunedin
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

It's an accident in the year 2000 that sets Dunedin architect Nick Chisholm on his path to being a hero.

It happens on the rugby field, causing a stroke and leaving Nick with locked-in syndrome, the appalling condition that renders its victim conscious but unable to move or speak.

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SISTERS IN ARMS: Women's war tales told in unusual collaboration
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

An unusual collaboration: Dunedin's Ake Ake Theatre Company has teamed up with Belgrade's Hleb (Bread) Teatar to explore some little-known aspects of the First World War and the ways in which it affected Serbians and New Zealanders.

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DON GIOVANNI: The Don still retains charms in modern twist
CBS Canterbury Arena, Christchurch
- reviewed by Roger Wilson

If the heart sank at the announcement that 'the opera of all operas' had been updated, any misgivings at director Sara Brodie's setting Don Giovanni in a squalid 21st-century Spain of graffiti-sprayed walls, homeless drunks, party drugs and selfies were immediately dispelled from the very beginning of this brilliant production.

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DON GIOVANNI: A triumph
St James Theatre, Wellington
- reviewed by Jonathan Kingston-Smith and Pepe Becker

This is not your typical rendering of Mozart's opera. Instead it transplants the action to a grimy, urban sprawl of night clubs and alleyways. This has selfies, smartphones, pole-dancers, DJs and hen parties. There are nods to drug abuse and homelessness. Everyone seems to carry guns.

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BEYOND: Cirquish cartooning and charisma
Regent Theatre (Dunedin), Dunedin
- reviewed by Jonathan W. Marshall

The ensemble are probably at their best when each of the performers are crossing in all directions like a group of crazy bouncy balls thrown into a wooden box. The visually cacophonous conclusion of multiple tumbling and pole work is one of the more impressive moments within the piece, a rare point at which the sketch based structure is blown apart by something more expansive.

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DANCE LAB OPEN PERFORMANCE: Opening insights into performance research
St Michael's Church School Hall, 249 Durham Street South, Christchurch
- reviewed by Coralie Winn

Harvie’s work ias the most experimental and interesting of the evening. A curious and brave artist, she is fascinated by conventions and expectations and therefore, by how to disrupt them. What she presents are concepts or propositions that the dancers are to interpret and discover. Something that might happen within a studio space is now something for many eyes to view. This can’t but change the experience for the dancers. Rather than performing just for themselves and others, they’re performing for an audience, perhaps trying harder or emboldened by the adrenalin of being on show.

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MODERN MAORI QUARTET: A winning formula
Glenroy Auditorium, The Dunedin Centre, 1 Harrop Street, Dunedin
- reviewed by Brenda Harwood

A major highlight of Arts Festival Dunedin's first weekend has been the delightful Modern Maori Quartet.

Last night, a capacity audience at the Glenroy Auditorium were utterly charmed by these four suave, cheeky and immensely talented young musicians/actors.

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Y CHROMOZONE (2014): Vitality, variety and powerful performances
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Sue Cheesman

A total crowd pleaser is the performance of the Dads (OMG Dance) crew formed last year, ably lead by Ritchie Cesan. In Tricky these dudes in matching tee shirts complete with gold chains strut their moves with humour and commitment, touching us all and making us smile, reminding us that you are never too old to begin to dance.

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SISTERS IN ARMS: Transcendent theatre
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

“Theatre has always the power to be a dialogue with the dead… A plea for witnessing truth,” says Sanja Krsmanovi? Tasi?, director of Hleb Teatar in Belgrade, Serbia.

This uplifting sense of mission animates Sisters in Arms, the stirring new work of Hleb (Bread) Teatar and its New Zealand collaborator, Ake Ake Theatre Company. Kudos to Creative NZ WW1 Centenary Fund for recognising the worth of supporting this memorable partnership.

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SHIRLEY VALENTINE: Endearing
The Factory Theatre, 7 Eden Street, Newmarket, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

Sipping riesling as she prepares her husband’s dinner of egg and chips, Shirley Bradshaw (nee Valentine) is a middle-aged Liverpool housewife who has lived her entire life within the confines of the safe and the familiar.

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SLEEPING BEAUTY: Highly accessible and well-received
Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland
- reviewed by Tamati Patuwai

The enigmatic Phineas Phrog Productions have presented another formidable classic: Sleeping Beauty at The Bruce Mason Theatre in Takapuna.

Well known for its wide ranging magical productions, this latest performance places Phineas at the forefront of Children’s entertainment and education.

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NICK: AN ACCIDENTAL HERO: An infinitely-relatable human interest story
Fortune Theatre Studio, Dunedin
- reviewed by Alison Embleton

Embodying a multitude of characters during the course of the hour long performance, Renee Lyons manages to take the audience on an emotional journey of devastation and recovery without once seeming maudlin. Her deft acting allows her to convey a great deal of humour and wit throughout what could have been a very bleak story.

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SEI ‘O FAFINE: A profound sense of grace
Aurora Centre, Christchurch
- reviewed by Sharon Mazer

Key to the success of this performance are the suspensions – when all movement and sound stops for a moment, like a memory captured and sustained over time. These moments hold up for us the tension between being/needing/desiring to be embraced in the bosom of the (female) family and needing/desiring/being free, the mix of joy and claustrophobia in the first and the exuberance, alienation and dislocation of the second.

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PARK BENCH: The observant bench
NASDA Theatre, E Block, CPIT, Christchurch
- reviewed by Jess Probert

We are taken are a fast paced journey, observing the stories of these individuals as they pass through the park, and how the lives of these people end up intertwining.

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THIS OTHER EDEN: Every aspect a delight
Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Brenda Harwood

The passion and intrigue of New Zealand's early European history is revisited in all its drama, joy and tragedy in Anthony Ritchie and Michelanne Forster's new opera, This Other Eden.

In the world premiere performance of this stunning work, presented by Opera Otago last night [October 10] at Dunedin's Mayfair Theatre, a superb team bring to life pivotal historical figures and some of the earliest encounters between Maori and European.

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Q&Q WITH A&A: A game of three halves
Q Theatre Loft, Auckland
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

Wonder, joy, delight and discovery permeate Anna Bate’s richly detailed For Crying Out Loud. She prowls, jiggles, wiggles, shimmies, bounces, jumps, swings her arms through various configurations, drops into a deep second position, advances and retreats, with an astonishing array of constantly changing facial expressions and poses accompanying her stream of utterances.

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MOON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN: Intriguing play with an incredibly strong cast
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

While standing by a jukebox in 1955, a 20 year old bodgie named Albert (Paddy) Black stabbed the 19 year old Alan Jacques (known as Johnny McBride), apparently in a disagreement over a girl. This crime and the lifestyle of the teen bodgies and widgies were held up as justification for the hysteria that the Mazengarb report had whipped up the year before. Albert Black was executed for his actions later that year.

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DOUBLE DERELICTS: Vagrancy Made Magical
Aotea Square, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

As the two lovable bums face off over their disputed territory, an incomprehensible argument develops into a remarkably coordinated clown-dance whereby they take turns bouncing eachother off the couch and chasing eachother around it.

Just as they appear to have found some resolution a third character enters, more smartly dressed in pinstripe pants, white shirt, braces and bowtie, his face painted white and wielding an umbrella that rains upon him as he weeps uncontrollably.

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PRIME (2014): Mature, magnificent, matriarchal
Q Theatre Loft, Auckland
- reviewed by Dr Linda Ashley

I came away feeling that all is not well with Mother Earth. In the reflections on nature, women, loss, life and environment, these six dances present the cutting edge of what’s going wrong in diverse ways. Prime ‘14 a formidable programme.

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MATAQALI DRIFT: Wildy spirited performance
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Bernadette Rae

The result is a wildly spirited performance by some arrestingly powerful dancers, based upon their recent and obviously heartfelt experiences. But the tempo is as unrelenting as a drumbeat, fast and furious and with a constant undertone of discord and aggression.

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TUAKANA: KIRI: Kiri opens Tempo Festival 2014
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Bernadette Rae

A host of ancient spirits and totems embody story of Maoridom’s first woman, which opens Tempo festival

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DOUBLE DERELICTS: Tale of redemption
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Kerry-Ann Stanton

We sit with the house lights on, seeing and seen, connecting and connected with. A woman several rows down from me breathes out a quiet 'oh no' that is responded instantly to with a gleeful 'oh yes'. We laugh relieved it is not us. The transition to the dark is made subtly as the storyline changes and deepens. As another reviewer has said, I mustn't let the cat out of the bag, but there is a deep collective sigh around me. We get to laugh and cry as the crew give new interpretation to wallowing in emotional waters.

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LOVE IS...: A many splendored evening's entertainment
The Tannery Cassels & Sons Brewery entrance, 3 Garlands Rd, Christchurch
- reviewed by Emily Napolitano

A seductive tango duet, feisty contemporary choreography and impressive lifts are effectively interspersed with musical theatre and physical comedy. Exceptional standouts include the ‘Love is Frustration’ duet sung by Jasmine Webster and Chris McRae, who perfectly and endearingly perform ‘Anything you can do’ followed by ‘Let’s call the whole thing off’ and live piano accompaniment by Max Tocker peppered throughout the show. The exceptional polish and extraordinary technique of Katie Hurst Saxton and Gemma Rae Dudson make these two dancers genuinely shine. Joshua Dickson and Josh Johnson contribute a healthy dose of raunchy physical comedy.

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HELA: HeLa - educational, compelling and moving
Hagley Open Stage, Christchurch
- reviewed by Erin Harrington

It is to Onashile’s credit that her exploration of these extremely uncomfortable conceptual and moral bedfellows never descends into polemic. Instead, the audience are asked to celebrate Lacks’ rich life and inadvertent contribution while also being deeply critical about the way that we, as individuals and communities, tend offer our blind faith to those in positions of power in the presumption that they will know and do best.

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WHEELER'S LUCK: Polished and engaging
4th Wall Theatre, New Plymouth
- reviewed by Ngaire Riley

The story is told through characters strongly created by the actors through energetic physicality. These citizens are confident, outrageous and engaging. The performances are rooted in the traditions of commedia dell’arte and pantomime.

All the actors use physical motifs, excellent focus and ‘being in the moment’ to create the strong, distinctive personalities that are found in a small place where everyone knows each other.

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FRESH (2014): Some fresher than others...
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Dr Linda Ashley

Choreographer Lizzie Hewitt, performs Cued In with three dancers from her Lihda Company. Hewitt’s refreshing deconstruction of the collaborative choreographic process is fiendishly clever and amusing. It is also technically cutting edge in its inclusion of just under 200 memorised hand language signs with which Hewitt and sometimes a dancer spontaneously conducts the movement and the music, making each performance truly fresh. The signs are gateways to humour and the enigmatic, to original vocabulary and monologue. It is freshly human – I mean the dancers look at each other in they eye – revitalising! If you go tonight it will probably be different and just as fresh.

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ONEONE: A richly engaging visual world
Art Box, Cnr Madras and St Asaph Streets, Christchurch
- reviewed by Julia Harvie

Installations provide the viewer with the opportunity to take a quick glance, get the gist and move on but this work is definitely worth sitting in and with for the hour long loop. Time passes quickly and yet peacefully, the viewer is given a full sensory experience. I can move the rocks, I can create ripples in the water trays and reposition myself to view the work surrounding me.

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MATAQALI DRIFT: Longing to re-connect
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Dr Linda Ashley

The performance by Jone Soro, as guardian of traditional knowledge is simply breathtaking, reflecting his personal mission to encourage young Fijians to hold on to their dances and language because the culture is their identity. His song, oratory and movement in slow meke and walking is dignified, and his performance quality holds the stage – this is really a performance of heart and soul. Likewise, the dancers’ performances inspire. Edward Soro, Jiuta Tigarea, Eremasi Rova, Rusiate Rokilibau, Mereula Naibulirurua, Regina Janus, Navitalai Fong, Eleni Tabua and Mereia Tuiloma dance their hearts out. With articulate, dexterous, oceanlike fluidity they lay out a gamut of emotions including loss, longing, struggle, conflict and aspiration.

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

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