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

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A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES AND OTHER MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD: A delightful Christmas tale
Circa Two, Wellington
By Dylan Thomas 
Dramatised and presented by Ray Henwood
- reviewed by Ewen Coleman

Having grown up and lived as a boy in the same town as the famous Welsh writer Dylan Thomas, well-known Wellington actor Ray Henwood is ideally suited to relating stories that Thomas wrote.

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JESUS CHRIST PART II: What will Jesus Do?
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Devised by Thomas Sainsbury, Gareth Williams, Jason Smith, Lara Fischel-Chisholm, Oliver Driver and the Basement Theatre 
Directed by Oliver Driver
- reviewed by Matt Baker

The core cast of Julian Wilson, Victoria Abbott, Gareth Williams, and Hayley Sproull, as God, the Virgin Mary, Judas, and Mary Magdalene deliver one of the best pieces of ensemble work this year.

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A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES AND OTHER MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD: The enduring pleasure of being read to
Circa Two, Wellington
By Dylan Thomas 
Dramatised and presented by Ray Henwood
- reviewed by John Smythe

Henwood mixes conversational chats with readings from the actual texts and often goes ‘off book’ to claim the space and ‘enact’ bits of the stories. It’s not exactly a ‘dramatisation’ but his spritely, if rather literal, physicalisations do vary the visual aspect without intruding too much on our imaginations. What works best is the lyrical language and Henwood’s mellifluous delivery of the prose-poem texts.

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ITHACA: Circus spin on classic tale
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
Created by: Thomas Sainsbury and The Dust Palace
- reviewed by Janet McAllister

This spectacular cirque cabaret, starring the stylish acrobats of The Dust Palace, imagines The Odyssey as Star Trek. Selected island episodes are scrambled into visits to planets, each with its own favourite circus apparatus and sexual energy, and the journey device gracefully stitches the impressive and pretty physical tricks into one story.

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FILLING THE GAP: Intelligent fun celebrates accomplishments
Hagley Open Stage, Christchurch
Choreographers Fleur de Thier, Julia McKerrow, Megan Platt, Naressa Gamble; student choreographers Bella Stanley, Kate Rutherford, Kirsty Chin Boyes, Rebecca Flynn, Abbie Rogers, Ella Wallace, Kim Kiel
- reviewed by Sheree Bright

The program states, “Filling the Gap is a dynamic, urban work inspired by the street art that fills our empty spaces in Christchurch.” This show is a celebration of the end of a year for the eight members of the Hagley Dance Company providing an opportunity to demonstrate some of their accomplishments as emerging dancers and choreographers.

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ITHACA: Gloriously fun
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
Created by: Thomas Sainsbury and The Dust Palace
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

The Dust Palace’s Ithaca is a visual aesthetic feast and if for nothing else but your viewing pleasure of the human body and all its potential – go see this show.

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BULLSHOT CRUMMOND: Spoof laughs less hearty as gags pass use-by date
The Athenaeum Theatre, Lower Octagon, Dunedin
By Alan Shearman, Derek Cunningham, Diz White, John Neville-Andrews, and Ronald E. House 
Directed by Dale Neill 
Presented by The Globe theatre Dunedin
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

So why isn’t it funnier? The answer lies, I think, in Ron House’s 40-year-old script. It contains laughs aplenty, but comedies don’t always age well and this one seems to have passed its use-by date.

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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: Energy, exuberance and expression
Whitireia Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington
Directed by Leigh Evans. 
Choreographers – Leigh Evans, Anne Anderson, Jo-Marie Mills, Esther Robinson, Emily Down, Libby George, Brooke Parsons, Emma Martin, Maddie Hughes.
- reviewed by Sam Trubridge

To dance is to celebrate the control that we have over our bodies, To dance is to let that control go, allowing our bodies to become our minds and our voice for a moment. To dance is to turn movement into an art form that can be understood by other bodies: bodies that watch or begin to move with us. These dancers move with that joy that makes movement infectious.

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JESUS CHRIST PART II: Rollicking good fun
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Devised by Thomas Sainsbury, Gareth Williams, Jason Smith, Lara Fischel-Chisholm, Oliver Driver and the Basement Theatre 
Directed by Oliver Driver
- reviewed by Heidi North-Bailey

In Jesus Christ Part II capitalism is hot and generosity is not, as we follow Jesus on his/her second coming. Spawned fully formed by an impatient God to lesbian parents, Jesus II is here to… well, Jesus II isn’t quite sure what he/she’s here to do, exactly. And that’s the fun of it.

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BULLSHOT CRUMMOND: Crazy fun for the young and pleasant nostalgia for the mature
The Athenaeum Theatre, Lower Octagon, Dunedin
By Alan Shearman, Derek Cunningham, Diz White, John Neville-Andrews, and Ronald E. House 
Directed by Dale Neill 
Presented by The Globe theatre Dunedin
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

So you are an evil villain. So you want to destroy the hero. So of course the obvious solution is to paralyse the self-righteous idiot with an untraceable drug, then get a glamorous femme fatale to pop a stick of dynamite into his rigidly open mouth, and depart before the explosion, which will allow him just enough time for a daring escape/rescue. See? Obvious.

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

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