The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of The Vodafone Season of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Officer 27.

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

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The latest Theatreview Weekly includes reviews of The Vodafone Season of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Officer 27.

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

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ME/YOU/US/THEM: Enticing ingredients
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

An overarching theme for these first decades of the 21st century is embracing diversity versus intolerance of difference. “Respect existence or expect resistance” is how The Breakthrough Company puts it in the programme note for me/you/us/them.

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OFFICER 27: Modestly intense, quietly powerful
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Playwright and producer Aroha Awarau’s new work is a tightly written exploration of grief and redemption, with plenty of humour and human insight.

The narrative is, for want of a better word, inspired by the similar controversial events as Noa Campbell’s Crossfire two years ago: Innocent bystanders being shot by police crossfire in the pursuit of wrongdoers ...

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SHORT+SWEET THEATRE 2015 GALA FINAL: Another good year – and the winners are …
TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Another season of Short+Sweet Theatre draws to a close with a typically eclectic gala final playing to an enthused 90%-full house. Ten diverse works explore life, death, love, survival, identity, secrets, oppression, redemption and a handful of sly twists.

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DOWNTON ADLIB: Theatrical alchemy
Circa Two, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

And so it begins. The doddery old fart who can barely climb one step turns out to be Kenny King’s Lord Nigel Twattington, who seems at least as old, if not older, than his mother, the Dowager Countess Ursula Twattington, played with perfectly-pitched class-conscious tunnel-vision by Ian Harcourt.

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UNHOLY GHOSTS: Cranky, bitchy, richly human ‘ghosts’
Centrepoint, Palmerston North
- reviewed by John Ross

There have been wrongs on both sides, incompatibilities and difficult life-situations. The last scene featuring his parents is frankly imagined: how would they get on with each other in heaven?

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HIRAETH: Wonderfully chaotic, lovingly rendered, utterly charming: “just right”
Isaac Theatre Royal, The Gloucester Room, Christchurch
- reviewed by Erin Harrington

It maintains a relentless and cheerfully earnest tone throughout without diverging into twee or saccharine. It’s also bloody funny, as its unapologetically low production values, including a collection of comedic props and costumes, careen into a wide-eyed account of the rest of the world ....

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FROM BROADWAY TO LA SCALA: Strongest in solos and duets
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
- reviewed by Naomi van den Broek

From Broadway to La Scala is staged simply with minimal props and some basic lighting state changes. The singers directly address each other, the audience and the orchestra which makes for a very entertaining and enjoyable experience.

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THE VODAFONE SEASON OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM: Brilliant!
Municipal Theatre, Napier
- reviewed by Kim Buckley

Nigel Gaynor stitches together more than one piece of Mendelssohn's music with original linking passages to create a full-length 'unity with contrasts' version of A Midsummer Night's Dream for this choreography. This extraordinary gift gives Scarlett, and therefore the dancers, full musical connection to their characters, enabling gestures and motifs not necessarily accessible otherwise. Brilliant.

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TOSCA: A thrilling experience
ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland
- reviewed by Penny Dodd

If you’ve ever wondered what the fuss about opera is all about, you will find the answer in this Tosca, on stage at The Aotea Centre right now. This is the full blooded, overwhelming tidal wave of grand passionate music and drama that will have you hooked for life.

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SERIAL KILLER BARBIE – THE MUSICAL: Clever exploration of insecurities, frustrations, fears and realisations
Whitireia Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington
- reviewed by Jo Hodgson

On first read of this musical’s title, you could be forgiven for thinking Barbie, the famous ‘anatomically incorrect’ doll has turned psychopathic but it is actually a quick witted, fast paced romp through the turmoils and challenges of schooling – likened to a 12 round boxing match from first grade to the end of high school – with a macabre twist.

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LOOK AT ME: Double bill - the absurd meets the heartfelt
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Carrie Rae Cunningham

The first piece plays with the number of ways form can be found, manipulated and distorted into the unknown and unseen. The canvas fabric is super stretchy. Faces, hands, legs and other body parts push into the canvas, grabbing it, creating distorted figures and eerie human likenesses. A tapping of the canvas sends ripples across it, creating some beautiful surface movement. All this is set to the staccato and sometimes shrill bleating of a saxophone played live by Jarrod Baynes. It’s highly effective as an absurdist soundtrack to what becomes a quite absurd amorphous performance.

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CATS: Ninth Life
The Civic - Auckland Live, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

As with most performers born in the 80s with an interest in musical theatre, Cats was a major contributor to the soundtrack of my childhood. Seeing it for the first time, however, I was suddenly aware of how bat-shit insane the show is.

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SWING: Swing when you're winning
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by James Wenley

They’ve got all the moves and turned up the Irish Charm to full for Swing, an affectionate two-step from Ireland’s Fishamble about how dance can help nudge your life in the right direction.

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FUN RUN: Ran Away
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Matt Baker

Accolades are a great way of publicising a show, and if you're looking for a comedy, "written by 2015 Billy T Winner Hamish Parkinson" seems like a sure-fire bet. Parkinson has a genuinely unique comedic talent, which defies definition, but the trouble with Fun Run is that, as a play, it requires some sort of central theme or genre.

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FUN RUN: Fun for us; endurance for them
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
- reviewed by Chloe Baynes

Fun Run: ridiculous costumes, running, charity conspiracy theories, running, absurd laughs, and all the best/worst fake blood you could ever wish for… and running. ... The shocking murder of an innocent seagull sets the scene for a comical, bizarre and traumatic ordeal for the four different, yet equally kooky, runners.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF MADNESS: A moving experience that makes you wonder …
Regent Theatre (Greymouth), Greymouth
- reviewed by Karen Grant

As the stories of each are revealed, the interest in these stories is deepened by knowing that they are drawn from the history of the West Coast. We hear of lives damaged by tortured pasts, and of freedom denied by others with power or money.

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THE GREAT AMERICAN SCREAM: Cleverly constructed
Te Pou Theatre, 44a Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland
- reviewed by Tamati Patuwai

Written by the eclectically talented Albert Belz, The Great American Scream is a remarkable and refreshing piece of satire. It weaves the sweetest of Americana kitsch with some very strong threads of the pop-politico commentary on the tsunami of propagandist globalism.

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DAFFODILS [INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS]: Exquisitely crafted
SAN FRAN, 171 Cuba Street, Wellington
- reviewed by John Smythe

This tragical, comical, historical and semi-pastoral love story-cum-cautionary tale, simply told through a seamless blend of spoken-word, song, music and projected images, resonates deeply at many levels. What more can we ask of theatre?

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SWING: Captivating, endearing, heart-warming tale
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

With a running time of barely an hour, the pace is cracking, and all kudos to the actors who have to pretty much keep moving on the balls of their feet throughout, dancing while they talk, sustaining the underlying rhythms of whatever dance they are performing regardless of whatever else might be happening. The essential steps and counts of four swing dances are introduced - East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop replete with jazz hands, monkey walk and fish bum, The Charleston, and the Frankie Manning Shim Sham with its boogie walks and air steps. Each class is followed by an open floor dance session, just it would be in any swing dance studio around the world.

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BAND OF MAGICIANS: If you love magic and theatre, treat yourself
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
- reviewed by Grant Hindin Miller

One of the strengths of this line-up is that it’s a family show. They’re the ‘likely lads of magic’: talented, skilled, energetic and appealing, they know how to work and engage an audience. The show ranges from multimedia deception, card tricks, illusions, disappearing acts, comedy and mindreading to lively and good-humoured banter.

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LIVE LIVE CINEMA: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS: Magicians of music, comedy and stage
Baycourt Theatre, Tauranga
- reviewed by Vivienne Quinn

Hats off to PANNZ Touring Agency for bringing this incredible, multi-layered piece of musical, theatrical and cinematic genius to the beautiful Baycourt Theatre in Tauranga. We need more of this kind of creativity here and it should have been a full house for this outrageous production from Live Live Cinema.

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

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