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

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DEXTER’S AMAZING AFRICAN ADVENTURE: Glued to the Stage
TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
by Jess Sayer and Darlene Mohekey 
Presented by TAPAC and Blue Baths
- reviewed by Matt Baker

It’s a simple premise with little conflict, but Sayer and Mohekey extrapolate on it to provide a thoroughly entertaining show with genuine heart these school holidays.

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YOURS TRULY: Superior literary flourishes
Te Pou Theatre, 44a Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland
Written and directed by Albert Belz 
Presented by Te Rēhia Theatre Company
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

It is a thoroughly researched, intelligent period work and its chief merit lies in the sheer lyricism of its language and the fact that, although the play is now 10 years old, it has not lost any of its modern appeal.

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THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES: Children love a funny show
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
Adapted by Gregory Cooper 
Directed by Jordan Dickson and Jonathon Hendry
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

On Saturday afternoon, the Fortune Theatre was full of kids laughing themselves silly.

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: A clever and innovative pared-down version
Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, Wellington
By William Shakespeare 
Directed by Benjamin Haddock 
Presented by Backyard Theatre
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

Anyone who has ever watched reality shows based on the Big Brother-concept will understand the idea behind Backyard Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, currently playing at the Gryphon Theatre.

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Auckland Theatre Company's NEXT BIG THING 2016
BRAVADO!: Energetic insights into life of young #3
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Frith Horan, Natasha Hoyland, Beanie Maryse-Ridler and Billie Staples 
Director: Naomi Cohen 
Creative Director: Benjamin Henson 
Live Band: Galaxy Bear
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

BRAVADO! establishes a boldly experimental vibe with the band Galaxy Bear performing a live gig while the drama erupts out of makeshift spaces on the dance floor.

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Auckland Theatre Company's NEXT BIG THING 2016
ANGELS RE:BORN: Energetic insights into life of young #2
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Tanya Muagututi'a and Joy Vaele 
Director: Lavinia Uhila
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Angels (Reborn) written by Tanya Muagututi'a and Joy Vaele takes us deep within the subculture of Pacific Island church life where music offers an opening through which four mates can escape the all-encompassing influence of their religion.

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Auckland Theatre Company's NEXT BIG THING 2016
SHOULDA WOULDA COULDA: Energetic insights into life of young #1
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Devised by the cast 
Director: Ahi Karunaharan
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Shoulda Woulda Coulda is a devised work embracing the random nature of everyday experience as it samples a bewildering array of personal and political issues.

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YOUNG & HUNGRY Festival of New Theatre 2016
DEAD DAYS: Festival allows young casts to shine #3
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written by Owen Baxendale
Directed by Debra Mulholland
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

While the idea of a young man finding his way in life through interacting with his best mate who has just died is not new, the way it is presented in Dead Days is new and innovative, and often very funny.

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YOUNG & HUNGRY Festival of New Theatre 2016
LIKE SEX: Festival allows young casts to shine #2
BATS Theatre, The Heyday Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written by Nathan Joe
Directed by Samuel Phillips
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

The second play [in this year's Young and Hungry Festival of New Theatre], Like Sex by Nathan Joe and directed by Samuel Phillips, is, as can be imagined from the title, about sex and how young people deal with it in all its guises, and that it can be a rite of passage for many.

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YOUNG & HUNGRY Festival of New Theatre 2016
BLOODY HELL JESUS (GET YOUR OWN FRIENDS): Festival allows young casts to shine #1
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written by Lucy Craig 
Directed by Jane Yonge
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

The first of the three plays that make up the Festival, currently playing at Bats Theatre, is Bloody Hell Jesus (Get Your Own Friends), written by Lucy Craig and directed by Jane Yonge.

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HINEPAU: A marvellous story told well
Hannah Playhouse, Wellington
Based on the book by Gavin Bishop, 
published by Scholastic New Zealand 
Directed by Jamie McCaskill 
Originally devised by Rachel House, Jamie McCaskill, Erina Daniels, Stephen Tamarapa and Maria Walker
- reviewed by Patrick Davies

All four characters are delightful to watch: Rua the narcissistic leader, Hera the ditzy follower, Pori the bumbler and Hinepau the outsider. The actors fill these archetypes with soul and great physicality. It is a very alive and present production.

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Auckland Theatre Company's NEXT BIG THING 2016
BRAVADO!: Brave and interesting if hard to connect with
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Frith Horan, Natasha Hoyland, Beanie Maryse-Ridler and Billie Staples 
Director: Naomi Cohen 
Creative Director: Benjamin Henson 
Live Band: Galaxy Bear
- reviewed by Leigh Sykes

We the audience are invited to stand, filling the performance space, and this makes it clear that this will be an unusual show. It’s one of a number of high concept ideas in the show and the writers and performers are to be applauded for their bravery in both the content and the staging of the piece. However ...

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Auckland Theatre Company's NEXT BIG THING 2016
ANGELS RE:BORN: Impossible not to enjoy
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
By Tanya Muagututi'a and Joy Vaele 
Director: Lavinia Uhila
- reviewed by Leigh Sykes

The central performers in this scene absolutely nail the manners and preoccupations of their ten year old characters, capturing all the nuances of what being friends, and maybe more than friends, looks and feels like at that age.

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Auckland Theatre Company's NEXT BIG THING 2016
SHOULDA WOULDA COULDA: Provokes laughter and tears
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Devised by the cast 
Director: Ahi Karunaharan
- reviewed by Leigh Sykes

There are items which use movement, items which use song, items which use slam poetry and items that use audience-suggested improvisation. In all of these items the solo performers are fully committed and engaged ...

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YOURS TRULY: Definitive horrific exposé
Te Pou Theatre, 44a Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland
Written and directed by Albert Belz 
Presented by Te Rēhia Theatre Company
- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

It's Belz’s handiness with the script that makes the whole thing work and provides the audience with a more than satisfying – and challenging – evening's entertainment. It’s to Belz’s credit that at no time do I question the veracity of his ‘facts’ and the pseudo-mockumentary nature of the presentation fully supports this.

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YOUNG & HUNGRY Festival of New Theatre 2016
DEAD DAYS: Astute comic timing
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written by Owen Baxendale
Directed by Debra Mulholland
- reviewed by John Smythe

What’s clever about Owen Baxendale’s play is he has dramatised the syndrome by having his ‘hero’, Max Johnson (Morgan Hopkins), follow his father into the undertaking business and a predictable future.

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YOUNG & HUNGRY Festival of New Theatre 2016
LIKE SEX: Every scene is a gem refracting a truth
BATS Theatre, The Heyday Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written by Nathan Joe
Directed by Samuel Phillips
- reviewed by John Smythe

And because this is the post-‘permissive’ 21st century in New Zealand, his cast of sexually active young people are not fraught with hypocritical moral repression or the attendant fear of scandal. They just have their own judgement and feelings – and the judgement and feelings of their partners (or hook-ups) – to contend with.

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YOUNG & HUNGRY Festival of New Theatre 2016
BLOODY HELL JESUS (GET YOUR OWN FRIENDS): A welcome reflection-cum-insight
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written by Lucy Craig 
Directed by Jane Yonge
- reviewed by John Smythe

The experience of inevitable change in ‘tribal’ allegiances on the journey through teenage to young adulthood gets a lively airing in Lucy Craig’s Bloody Hell Jesus (Get Your Own Friends), directed with a light but ‘on point’ touch by Jane Yonge.

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THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES: Pretentious adult triviality is cut down to size
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
Adapted by Gregory Cooper 
Directed by Jordan Dickson and Jonathon Hendry
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

It is a timeless tale about vanity and denial that current events prove is still an important tale to tell to all ages. It is the story of a scam of the epic proportions we all secretly hope Trump’s campaign to be.

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LA TRAVIATA: Brava diva!
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
by Giuseppe Verdi 
Conductor: GUIDO AJMONE-MARSAN (2014); WYN DAVIES (2016) 
Director: KATE CHERRY 
A co-production between New Zealand Opera, The State Opera of South Australia and Opera Queensland 
Sung in Italian with English surtitles
- reviewed by Naomi van den Broek

Kate Cherry’s production is opulent and lush, supported by striking design from Christina Smith and thoughtful and effective lighting by Matt Scott. The elements are homogenous and evoke the extravagant world of 19th century Paris in a manner that feels both considered and effortless.

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THE WHITE GUITAR: How many shows you know roll like this? Not Many
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
Written and performed by Fa’amoana John Luafutu, Matthias Luafutu and 
Malo Luafutu (Scribe) 
Directed by Nina Nawalowalo and Jim Moriarty 
With associate director Tom McCrory and script consultant Oscar Kightley 
Presented by The Conch
- reviewed by Sharu Delilkan and Tim Booth

The White Guitar is not just the story of the Malo Luafutu aka Scribe’s rags to semi-riches experience but a brutal and honest catalogue of the effects of immigration, violence, drugs, family, religion, decline and redemption for generations of a family struggling to survive and more importantly, to find a voice despite the curve balls that life throws them.

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Delivered with a light and fluent touch
Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, Wellington
By William Shakespeare 
Directed by Benjamin Haddock 
Presented by Backyard Theatre
- reviewed by John Smythe

A blustery mid-winter’s night is the ideal time to enjoy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, especially when played with the fluency and fun that permeates this Backyard Theatre production.

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SPRING AWAKENING THE MUSICAL: Heartfelt with punch and high production
Meteor Theatre, Hamilton
Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater / Music by Duncan Sheik
Based on the Original Play by Frank Wedekind
By arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agent for Music Theatre International (NY).
Director: Mel Martin 
Choreographer: Shanelle Borlase 
Musical Director: Steven Smith 
Vocal Director: Raewyn Watkins
- reviewed by Ross MacLeod

Black Box Creative has built up a reputation of the last few years of sharp, high energy productions from young casts and Spring Awakening is no exception. There are strong theatrical and musical performances from the leads, passionate work from the cast and solid unflinching direction in dealing with some of the heavier material.

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ROAD: As relevant now as it was 25 years ago
Lyttelton Arts Factory (LAF), Oxford St, Lyttelton
By Jim Cartwright 
Presented by Lyttelton Arts Factory (LAF)
- reviewed by Ruth Agnew

“It’s the same the whole world over: it’s the poor what gets the blame. / It’s the rich what gets the pleasure. Ain’t it a bleeding shame.” 

The truth of these words from Jim Cartwright’s Road, a play written in England 25 years ago, is starkly apparent in The Loons’ rendition of this modern classic ...

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THE JOURNEY OF HŌIHO / TE HAERENGA O HŌIHO: A thoroughly entertaining journey
Centrepoint, Palmerston North
Written & directed by Tainui Tukiwaho 
Produced by Amber Curreen 
Presented by Te Rēhia Theatre Ltd
- reviewed by Adam Dodd

Part of the Ruia te Kākano (Plant the seed) series, The Journey of Hōiho or Te Haerenga o Hōiho is an energetic and playful production that introduces children to Te Reo in an interactive story format reminiscent of Dora the Explorer. For those conversant in te reo Māori it offers a rare and whimsical immersion ...

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DINOROCK – A MUSICAL FOR KIDS: “A show to learn kindness and science”
Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, Wellington
Written and directed by Aaron Blackledge 
Presented by Kapitall Kids' Theatre
- reviewed by Jo Hodgson

Writer/director Aaron Blackledge has hit on a perfect subject area with Dinosaurs. These prehistoric creatures are an absolute fascination for children and adults alike – particularly the 3 to 8 yr olds. So choosing to make a story about dinosaurs, rock music and volcanoes is sure to be a win.

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THE LITTLE MERMAID: Colourful and feel-good
The Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
By Hans Christian Andersen 
Adapted by Allison Horsley 
Directed by Jared Corbin 
Supported by Mainland Foundation
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

The elements of peril and self-sacrifice are swept away for today's youngsters and we have a cheerfully localised story where the mermaid PJ (Pania Junior) has a much-anticipated thirteenth birthday AE (above-water experience).
http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=9394

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

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