The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Amputation of Personality, Bill Massey’s Tourists, and The Ballad of Pondlife Mcgurk.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Amputation of Personality, Bill Massey’s Tourists, and The Ballad of Pondlife Mcgurk.

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

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BILL MASSEY’S TOURISTS: Impressive in every sense
Dunedin Community Gallery, 20 Princes St, Dunedin
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

In neutral costume of grey trousers and cardigan over white shirt, with just an adjustment of limbs and a twist of the face, she moves crisply from her naïve schoolgirl self to her bitter grandfather, to the absurd New Zealand identities encouraging the boys to enlist (my favourite is the intimidating woman brandishing the white feather), and then to the battlefields of France.

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ON THE CONDITIONS AND POSSIBILITIES OF HILLARY CLINTON TAKING ME AS HER YOUNG LOVER: Delicious satire, delectable double entendre, scintillating allusions
La Mama First Floor Theatre, 74a E. 4th St, NYC, USA
- reviewed by David Roberts

This imaginative and well-constructed riff just completed its run at La MaMa as part of the New Zealand Performance Festival. Despite Mr. Meek’s wish to “get back to New Zealand,” it would be good for America if he stayed around a bit longer and continued to comment on our present political and cultural scene.

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BBEALS: BBeals - Footnote & Danses en l'R 14 March 2015, Regent Theatre - Dunedin
Regent Theatre (Dunedin), Dunedin
- reviewed by Hahna Briggs

BBeals, a dance theatre event constantly attempted to dismantle the fourth wall. It was a visceral show that took me to extremes, from full on belly laughing, to feeling my heart racing in my chest and in my ears.

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AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE: Entertaining, educational and accessible
Hannah Playhouse - Return Season, Wellington
- reviewed by Elle Wooton

The story itself follows two young men in their wartime journey. In moments it is entertaining and light, fast-paced and energetic, yet in others chaotic, messy and anti-climactic. These are all (seemingly) intentional and when done well they are highly effective.

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TASSEL ME THIS: From the lowliest of materials, something rich and strange emerges
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Jonathan W. Marshall

This is therefore a work wherein the inventive collisions and fusions of material makes placing it in terms of style, or even overall mood, very difficult, creating a constant sense of intrigue and surprise in the viewing.

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THE PARK BENCH: Convoluted play no benchmark
Little Theatre, Library Bldg, Lower Hutt
- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson [Reproduced with permission of Fairfax Media]

The Park Bench is an oddity in the Fringe. It is almost two hours long; it has a cast of thirteen, two acts and a multiplicity of scenes most of which take place, completely ignoring plausibility, in a public park with the actors nearly always seated on the park bench.

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THE BALLAD OF PONDLIFE MCGURK: Resonating truths of schoolyard survival
Wesley Church Old Hall, 75 Taranaki St, Wellington
- reviewed by Lena Fransham

He's all dynamism, galloping between moods and characters. The eleven-year-olds he impersonates are larger-than-life (he must be six feet tall) but distinct and vivid, their social realities all too familiar to anyone who’s been that age, facing those awful schoolyard survival choices that can have life-shaping consequences.

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ARE YOU GAME?: Cathartic for some, frustrating for others
Community Gallery, 20 Princes St, Dunedin
- reviewed by Tania Robinson

As part of a full, frenetic and so far highly impressive Dunedin Fringe Festival experience, I found myself at the Dunedin Community Gallery last night for Are You Game?. Although in the Theatre section, Are You Game? would probably be best described as a dance piece for people who might not ‘get’ dance, and find it helpful to hear some words to describe the action taking place onstage.

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BEARDS, BEARDS, BEARDS: Dynamic exploration of history and gender issues
Circa One, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

It is a tribute to all concerned, on stage and off, that the two hundred-plus excited (i.e. noisy) senior primary children (Years 5 to 8) packed into Circa Theatre become attentive and interested throughout the 45 minute show.

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SWAGFEST: Battle culture a masculine affair
Meteor Theatre, Hamilton
- reviewed by Debbie Bright

The number of teams is gradually reduced to a final of just 2 teams. The dancing becomes more intense and complex. The improvising both to the DJ’s choice of tracks, and within and between teams, becomes more skilled, full-on and often very funny. The music is loud, the energy extreme, the crowd hyped, the comperes’ patter animated and loud. When the judges’ vote is a draw, there is a 30-second dance out by one individual from each team.

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THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING: Missing Pages
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

When the book that inspires a play has been called a modern classic, when the play itself has been self-attributed with "...beautiful, magical, surprising, touching, terrifying, joyous, inspiring, funny, and ultimately uplifting...", and when the premiere was critically acclaimed as a "hilarious, honest, and beautifully rendered play", there is a lot to which any other production must live up.

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THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING: Fable with flair
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Silo Theatre brings flair to the stage adaptation of a delightful modern fable by Dutch writer Guus Kuijer.

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THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING: Wonderfully cathartic
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Simon Wilson

Step by step, the festival is building up its must-see shows. Macbeth, Hikoi, Lake St Dive and Neneh Cherry, on my list. And now The Book of Everything. It runs till next Sunday, but don’t leave it late. This show deserves to book out.

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THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING: Openhearted honesty and humour
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Australian playwright Richard Tulloch wrote the script for this stirring theatrical curiosity based on the translation of Dutch author Guus Kuijer’s 2005 children’s novel. I note that Kuijer, born in 1942, is essentially the same age as his story’s protagonist, as written from the point of view of precociously affable nine, almost ten year-old Thomas Klopper (here played by Patrick Carroll), in 1951.

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ALL GOOD POEMS WEAR TRAVELLING SHOES: A memorable fusion of sound, image and text
Taste Merchants, 36 Stuart St, Dunedin
- reviewed by Sharon Matthews

All Good Poems Wear Travelling Shoes starts from a dazzlingly simply idea. Take eight local poets. Ask the poets to read one of their poems out loud. Using the poem as the text, draw on the expertise of local performers and musicians to embody, re-work and re-interpret these poems into distinct entities travelling above, beyond and around the words on the page.

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DIRT AND OTHER DELICIOUS INGREDIENTS: Inspired by dirt... and superbly crafted
Shed 6, Queens Wharf, Wellington
- reviewed by Lyne Pringle

Take note international festivals this work deserves to be seen on the world stage. It is charming with perfectly pitched performances that allow young and old to enter a world of magic.

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ON THE CONDITIONS AND POSSIBILITIES OF HILLARY CLINTON TAKING ME AS HER YOUNG LOVER: Charmed by a bizarre and fervent mission
La Mama First Floor Theatre, 74a E. 4th St, NYC, USA
- reviewed by Sarah Burrell

Last night at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club in New York City’s East Village, Arthur Meek gave a prophetically timed performance of his one-man show On the Conditions and Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me As Her Young Lover.

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LE SUD: A hugely entertaining struggle
Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

It is laughter all the way, with an occasional 'oooh' as decorum is broached before the funny side of things inevitably reasserts itself. Thus we enjoy the slightly distanced perspective of comedy, while chortling at absorbingly familiar absurdities, for the 2015 version of the play has been significantly updated from its 2008 beginnings.

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THE KITCHEN: Still, meditative and occasionally vibrant
SKYCITY Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Vanessa Byrnes

Roysten Abel’s The Kitchen is a mesmerizing, sensual and suggestive meditation on what it is to be human. It starts in darkness and gently centres on the Sufi poet Rumi and the provocation:
If life be a kitchen, and we be the novice ...

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THE KITCHEN: The Kitchen lacks spice
SKYCITY Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth

An intriguing premise for tonight’s show – 12 drummers in a pyramid, a kitchen and a couple cooking the delicious Indian rice pudding that is payasam.

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STEAMPUNCH: THE ASTONISHING ADVENTURES OF A STEAMPUNK PUPPET: A grand old tradition reinvented with aplomb
Dunedin Gasworks Museum, Dunedin
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Septimus Punch has been reconstructed as an Inventor, that hero of the Victorian science-fiction that inspired steampunk, and the world he inhabits is firmly placed in the heyday of the Victorians which was also the heyday of our own Gasworks.

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PICK-A-PATH: DANCE IN THE CITY: Bringing dance to the people to enjoy
Various locations, Dunedin CBD, Dunedin
- reviewed by Hannah Molloy

Pick-A-Path Dance in the City is a collection of short dance works sprinkled around Dunedin’s inner city area, making succinct use of unexpected spaces. Gasp! Dance Collective describes itself as “a new contemporary dance collective dedicated to community enrichment, unique performance, interdisciplinary collaboration and professional development.” Pick-A-Path adheres to this description as it exposes contemporary dance to an unsuspecting Saturday morning ebb and flow of people going about their usual business.

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BBEALS: Dynamic, engaging and thought provoking
Regent Theatre (Dunedin), Dunedin
- reviewed by Georgia Davenport

Bbeals blurs the lines of choreographed and improvised movement, with smatterings of original Flashdance choreography, references and iconography sprinkled throughout, creating a unique, fresh and approachable piece of dance theatre.

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PEDAL.PEDDLE: Liquid Poetryof Words Images and Motion
Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre, 11 Hutchison Rd, Newtown, Wellington
- reviewed by Chris Jannides

There is lovely pathos in this work. From the remotest clothesline a small paper butterfly is removed and held above the mirror-lake, now painted black. The butterfly is dropped into the water that is ‘clear’, but not. She exits through the audience singing and battered, but with a resigned sense of triumph.

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HUA NUI - TO BE FRUITFUL, TO BE PRODUCTIVE: Pride and delight in flowing hula
Shed 1, Corban Estate Arts Centre, Auckland
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

There is considerable gravitas and grace to the dancing of these ancient dances, a reverence and demureness which is quite different from that seen in modern hula. There is rapid stepping and swaying and pointing of feet, ankle shimmies, an occasional sudden bounce sending knees angling outwards. Arms are raised, stretched up and down again, elbows crooked at breast level, hands floating , resting, gesturing, always moving. Bodies dip, shimmy, sway and seem to float on the air or at times bobble as if immersed in deep sweater, and the eyes and heads are likewise always moving.

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OTHELLO: THE REMIX (NORTH): O TO THE H E DOUBLE-L O!
Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

In matching denim boiler suits, the four performers exposit the action as a rapping chorus, donning distinctive mannerisms and accessories for their various characters. The story transposes Shakespeare’s Venetian tragedy to modern America, during the tumultuous events of the hip-hop industry around the turn of the millennium when elements of the musical form began to be embraced and exploited en masse by the commercial mainstream.

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THE FREAKSHOW PEEPSHOW: Not for the faint of heart
RE:FUEL BAR, 640 Cumberland St, Dunedin
- reviewed by Alison Embleton

The Freakshow Peepshow is not for the faint of heart however, with many pasties, much bared flesh, and a baseline intense enough to linger in your head for an hour after the show. Its set-up is excellent for a night out, lots of audience interaction and on-stage banter from the performers, each act is punctuated by a short piece from Ruby Ruin ranging from verbal witticisms to a showcase of her burlesque talents.

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SQUARING THE WHEEL: Masterful clowning, circus skills and magic
Hannah Playhouse (previously Downstage), Wellington
- reviewed by Jo Hodgson

My children (four and two) sit on either side of me big eyed, excitedly clutching my arms, laughing and murmuring ‘its magic Mum’ while this talented storyteller delights us through his exuberant physical theatre, accompanied by a brilliantly matched and evocative sound track.

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DON'T EVER FORGET: Honours the spirit of disfunctional bands
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by Jo Blick

The key to any play that involves a band is a realistic band name. Could there be a name more Rockquest than ‘Death Clunge’?..... I believe such a band could exist.

Years after the death of rhythm guitarist Gavin, the members of ‘Death Clunge’ are brought together for the first time since their bitter post-Rockquest break up.

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WHERE THE ALBATROSS MEETS THE PENGUIN: Engaging, accessible street theatre
Various venues, Dunedin
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Like most street theatre, it’s all very casual with a decidedly improvised quality, as a group of penguins (oh all right, actors in penguin suits) ride bicycles round the Octagon, encouraging a few stray kids to help them hunt for their missing friends who turn out to be toy penguins hidden under cones on the big chess board.

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CEDAR LAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET: Sterling choreographic lineup
Civic Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Bernadette Rae

The It company from New York City boasts 14 of the best dancers that the money of its founder and funder Wal-Mart heiress, Nancy Laurie, can buy and what those 14 fabulously honed and interestingly diverse beings can do is certainly superb.

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AMPUTATION OF PERSONALITY: Melancholic vignettes ready for further development
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Jonathan W. Marshall

One of the highlights of the work is when Bate builds a body on her chair by taking out two folding rulers, and setting them in a pair of shoes first as legs, and then as arms in an otherwise empty jacket.

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JINGLES – THE MUSICAL: A winner
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by Jo Blick

Cast members Hayley Sproull, Jack Buchanan and Carrie Green are a delight to watch, bringing huge amounts of energy to an incredibly fast paced show. All three play off each other beautifully with Sproull providing an appealing heart to the show as the innocent but gutsy Wella McDonald.

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BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH MUST DIE: Erratic journey to highly amusing places
Playhouse Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Reuben Hilder

Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die tells the story of three bizarre and very different misfits meeting face to face for the first time after being united online through their shared passionate, obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch.

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TASSEL ME THIS: Golden dust takes my breath away
Meteor Theatre, Hamilton
- reviewed by Debbie Bright

Ee hear the song “Take My Breath Away. Jessie appears. She is a fashion model with strictly choreographed movements, posture and pleasant but fixed facial expression. This is expanded on as Jessie (and later a tortured-looking Shani) stand in a floor strip of light with a huge fan blowing hair and shining droplets that look like rain – and I think: “ A photo shoot… poses….the female face and body as objects… idealization and exploitation of the young… glossy glitzy magazines…advertising…show biz…obligated to conform.

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IMPACT: Story told through great rhythm and strong dramaturgy
Whitireia Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington
- reviewed by Lyne Pringle

There is some elegant partnering and the chorus of four women move with control, the torque of the body expressing pent up energy and the shift of the ocean before they explode into dynamic sequences that unleash the power of these elemental forces – this is satisfying. A potent scene arrives when Te Rau Oriwa Mitchell delivers a monologue with another dancer interpreting his words in a dance solo full of invention and clarity.

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CEDAR LAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET: Dissonant themes in debut triple bill
Civic Theatre, Auckland
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

Schechter’s score intermixes a string trio with recorded spoken words and percussive, driving industrial noise. His lighting design (co-credited to Jim French) is darkly apocalyptic, with swirling haze and shadowy corners, and occasional bursts of piercing light. By contrast to the relatively open, upright, extreme extensions seen in the world of Grace Engine, in Schecter’s world the dancers are down-trodden, demoralised, under the yoke of the oppressor, with the dancers bent over, crouching, huddling in groups, moving in clumps, shuffling, creeping, slithering across the floor, making occasional breaks for individual freedom before re-attaching to the nearest cluster of humanity, or all coming together into some brief unison moment.

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BEARDS, BEARDS, BEARDS: Subversive quest for power
Playhouse Theatre, Dunedin
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

Beards! Beards! Beards! is the story of Beatrix (Abby Howells): her innocent quest to unlock the power of the patriarchy and many many beards. Historical beards, modern beards, bubble beards and most importantly tartan beards stream past in quick succession.

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THE HISTORY BOYS: Historic comedy and turmoil
The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland
- reviewed by Kathryn van Beek

The boys are taught primarily by eccentric, literature-loving Hector (Paul Norell), who is at the end of his career, and the ambitious Irwin (Hamish Sealey) who is at the beginning his own. Hector and Irwin are both under pressure from the comically inept headmaster to achieve good results, but when Hector is caught getting up close and personal with the boys on his motorbike the history classes are plunged into turmoil.

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PUPIL ZERO: Memorable comedic mayhem
The Playhouse, Dunedin
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

The fine actors in Pupil Zero are not put off by errant bits of audio and create a zany zingy show. The play starts with Pupil Zero Kayla who initiated the epidemic. Quarantine is imposed on Kayla’s primary school to keep the community safe. As the quarantine stretches on, all the conflicting theories on how to deal with the situation take the show on several unexpected turns because obviously what an apocalypse needs is Quarantine Idol.

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MACBETH: Echoes with many unresolved tensions
ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

Reworking Verdi’s opera (and sadly eliminating much of the witches’ music), this is an extraordinary 100 minutes of music reorchestrated by Fabrizio Cassol that traces the ramifications of power and corruption in a state that is puppeteered by the guzzlers of tin, gold, and tantalite.

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THE ROYAL NZ BALLET PRESENTS DON QUIXOTE: A story of great longevity
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
- reviewed by Candice Egan and Mark Quigley

The first scene (Act I) is comedic and light. We are introduced to Don Quixote in his bedroom (played by a youthful John Hull) and given some insights into his quirky character. His nephew (played by Shane Urton) stumbles on to the stage. The second scene of Act 1 shifts to a vibrant, colourful Mediterrean set that boasts a cartoonish element. Our introduction to Kitri, played by Mayu Tanigaito, is refreshingly strong and beautiful. Subsequent character introductions come fast and slick. The choreography establishing the romantic interaction between Kitri and Basilio is tight.

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THE ROYAL NZ BALLET PRESENTS DON QUIXOTE: Don Quixote, St James, Wellington
St James Theatre, Wellington
- reviewed by Mona Williams

As the curtain fell on the final Act of Don Quixote, the audience which had packed the St.James Theatre on opening night, gave their verdict in sustained, deafening applause, roars of "Bravo!" and the rolling thunder of percussive feet on the theatre's floor. They had enjoyed this light-hearted feast for the eyes.

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URSUS AMERICANUS WITH NEIL THORNTON: Claiming his identity with joy
Cavern Club, 22 Allen St, Wellington
- reviewed by Shannon Friday

This show is so gay. No, literally – Neil Thornton's Ursus Americanus is a faux case-study of his journey from young nerd to grown-up, married gay man. Specifically, the type of gay man known as a bear: a big burly dude with muscle and/or a beer belly and body hair. And facial hair. Definitely facial hair.

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HASTE AWAY HOME: Smile-inducing
17 Tory St, Wellington
- reviewed by Patrick Davies

‘The Fisherman’s Wife’ is a lesser known Grimms fairytale, pretty much about the life of a fisherman and his wife – though various aquatic characters do pop up in the events. This is director James Kiesel’s favourite childhood story and the regard he shows for this treasured memory is obvious.

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AIK ’N’ SIDES: Admirable impulses
Kitty O'Sheas, 28 Courtenay Place, Wellington
- reviewed by Shannon Friday

Being funny is hard. It takes tons of care and practice to go from “guy/girl who can make their friends laugh at a party” to “working comedian.” So I love the project behind Aik'N'Sides: three young comedians – Aiken Hutcheson, Cameron McCleod and Snap presented by Ruse Websites (yes, that is his name) – band together and tour the country while honing their funny skills.

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LOOSE: A PRIVATE HISTORY OF BOOZE AND IGGY POP 1996-2015: Funny, clever and engaging
BATS Theatre, Studio, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by Jonathan Kingston-Smith

Jonny Potts' show occupies a strange twilit world between stand-up comedy and one-man drama. It stumbles backwards from present day across a couple of decades: a series of sprawling anecdotes, vignettes, observations and musings.

Sometimes it is belly-laugh funny, at other times it is oddly melancholy, and elsewhere it veers into boozy philosophising.

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TO SUNDER: Exuberant, spontaneous, lots to ponder
Hataitai Bowling Club, Wellington
- reviewed by Lena Fransham

Stuck in a bunker with eight other teenagers in a post-apocalyptic world. How do you survive? How do you organise your micro-society in a space the size of a shipping container? What shape do you give the world you have been left with?

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

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