Theatre makers have been entertaining children throughtout the country during the school holidays.

The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of Mr McGee & The Biting Flea, The Pianist, Cinderella Meets Aladdin, and Racecars vs Cupcakes.

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

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Circa Two, Wellington - THE PIANIST: A sublimely extraordinary tour-de-catastrophe

- reviewed by John Smythe

The concert pianist is a brilliant persona to bring into the realm of clowning, acrobatics and other circus genres. His default air of cultured superiority and sophistication just aches to be compromised by a clown’s compulsion to stuff it up in the process of pursuing excellence – which of course involves a whole new level of excellence.

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Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch - CINDERELLA MEETS ALADDIN: Lively, dynamic, entertaining

- reviewed by Erin Harrington

Dan Bain’s lively direction is dynamic and entertaining. While the play features a smattering of the expected sight gags, Bain also offers some lovely visual moments, such as the connections formed between Cinderella and Aladdin through movement and gesture at the play’s opening. There is a lot going on in this show but it is tied together cleanly, and it’s really nice to come to a play like this and be genuinely surprised.

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Circa Two, Wellington - THE PIANIST: Sublime comedy in getting everything so perfectly wrong
- reviewed by Uther Dean

That we are present this time – we are the pianist's audience as well as The Pianist's audience – adds a level of comic tension to the work that Monckton masterfully manipulates throughout, sometimes clambering through us, creating a beautiful and spontaneous sense that anything can happen. Even the technical operator himself is not safe, becoming another of the malevolent forces against which Monckton struggles.

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Gryphon, Wellington - RACECARS VS CUPCAKES: Liberating kids from gender limitations

- reviewed by John Smythe

Writer-director Moana Ete and Kapitall Kids Theatre (KKT) are to be congratulated for producing an entirely original play for children that doesn’t come pre-branded with the title of a well-known folk tale or favourite children’s book. It’s a risk few companies are prepared to take, marketing-wise, but creating a play from scratch does bring special benefits.

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Circa One, Wellington - OTHER DESERT CITIES: Unhappy families

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

“Personal hatred and family affection,” wrote Willa Cather, “are not incompatible; they often flourish and grow strong together.”

This could well be the theme of Other Desert Cities ...

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Hannah Playhouse (previously Downstage), Wellington - MR MCGEE & THE BITING FLEA: Partnership draws audience into marvellous world of adventures

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

Capital E's first show in its new home is a winner and definitely for all ages. Mr McGee & the Biting Flea takes five short stories by Pamela Allen and turns them into highly entertaining, expertly performed, amusingly choreographed, musical adventures.

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4 Moncrieff St., Mt. Victoria, Wellington - BADJELLY THE WITCH: Cast overcomes noise to tell the story

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

KidzStuff has brought back Spike Milligan's classic Badjelly the Witch in a new, fast paced production that kept the standing- room only audience at the first performance entertained.

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BATS Theatre (Out Of Site), Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - THE WATER STATION: Theme of slow decline gets under the skin

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

Megan Evans and her cast of 15 actors have carried off successfully and with great dedication and professional aplomb a revival of their 2013 production at Victoria University of The Water Station, a piece of true avant-garde theatre.

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Circa One, Wellington - OTHER DESERT CITIES: Astutely crafted to explode secrets

- reviewed by John Smythe

Moral dilemma, political allegory and something to play out in our imaginations after the final scene: these are three things I love in a play and Other Desert Cities delivers all three superbly in this impeccably-cast Circa production directed by Ross Jolly.

Given Jon Robin Baitz, the playwright, created the TV series Brothers & Sisters, which ran for five seasons, and wrote episodes of The West Wing, it is no surprise that the family dynamics are riven with ambivalence, the dialogue is both loving and challenging, and the mix is potent.

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Hannah Playhouse (previously Downstage), Wellington - MR MCGEE & THE BITING FLEA: Great pleasure all round

- reviewed by John Smythe

The harmonised singing – often a cappella, sometimes with recorded backing, other times accompanied by the actors on guitar or ukulele – is sublime (composer, Timothy Sexton; musical director, Michael Nicholas Williams) and it often carries much of the story.

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St James Theatre, Wellington - COPPELIA: Sumptuous sentimentalism
- reviewed by Deirdre Tarrant

The company has many ensemble pieces and are in exuberant mood and strong. The opening act Czardas in particular fills the stage with Hungarian elan. The Townspeople and leads have some stunning lifts in Act 1. The key roles are well cast to tell the story with Sir Jon Trimmer an entertaining and irrepressible Dr Coppelius.

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4 Moncrieff St., Mt. Victoria, Wellington - BADJELLY THE WITCH: An excellent holiday investment

- reviewed by John Smythe

What a polished production this is, presented with such assurance that the fun of it takes full flight. Director Daniel Pengelly has assembled a top-flight cast and crew to deliver a quality version of Alannah O’Sullivan’s adaptation of Spike Milligan’s Badjelly the Witch with just four actors and some cleverly manifested creatures and effects.

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BATS Theatre (Out Of Site), Cnr Cuba & Dixon, Wellington - THE WATER STATION: Rich in metaphor

- reviewed by John Smythe

It is almost unheard of for plays devised by companies to be reproduced by other companies even when they result in written scripts (think SEEyD Company, Indian Ink, Red Leap …). Even more unexpected is that a devised play without words from Japan, albeit a classic, would find new life in Aotearoa New Zealand. It has also been produced in India and Singapore.

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

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