A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including: The Glass Menagerie, Like This, Like Us, and My Kitchen Kills.

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

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A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including: The Glass Menagerie, Like This, Like Us, and My Kitchen Kills.

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

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The Basement Studio, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - LIKE THIS, LIKE US: Absorbingly satisfying, mostly
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

The movement sequences flow easily from one to the next, with allowances for individual rhythms and timing and divergent content. There are moments of unison, and some tasks which each performer accomplishes along the way at different times or with variant force. The audience sits very close to the performers, so becoming absorbed in one person’s dancing causes you to lose sight of what the other does, and a conscious decision has to be made about switching your focus.

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Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre, 11 Hutchison Rd, Newtown, Wellington - AND THEN IT MOVED: Impressive exhibition of skill and talent
- reviewed by Ann Hunt

Of the many gems, the ace in the hole was Teeter, a very mature work in terms of conception. Its cohesive, fluid choreography and beautiful design elements augur well for future work by its choreographer, Sarah Gatzonis.

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BATS - Out Of Site - Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - MY KITCHEN KILLS: Undercooked and lacking in complexity
- reviewed by John Smythe

The title tells us someone dies and within the first few minutes the hints are very strong as to who that might be. No surprises there, except the programme credits an actor as playing that character. The other questions are as you’d expect: who, why, how and when?

The kitchen in question is in a restaurant.

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The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland - TERROR PLANET: Robots vs Humans in an effervescent romp
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

A comic-bookish tale of a dystopian world populated by humans and robots, it is delivered through effervescent dance routines. Very quick costume switches signal whether the performers are now humans or robots, or the central brain of the internet-based computer system driving the world along.

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Selwyn Theatre, Kohimarama, Auckland - THE GLASS MENAGERIE: Potency and beauty
- reviewed by Gilbert Wong

If theatre is an illusion of reality then that truism is embedded in the DNA of this respectful production. It’s the 1930s. Depression and imminent war mean America will become a much darker place. A foghorn sounds as the conflicted Tom Wingfield (Edwin Wright) sits in the shadows. “I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.”

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - PATUA: Strikes a moving blow
- reviewed by Frances Morton

During a week in which a couple were convicted of neglect for raising their four kids in a home with no bedding and booze instead of food in the cupboards, the topic of child abuse is front page news. Actually, it probably wouldn’t matter which week the play opened, child abuse is all too often front page news, which is why a confronting work by a young Maori playwright on the subject is an intriguing prospect. Patua translates as strike or beat.

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Selwyn Theatre, Kohimarama, Auckland - THE GLASS MENAGERIE: A precious piece
- reviewed by Matt Baker

The Glass Menagerie is a magical play. From the opening Brechtian monologue, to the blatant symbolism and dialogue surrounding the titular menagerie, playwright Tennessee Williams does not shy away from using a light theatrical shroud to expose truths. It would be easy to rely on these conventions and consequentially not find the true weight in his writing, but Auckland Theatre Company’s production of The Glass Menagerie is a beautiful blend.

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Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland - I WISH I LEARNED: Some things you can’t learn in school
- reviewed by Matt Baker

Until a specific series of consequential events are kneaded into the script as opposed to characters switching their thought track to fulfil the sound track, and until the dialogue is (heavily) edited, the story, and consequentially the show itself, remains incomplete.

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Opera House, Wellington - JIMEOIN IN WHAT?!: Non-threatening, appealing but doesn’t quite spark
- reviewed by Maraea Rakuraku

As for Jimeoin himself, sure he’s funny; good at telling stories, carrying the anecdote and joke through several scenarios, and the faces he pulls are great … But when he pulls out a book and starts testing potential gags (though this may be part of his routine), it feels like he’s stalling or tired or bored or all of it.

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Opera House, Wellington - PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS - “LIVE”: Limber, skilled, unbeatable stage presence
- reviewed by Lucy O'Connor

Staring in the mirror, splashing water on my face wondering what abuse of the retina is about to occur, I cannot help but think whether my mother thinks she has failed me. I go into this with the honest thought that it will shock me into some sort of nun state whereby I could never take a man A) seriously and B) literally again. Mum probably hopes the same thing. A life of asceticism.

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SKYCITY Theatre, Auckland - LAST LAUGHS 2013: Packed with quality: Awards announced
- reviewed by Jan Maree

Sky City has been the home of Last Laughs for many years now and what used to be very much an inner industry event has become a public showcase, and big. 750 seats of fans and practitioners alike have gathered tonight to find out who will take the New Zealand Comedy Industry's highest accolades; The Fred Award and Billy T Award.

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Selwyn Theatre, Kohimarama, Auckland - THE GLASS MENAGERIE: Brilliant interpretation of an American masterpiece
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

The journey to an unfamiliar venue is abundantly rewarded in ATC's brilliant interpretation of one of the masterworks of American literature.

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Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch - AMADEUS: Amadeus feeds mind and spirit
- reviewed by Alan Scott

Amadeus is a remarkable play, a play both for the soul and the mind. There are moments in this production when music and drama are integrated with such extraordinary force that you are overcome with the sheer power of human endeavour and the ennobling grace of the spirit.

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Selwyn Theatre, Kohimarama, Auckland - THE GLASS MENAGERIE: Excellence with some anomalous elements
- reviewed by Kate Ward-Smythe

Jef Hall-Flavin directs his talented cast with detailed elegance and great care, as an assured team of creatives make positive use of the wider stage and setting of The Glass Menagerie’s unanticipated venue, The Selwyn Theatre.

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Allen Hall Theatre, Dunedin - ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE (SEVENTEEN SCENARIOS FOR THE THEATRE): Multiple interpretations of a life
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

The audience is plunged into darkness and we hear the mysterious Anne’s voicemail. This briefly outlines the vivid characters surrounding her and we learn of the many perspectives of the never seen Anne, a woman who carries her own mortality around the world with her.

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Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch - AMADEUS: Bountiful and delicious
- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

Eighteenth century Vienna and the exquisite court of Joseph II, Emperor of Austria, provide an extravagantly rich and theatrical setting for this revenge driven plot, but it is a bold exploration of the 'furnace of art' which clinches its lasting impact.

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Reading Cinemas, Wellington - VIRTUOSI: NZ dancers in their element, writ large
- reviewed by Virginia Kennard

Sue Healey spent two days filming each dancer, household names to the dance industry in New Zealand, in their various international bases. Inviting them to dance for screen, either improvised or choreographed, we watch them talk and move and dance in places of personal importance. A sense of place, whether that be a reference to connection to the land or simply a place they enjoy being, is a central theme to this work: they climb trees, dance on (forbidden) rocks, traverse sandy beaches, dance-loiter on couches on the side of the road, shift objects in their homes. The viewer is a guest in their lives as they talk about dance or themselves or themselves as dance, with simply their face filling the frame. When else could we get to inspect a dancer’s face this intently?

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Downstage Theatre, Wellington - NO HOLDS BARD: Virtuoso performance effective but not affecting
- reviewed by Hannah Smith

Hamlet is a Danish ponce, Othello jiggles ladies on his knee, Macbeth would like to play Horatio, and King Lear wants a sandwich.

No Holds Bard, previously Frequently Asked Questions and even briefly Bard Day’s Night, is as multifaceted in form as it has been in name.

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - PATUA: Challenge set down and taken up
- reviewed by Bronwyn Elsmore

“Stunning, moving, and important”, reads the advertising for this play that won a section prize at the 2013 Adam NZ Play Awards. That’s quite a build-up. And that’s not all: Patua, written and directed by Renae Maihi, sets out to be “a story, a movement” on a subject that should strike at the heart of everyone with a pulse.

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Playhouse, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton - INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE: Enriching
- reviewed by Gail Pittaway

This play is a product of a devising process in which theatre students of the University of Waikato have explored non-narrative elements of performance. The piece is a series of episodes, all thematically based on giving ‘Instructions for Life while avoiding the suck of story, the pull of personality and character.

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Te Whaea - Drama Three, 11 Hutchison Rd, Newtown, Wellington - SHE’LL BE WRITE (2013): An exciting and inspiring challenge
- reviewed by John Smythe

This year’s ensemble – Andrew Patterson, Ria Simmons, Carrie Green and Joe Dekkers-Reihana – directed by Emma Robinson, make manifesting 37 very different roles in excerpts from an eclectic selection of 16 plays look easy, such is their talent, skill and preparedness. The focus is therefore squarely on the characters, relationships and works in question.

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SKY CITY-return season, Auckland - PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS - “LIVE”: The balls to go public with privates
- reviewed by Cherie Moore

Onto stage, in capes and converse shoes, bound Sammy and Willow. Sammy is handsome and vivacious and Willow has a boy next door cheek to him. After an energetic introduction, the capes are off and the boys are fully nude – apart from their shoes and socks, which looks quite funny. The woman next to me (not my friend) shrieks "I can't stop looking!" Yes, I'm in for a good night.

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San Francisco Bathhouse, 171 Cuba St, Wellington - MICHELE A’COURT IN STUFF I FORGOT TO TELL MY DAUGHTER: Hitting all the flavour notes from bright tangs to rich depths
- reviewed by Maryanne Cathro

The audience obviously appreciates their humour served well-seasoned with intelligence, and this is truly in good taste. And with absolutely no aftertaste of earnestness either. We could lick the bowl afterwards and asked for seconds.

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Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland - I WISH I LEARNED: Lots of humour and heart
- reviewed by Samantha Chardin

I Wish I Learned is a charming original musical about four adults returning to their primary school classroom for a jubilee re-union and finding that the nostalgia is making them question some of their life choices.

The main story centres on the characters of Daveena (Shaan Antunovich) and Cody (Michael Murphy) possibly giving their failed relationship another chance, whilst Abigail (Alexandra McKellar) and Bryce (Nathaniel Ta’ase) form a different sort of life couple by cheering each other on.

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SKYCITY Theatre, Auckland - JIMEOIN IN WHAT?!: Passes the smell test
- reviewed by James Wenley

When it comes to Jimeoin, what he says matters far less than what he does. The Aussie/Irish comic is a fairly regular face at our comedy festival, and a top draw act – filling Sky City Theatre. Jimeoin has long perfected a dry, laid back style of observational comedy that sifts through the ridiculous in the milieu of day-to-day existence. But his biggest strength is the physical acting-out of his impressions, and an expressive face he can shape like putty.

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Brooklyn Bar - 57 Lorne St, Auckland - JAMES ROQUE IS CHICKEN!: Clucking good fun
- reviewed by Matt Baker

“What do I really wanna say that I’m afraid to say?” In his eulogy for George Carlin, Louis CK noted that what made the late comedian better every year was his constant digging deeper for new material; from jokes about airplanes and dogs, to feelings and who you are, to fears and nightmares. With that in mind, 21 year old comedian James Roque dive bombs into the deep end by confronting his greatest fears in his Auckland Comedy Festival stand-up show.

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

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