The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of  Solothello, Away From Home, The Two Farting Sisters, and It Ends With the Sea.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of  Solothello, Away From Home, The Two Farting Sisters, and It Ends With the Sea.

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

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THE LADYKILLERS: Black slapstick full on gags
Maidment, Auckland
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

Auckland Theatre Company's season-opening comedy this year is a black slapstick that crowds in some favourite old gags - you know before they begin how they're going to turn out, but the comfortable nostalgia adds to the live fun.

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AWAY FROM HOME: Hollow centre compromises undoubted talent and important themes
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

In New Zealand we’re fortunate enough to have our own gay rugby team. Yes, that’s right, the Falcons are made up of a majority of gay players and travelled to Sydney last year to represent NZ at the Bingham Cup. We also have legalised gay marriage and although there is still little evidence (public that is) of a gay All Black, hopefully we won’t have too long to wait.

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GROUNDED: Important ideas for reflection and debate
Q Theatre, The Vault, Auckland
- reviewed by Bronwyn Elsmore

The offerings in this year’s Auckland Fringe Festival lean heavily towards quirky entertainment: imaginative scenarios with the emphasis on fun. This is the one that stands alone: not bright, not fantastical, not fun. It’s grey, grounded in contemporary reality, and very worth seeing.

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THE TWO FARTING SISTERS: Sweet vs toxic adds pleasing aroma
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

Based on a classic Chinese folk tale her father used to tell her, about two brothers – the older one a spendthrift user; the younger one kind, industrious, abused and also ingenious out of necessity – The Two Farting Sisters is Renee Liang’s updated, feminised, Kiwi adaptation. Only the programme tells me it starts in Levin but scenes in China and Auckland are clearly located.

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PUZZLE: Less would be more
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Heidi North-Bailey

Puzzle is about finding your place, literally and figuratively, in the world. Puzzle piece Blue (Chye-Ling Huang) just wants to belong. Not content with being just another piece of sky in a puzzle full of the same – there’s plenty more, what does it matter if that one piece goes missing – she embarks on a journey to find out where she belongs, much to the annoyance of the puzzle maker (Caleb Wright).

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IT ENDS WITH THE SEA: Calm, tempestuous, melancholic with a lifeline of humour
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

At the outset the discussion is fairly cryptic and mercurial to an outside observer, but it’s evident we’re in a kind of Lord of the Flies castaway situation. Sylvia is self-appointed queen and the first to disclose where she came from. Franny often represents the voice of reason in the group, but has much less to say about what has ultimately landed her in this place.

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THRILLER LIVE: Dazzling, dramatic
Civic Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan

Putting on a production that truly pays homage to Michael Jackson a.k.a. the King of Pop is a daunting task, to say the least. Bearing that in mind I decided to go to the show with low expectations, to ensure that I wasn’t disappointed.

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RAIN DOGS CABARET: A very satisfying night out
Portland Public House, Auckland
- reviewed by Carrie Rae Cunningham

The Rain Dogs feature Nina on vocals (and harmonica!), Dave Kahn on mandolin, Jess Hindin on fiddle and Dylan Storey on acoustic guitar. Their revue is described as a gypsy-acoustic cabaret, and no one misses a beat (even though there isn’t a percussion instrument in sight). The talent in this quartet is incredible, which is what is needed when taking on the music and legend of Tom Waits. There’s no half-assing Tom. You either have to nail his style completely and entirely or do something totally different, which is what these cool cats do. And they do it superbly well.

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BEAST: Deceptively simple, laced with nuances
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

BEAST is a performance that you will either adore or will want to leave within the first few minutes clutching your bottle of anti-bacterial wash. It’s a one man show with a vocabulary that stretches across mime, clowning, body percussion and even kung fu. Intensely physical, this is a tightly wound piece of work that dares to hinge on exploding – and then does so by breaking down any semblance of barriers between the audience and the performer.

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BEAST: The Mark of the Talented Performer
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

While the rise of clowning in the Auckland theatre scene is gaining momentum, Taylor Hall's solo show is nonetheless a unique theatrical experience. An Auckland season of a Toi Whakaari monologue-derived solo-show is a common one, but what Hall has created is a show that is a true culmination of all his training, including movement, mask, improvisation, clowning, mime, physical theatre, and even kung fu.

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THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT: Endlessly inventive, charming, full of surprises
116A Bank Street, Whangarei
- reviewed by David Stevens

I am very pleased to say that my slight reservations about the show were completely unwarranted. The Owl and the Pussycat is an almost unqualified success; an hour of absolute enchantment and chock full of surprises.

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THE LADYKILLERS: Actus reus
Maidment, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

"To be frivolous about frivolous matters, that's merely boring. To be frivolous about something that's in some way deadly serious, that's true comedy." So said Alexander Mackendrick, who directed the 1955 film upon which Graham Linehan's 2011 stage adaptation is based. Farce requires danger. It requires an expertly balanced combination of drama and comedy played at both extremes.

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THE WATERCOOLER: ON THE FRINGE: Stories that need to be heard
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

I do think truth is stranger than fiction so stories that are at least based on a version of the truth are worthy of being told and equally of being heard. Luckily for Auckland, The Basement does provide the space to make that happen. Curated by Sarah Finnigan-Walsh, The Watercooler provides a selection of narratives that respond to a key theme, the latest one being ‘on the fringe’ ...

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ROBIN GOBLIN: Original usage of recognised tropes
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Scene one: meet Robin, a successful, confident business woman, power-dressed in a hound’s-tooth bolero jacket, regaling us with her inspiring life story of determination and sound business choices. Scene two: meet Robin, self-loathing self-confessed fraud who built her fortune on other people’s work and dumb luck, and waits in terror for the day the whole sham is exposed to her largely exaggerated social network.

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ON THE CONDITIONS AND POSSIBILITIES OF HILLARY CLINTON TAKING ME AS HER YOUNG LOVER: Gifted Meek
The Pavillion, Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton
- reviewed by Jan Maree

So Arthur Meek, the celebrated playwright and actor, has breathed new life into his hit play On the Conditions and Possiblities of Helen Clark Taking Me as Her Young Lover, which at release became a wildfire success due to its core being woven around the Kiwi political system and that favoured face of our Labour party.

It’s the same, same… but different.

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: Better luck next time
Festival Hub, Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton
- reviewed by Jan Maree

As soon as the play begins I am woeful. Has this company learned nothing from the many sound obstacles of last year? The actors fail for the majority of the first act to be heard over the sound spilling from another show, spilling from passing walkers seemingly oblivious to the events of the evening. But then so poor is the projection of this cast (but for a few) that they are being drowned out by the very light tinkling of the water feature in the nearby Turtle Lake.

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JACK AND THE BEANSTALK: Menagerie adds to the fun
Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton
- reviewed by Gail Pittaway

A ‘Stories and More’ pantomime show is now a well-established feature of the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival, with quirky interpretations of well-known stories and casts ranging widely in age and stage experience. This retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk is no exception, with delightful small twists on the original.

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SHAANXI LITTLE PLUM BLOSSOM: Stock in trade repertoire by elite Chinese troupe
TSB Bank Arena, Queens Wharf, Wellington
- reviewed by Chris Jannides

Spectacular costumes, glittery, elaborate, lush, flowing, dramatic, colourful, exotic. Frequent use of hand-held props, swords, staffs, spears, fans, maces. Bodies breathtakingly fly through the air in gravity-defying grace and with the nimble speed and agile pliancy of cats. Martial arts moves galore, now familiar to Western eyes in all their Jackie Chan complexity, inventiveness and speed. Stock Chinese folk opera characters in elaborate white, red and black make-up, allowing for well-projected facial expressions, flared eyes and coquettish interactions. The professionalism and technical finesse and fitness of these versatile, highly trained performers mean that, as with our own classical ballet, the incredible physical effort underlying the numerous feats and gymnastic content is hidden behind a facade of nonchalance and panache.

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BREAK UP [WE NEED TO TALK]: Come back here
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

Walking out of the theatre is the strongest statement an audience member can make, and I have never regretted it until I walked out of Break Up. To clarify, the six-hour show allows its audience to come and go as they please, and it was only due to personal commitments that I left after the first hour and a half, before returning for the conclusive 40 minutes.

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THE AROHA PROJECT - ROOM 1334: Disturbing truth in action with great production values
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

It’s difficult to put a tag on Mika and, really, why would you try?

Even finding words to describe what he is – and does – is difficult. He’s mercurial, unpredictable, impulsive, intuitive, capricious, eccentric – and all in a good way. He’s the consummate professional but try to praise him to his face for his artistry, his tireless work with young people and his development of emerging (primarily) Maori and Polynesian artists and he’ll wave you away with a flick of his hand and talk about the work.

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STEVE ABEL: A little piece of New Zealand history in the making
The Golden Dawn (Cnr Ponsonby and Richmond Roads), Auckland
- reviewed by Kathryn van Beek

Tonight, stepping inside The Golden Dawn is like walking across the threshold of a fairground and into a fortune teller’s tent. Outside, coloured lights blaze against the darkening sky as DJ English Jake plays a bewitching selection of soul tunes that get the punters toe-tapping. Inside, the sultry summer evening is made steamier by the heat rising from the perfumed bodies of the Sunday night crowd, and by the enchanting music of Steve Abel and his carousel of celebrity guests.

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SOLOTHELLO: Skill and confidence brings new insights
Te Parapara, Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton
- reviewed by Gail Pittaway

Te Rehia Theatre Company has been experimenting with the use of Commedia dell’arte masks and Maori storytelling for a couple of years now and this new development, back to the Bard, makes for a fantastic piece of entertainment.

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AWESOME ADVENTURES OF MODERN MAUI: Perfectly pitched and placed
The Beach, Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton
- reviewed by Gail Pittaway

One of several offerings from Te Rehia Theatre Company at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival, this show is full of simple delights as four actors – two male, two female – take on the mythical world of Maui and modernise three stories into funky amusements.

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BLACK FAGGOT: Intense, funny and welcome
Centrepoint, Palmerston North
- reviewed by John Ross

One of the more endearing of this play’s dozen or more characters (played by just two actors), a young guy named Christian, several times prays to God, as he has evidently been exhorted to do, to make him straight, and not gay. It makes not one scrap of difference. At the end, he reminds God that being gay, in his community, doesn’t get any easier.

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THE LARAMIE PROJECT: Heartfelt
Allen Hall Theatre, University of Otago, Dunedin
- reviewed by Alison Embleton

For those that have not heard of The Laramie Project before, the play was created by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project. The group conducted hundreds of interviews with inhabitants of the town of Laramie, Wyoming about their reaction to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard.

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MATTHEW HARVEY BLOWS UP!: Fun, funny, political, rich in irony, sharp in satire
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

Matthew Harvey is a unique and interesting performer. It seems, from most of the promotional material I’ve read, that’s he’s seen more as a stand-up comedian than anything else. That he is much more than that is apparent immediately in his new show Matthew Harvey Blows Up.

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BREAK UP [WE NEED TO TALK]: An interesting commentary on what we perceive to be theatre
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

It’s a six hour marathon for the actors who are dressed in banana suits (surely they must be hot) as they tease and muddle through all the various reasons to stay together – or not. There are heart shaped helium balloons staggered around the Basement space and five chairs, four at the rear and one in front, facing the audience.

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THE LADYKILLERS: A smooth, perfectly timed, gag-indulgent, comic delight
Maidment, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

Television sitcom writer Graham Linehan certainly has a flair for farce.

His refreshing version of the classic Ealing comedy by William Rose (originally starring Peter Sellers and Alec Guinness, and later remade by the Coen brothers with Tom Hanks) might not be as disturbing as the original – but The Ladykillers is black comedy at its best.

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GIFT OF THE GAB: Mouthful
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

When a friend asked me what Gift of the Gab was about, it took more than a few run-on sentences and backtracking to explain. If you can't describe a show in one or two sentences at the least, something is wrong with the plot. That's not to say that the show doesn't make sense, simply that the narrative could benefit from some addition and omission to create a more logical flow of events even within its absurd concept.

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SURI VS SHILOH: Too Cruisey
Q Theatre, The Vault, Auckland
- reviewed by Amanda Leo

From the offset, what you might expect out of Suri. Vs. Shiloh seems clear. Our two fictionalized protagonists of real life Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, are alive on social media, if you have visited the play’s facebook page.

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TIMON OF ATHENS: Long-awaited Timon is timely
Botanical Gardens: The Dell, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

What would you do if you were filthy rich? Would you share it with friends? Would you welcome new friends, attracted by your wealth? How well would you manage your money? And if your generosity saw your debts exceed your capacity to pay … Who would your friends be then?

This is the territory Timon of Athens traverses.

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THRILLER LIVE: A fitting tribute to the King of Pop
Civic Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Kate Ward-Smythe

It’s fair to assume that an opening night audience will be positive, when the ‘switch off your phones blaa’ gets a huge applause. Amped up and ready to worship at the House of MJ, the crowd watch eagerly as the ‘overture’ features shots on the centre stage AV screen, of the cast getting ready to honour their guru.

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: A Perfect Midsummer Night Out
Old Arts Quad of the Maidment Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Jan Maree

In my mind there are two basic requirements that qualify a show as great: I have not looked at my watch; as the audience applauds I feel this un-nameable overwhelming sensation in my heart and soul and tears spring to my eyes. Both of these things happen tonight.

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LEGACY PROJECT: YEAR TWO: May the legacy continue
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan

The six plays were a good mixture of personal, heartfelt stories. And while the evening didn’t cover the entire spectrum of the queer gender and identity, we were treated to a fabulous showcase of unique points of view and experiences

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GIFT OF THE GAB: Illuminating the darker sides of light comedy?
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

James Cain does an amazing Alan Rickman impersonation. Let’s just get that out of the way and say that the show is almost worth seeing entirely for his amazing ability to pull off a number of accents but particularly, it’s his barely amused drawling tones of Severus Snape that will delight an audience.

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STRIPPED BARE: Barely
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

As a mature performer, De Leon presents a unique
physicality, and there is no ignoring the athleticism and talent that she has
acquired over the years, but a unique and talented performer does not a successful performance make. From the incompetently read and poorly recorded voice over, which for the life of me [...]

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RISK & WIN ARCADE: A fun way to get involved
Aotea Centre Roof (Level 5), 50 Mayoral Drive, Auckland
- reviewed by Sophie Melchior

Cara is missing and you need to help find her. Risk and Win Arcade is not your typical play. Rather than have the audience be passive consumers of the fiction they are invited into the story, not only to be surrounded by the action but to directly influence what happens.

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BONESEED: Richer on reflection
The Performance Studio, WG210 Sir Paul Reeves Bldg, AUT, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

The performers embrace all the traditional conventions of the theatre but in doing so revert to fundamentals of performance practice: story and its places within the minds of the ephemeral owner of that story (the seed, as such) and the various incarnations that take place across others who share that story into the wider culture.

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UP ON LOWMAN: A considerable achievement and lots of fun
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Bronwyn Elsmore

I learn a little bit late that the target audience for this Auckland Fringe show is probably Generation Y. I’m a letter or two removed from that. Oh well, it does one good to stretch one’s usual boundaries from time to time.

And this play certainly does that. It stretches the boundaries of time and space.

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RISING VOICES SUMMER SERIES: The air crackles with the heat of ideas
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Kathryn van Beek

Rising Voices is a literary speed dating night with some of the most exciting new story tellers in Auckland. Each of the three nights features a different line-up of performers to take you on a virtual tour of their hearts and minds – and the world.

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STRIPPED BARE: A radically revealing solo performance
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

With subtly glowing lighting from veteran light artist Twink Eltoes, and sound scores from Australian composers accompanying her movement, De Leon presents two short works – Stripped Bare and Grace - accompanies. The first, with a gently flowing raga by Elizabeth Drake taken from the score of the movie Japanese Story, and lines of poetry tossed to us to think about, poses the question of whether she is more revealed when clothed in a richly deep glowing dark blue velvet dress than when she is wearing sports bra and knickers.The second, with a scritchy, rumbling soundscape which embraces the lower end of the sound spectrum by Perth musician Cat Hope played by the bass band Abe Sada, provides something of a coda to the first, adding another layer to our experience of the artist’s repertoire of intensity.

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MACBETH: Hedging its bets?
The Mound Lawn, Mona Vale Gardens, Christchurch
- reviewed by Erin Harrington

The large cast ranges in experience, and the veteran actors provide generous support to those who are new to acting and to Shakespearean prose. The entire team demonstrates focus and commitment.

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

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FRANK THE MIND-READING HOTDOG: Mentalist in a Bun
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
- reviewed by Tim George

As it turns out, when you go see a show called Frank the Mind-Reading Hot Dog, that is exactly what you get. Frank is a mind-reading hot dog.

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Many good reasons to go
TE PUNA QUARRY – DRAGON LAWN, Tauranga
- reviewed by Vivienne Quinn

Wonderfully cast are the four Lovers – Katy Leitze (Hermia), Gin Mabey (Helena), Jass Chahal (Demetrius) and David Holt (Lysander) – who all share an energetic and charismatic presence, which makes the relationships between the four of them all more believable. Mabey as the petulant Helena is particularly spot on.

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

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