The following reviews have been added to theatreview.org.nz in the last week.

Theatreview is the New Zealand Performing Arts Review & Directory.

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The following reviews have been added to theatreview.org.nz in the last week.

Theatreview is the New Zealand Performing Arts Review & Directory.

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Maidment, Auckland - A LIFE BETWEEN US - CELEBRATING 21 YEARS OF UNITEC DANCE: Absolute fulfilment of the movement
- reviewed by Jack Gray

The Unitec Dance Programme - celebrates its 21st year of existence -tackling this milestone with the all the youthful vigour of downing a yard glass. Yerrr on ya mate!

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Maidment, Auckland - HUSH: Compelling look at forces behind family violence
- reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton

Among the moving testimonies of people affected by family violence is the voice of a police officer who speaks with the penetrating clarity born of day-to-day experience as he explains that you can't fix a problem by arresting people and that to fix something you have to understand it.

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St Patrick's College Theatre, Kilbirne, Wellington - THE RAGGED: Epic passion
- reviewed by Lynn Freeman

Jim Moriarty may never win an Oscar or get a knighthood for his contribution to the arts, but he is exactly the kind of guy who should. When the at risk young people he creates theatre with talk about how the experience has put them on a different path, you know they mean it.

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Te Whaea, Wellington - KYLIÁN: NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL OF DANCE GRADUATION SEASON, PROGRAMME 1: Dancing with integrity, flair and artistry
- reviewed by Jan Bolwell

In the past Kylián choreographies have appeared in the school's graduation season alongside a variety of other classical and contemporary works. Here at last is an opportunity for the audience to immerse themselves in the aesthetic of one of the world's finest dance makers.

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BATS, Wellington - THE HEIGHT OF THE EIFFEL TOWER: Brims with heart and humour
- reviewed by John Smythe

It starts with a helluva hooha over the remote: your classic family squabble. Someone is telling someone else not to touch her because he's gay and she, it seems, is pregnant . Is a third person trying to break it up? It's hard to make sense of initially ...

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Court One, Christchurch - CABARET: Strong account of wayward world
- reviewed by Alan Scott

It's the cabaret of grubbiness not glitz, with sophistication lost in a desperate salaciousness; a world fuelled by drugs, booze and a destructive desire to live only for oneself, before Hitler's henchmen obliterate its twisted universe forever.

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Maidment, Auckland - HUSH: Stories of abuse safely told
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

... The interviews were recorded on video and studied by the cast to recreate their gestures, and then performed live with the interview soundtrack playing in their ears through iPods, so that every inflection, pause and stutter is recounted verbatim.

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Vector Arena, Parnell, Auckland - WEAPONS OF SELF DESTRUCTION: Rude and crude, yes . but utterly brilliant too
- reviewed by Russell Baillie

Freed from the constraints of Hollywood, Robin Williams takes stand-up to an old level.

Save for some solid dramatic roles, Robin Williams' screen career has largely gone from Mork to mawkish.

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Te Whaea, Wellington - KYLIÁN: NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL OF DANCE GRADUATION SEASON, PROGRAMME 1: Revelling in Kylian works
- reviewed by Jennifer Shennan

Kylian gives us a delicious and rare evening of short dance works with anchor to a single and coherent choreographic aesthetic. That is a most welcome contrast to the climate of choreographic novelty that has been favoured for far too long by arts funding here.

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Te Whaea, Wellington - KIWI: NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL OF DANCE GRADUATION SEASON, PROGRAMME 2: Revelling in Kiwi works
- reviewed by Jennifer Shennan

Kiwi has five works by New Zealand choreographers, both new and re-staged pieces.

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Court One, Christchurch - CABARET: Lacks polish and dynamism
- reviewed by Steph Walker

The show, particularly the first half, oozes sex - the talented ensemble cast commit to a tawdry mix of characters who aren't afraid to sex up the stage with provocative moves, carefully placed tassels, and lines that aren't just suggestive, they're down right dirty.

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Vector Arena, Parnell, Auckland - WEAPONS OF SELF DESTRUCTION: A stand-up great
- reviewed by Caoilinn Hughes

To begin with, the Aussies take centre stage at Auckland's Vector Arena, with The Umbilical Brothers opening this sell-out event. The pair of Australian physical comics performs an absolutely unique routine of sound effects and mime, with their impeccable timing and practised physicality only being matched by wild imagination and originality.

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Basement Theatre, Auckland - MATES & LOVERS: Two-man show moving history for all (gay) men
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

The opening night audience for Mates and Lovers was overwhelmingly male - after all, the two-man show is based on Chris Brickell's history of gay male New Zealand. But one doesn't have to be male - or gay - to be moved by the history of struggle.

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Basement Theatre, Auckland - MATES & LOVERS: History speaking to us
- reviewed by Jay Bennie

Slowly the history of men loving men in New Zealand is emerging. We are appreciating that, despite the narrow moralities and dour facades which prevail in the imagery of our country's past, there have always been men quietly lusting after, romancing and even living with men, on maraes and in towns and especially in our cities.

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Basement Theatre, Auckland - MATES & LOVERS: Come out Come out wherever you are
- reviewed by Jack Gray

While it is a scramble to keep up with the pace, what is remarkable is the skill required to make the 90 minutes balance the freneticism of the action yet still deliver an emotional punch. In hindsight I think the play is less about 'two men' (so to speak) and more about society. It is about people going to see Mates and Lovers because it is good theatre not because it is a piece about sexuality. We could swap the themes for racism, political struggles or class differences, about all the things that segregate and pull us apart.

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Maidment, Auckland - A LIFE BETWEEN US - CELEBRATING 21 YEARS OF UNITEC DANCE: Re-View Re-flect Re-Member
- reviewed by Val Smith

Four out of the five pieces are repertoire and are collectively grand and polished with lush production elements. The fifth, Chris Jannides piece 'Comp Legs Circa' is a "tinkered and tampered" upon old and new piece and arguably the most affecting within the context of this 'celebration'. I'll come back to this piece at the end of this discussion.

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Te Whaea, Wellington - KIWI: NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL OF DANCE GRADUATION SEASON, PROGRAMME 2: Passion, strength and versatility meet the demands of diverse choreographies
- reviewed by Jenny Stevenson

What immediately becomes apparent on viewing the two programmes back-to-back is that NZSD is producing graduates who can make the transition from classical ballet to contemporary dance with ease, which is a highly desirable skill, given the demands for versatility within the industry.

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NASDA Theatre, E Block, CPIT, Christchurch - THE WIZARD OF OZ: Something incredibly special
- reviewed by Erin Harrington

The Wizard of Oz eschews narrative story-telling in favour of an exploration of the actors' relationship to the 1939 film's characters and themes, and the performance is a series of intertwined vignettes and performances that start with a darkened declaration of fears and anxieties, told like ghost stories ...

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15 Courtenay Place, Wellington - ECOLOGY IN FIFTHS: Exploiting the land
- reviewed by Deirdre Tarrant

In its developmental stage this new exploration by Sam Trubridge and his team of collaborators takes a close-up and 'hyper-visible' look at issues of ecology. It is inspired by the story of the sheep station Tutira ...

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Circa One, Wellington - ROGER HALL'S ROBIN HOOD: THE PANTOMIME: Robin still dashing in the hood
- reviewed by Rose Burgess (12) and Lynn Freeman (a bit older)

This, Roger Hall tells me, is his last panto after making the British theatre tradition a Christmas treat over here. Robin Hood is the best of the bunch, riddled with political and other contemporary references for the grown ups and silliness for the littlies.

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70 Cable St (opp. Te Papa), Wellington - EVERYTHING IS OK: Mirror to society
- reviewed by Lynn Freeman

The opening sequences in this second Bats commissioned STAB show are nothing short of astonishing. In this post-apocalyptic world our greed and desire for consumer items has led to destruction and isolation.

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Te Whaea, Wellington - KYLIÁN: NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL OF DANCE GRADUATION SEASON, PROGRAMME 1: Rising to the challenge
- reviewed by Jenny Stevenson

In a bold stroke, New Zealand School of Dance Director Garry Trinder has dispensed with the traditional and is presenting a season of purely neo-classical works by the extraordinary Czech choreographer Ji?í Kylián, for the School's graduating classical ballet students.

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TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland - PIRATES VS NINJAS: A momentous chapter in an epic spanning generations
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

The set designed by Jon Coddington, a long meeting table beset mainly with drinking vessels, instantly brings Da Vinci's Last Supper to mind. While the ensuing events don't mimic the biblical scene as such, there is an irrefutable series of finalities to the interwoven tales of nine honourable warriors from across the mythical world.

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Fortune Theatre, Dunedin - RED RIDING HOOD: Panto promise of fun kept for young, old alike
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

People go to pantomimes to have fun, and fun was what the Fortune Theatre audience was having on Saturday night.

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Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch - THE NUTCRACKER: Slick theatrical magic!
- reviewed by Kerri Fitzgerald

Everything was beautiful at the ballet tonight as the NZBC filled the stage and spilled dollops of glorious, irreverent fun into the hearts and minds of the receptive Christchurch audience.

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