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

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
AN HOUR WITH ACKBAR: Less than the sum of its parts
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Anya Tate-Manning 
Presented by Gypsy Wife Productions
- reviewed by John Smythe

Initially the ‘gag’ seems to be that Ackbar is delivering a stock-standard stand-up show to the Star Wars gang. Having checked to see if there are any Wookies, Ewoks, Mon Calamari, etc in tonight, he checks off the things he might talk about: the flag referendum, Air B&B, terrorism … but it remains just a list.

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HAMLET: Inspirational work
Meteor Theatre, Hamilton
By William Shakespeare 
Directed by Ania Upstill 
The Lord Lackbeards Touring Company
- reviewed by Jan Maree

From the very first words I am arrested! This cast appears well rehearsed and calm as they flick-flack through their very true-to-the text version of Hamlet. Never has proper, traditional Shakespeare been so EASY to understand. I am a firm believer that if Shakespeare is done well, the language is no barrier to full comprehension.

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Flick 2016 NZ International Comedy Festival
JOEL CREASEY - THE CROWN PRINCE: BEST KEPT NEXT-BIG-THING SECRET
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
Joel Creasey
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Flagrant extrovert Creasey is well on the way to the fame and fortune he patently covets with his intensely verbose, naturally sociable chat. Dropping such luminary names as Kendra Wilkinson, whose show he’s appeared in as her ‘best friend’, and Russell Crowe with whom he had a public online feud, his bright and breezy demeanour belies an undercurrent of unapologetic bitchiness.

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Flick 2016 NZ International Comedy Festival
GEORGE EGG - ANARCHIST COOK: CUNNINGLY CRAFTED CULINARY COMEDY
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland LIVE, Auckland
George Egg
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

In response to the overpriced nature of hotel food, Egg has developed a sort of urban survivalist cooking system using shop-bought and foraged ingredients to create properly mouth-watering meals. At a relaxed but decisive pace we are given step-by-step demonstrations of an entrée, main course and dessert, entirely concocted with the resources available within the allotted space.

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EnsembleImpact 2016 Schools Tour
POWERPLAYS: EVERYDAY UNDERDOGS TRYING TO WIN AT LIFE: Strengths lie in the way it poses questions, rather than instructions or answers
Pataka Museum, Cnr Parumoana & Norrie Streets, Porirua
By Arthur Meek 
Directed by Leo Gene Peters 
Presented by EnsembleImpact
- reviewed by Annabel Wilson

When I recall visiting ‘theatre in education’ troupes that came to my high school, I cringe a bit. Often these fully-funded touring shows were heavy-handed in their use of drama as a tool for social change. Sex and drugs were prevalent themes and the messages were often preachy. Imperatives for ‘how to live a healthy adolescent life’ were tied in a neatly packaged bow by the time the lunchbell went ...

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Flick 2016 NZ International Comedy Festival
MARCEL LUCONT'S WHINE LIST: Impressive and fascinating
SAN FRAN, 171 Cuba Street, Wellington

- reviewed by Simon Howard

As we arrive for the opening night of Marcel Lucont’s latest Comedy Festival show, we are given a questionnaire to fill out. On it we are asked to write down our worst experiences regarding work, love and travelling overseas. These are collected and form the basis of the Whine List for which the show is named.

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Flick 2016 NZ International Comedy Festival
JIMEOIN - YEEHAA!: A master of the art of laughter
SKY CITY Theatre, Auckland
Jimeoin
- reviewed by Stewart Lund

Jimeoin’s brand of comedy is weird, unique and, quite frankly, hilarious. Able to captivate an audience simply with a facial expression or sound, a lot of the comedy in his set comes in the gaps between stories where the previous joke starts to sink in. His structure is fast paced, nonsensical, and yet he manages to tie up all his tangents and stories into a one fairly cohesive show.

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Flick 2016 NZ International Comedy Festival
WES BARKER - STUNT MAGICIAN: LOW-VIBE AMUSEMENT
Comedy Chamber, Town Hall, Auckland Live, Auckland
Wes Barker (Canada)
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

The easygoing nonchalance of his demeanour matches the folksiness of his assorted conjuring tricks, utilising boomerangs, balloons and blow-darts along with a number of people’s personal effects to his prestidigitational ends. The resulting factor isn’t so much ‘Wow!’ as ‘fancy that’, though to his credit Barker takes our response at face value, neither offended nor apologetic. This casual acceptance diffuses a lot of potential awkwardness, particularly in regard to the punters called on to assist.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
GET IN MY HEAD ARJ BARKER: Relatable and insightful musings
Opera House, Wellington
Presented by Mary Tobin
- reviewed by Simon Howard

Best known for his role as Dave in Flight of the Conchords, Barker the stand-up is a million miles away from the character he played in the HBO series. He is at ease from the first minute of the show, breaking straight into observations on his everyday experiences as a 41-year old American comic.

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NIU SILA: elevant, serious, charming, truthful and extremely funny
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
Written by Oscar Kightley and Dave Armstrong 
Directed by Daniel Pengelly
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Co-writers Dave Armstrong and Oscar Kightley themselves demonstrate the terrific possibilities of Palagi/Pasifika collaboration in their story of Peter and Ioane, best friends from first meeting aged five in 1970s Niu Sila, until they drift apart because of the different social constraints on each. Powerful book-ending scenes show the erstwhile friends meeting by chance twenty years later.

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OPHELIA THINKS HARDER: Potent and cuttingly witty
The Dark Room, Cnr Pitt and Church Street, Palmerston North
by Jean Betts and William Shakespeare 
Presented by Lord Lackbeards
- reviewed by Adam Dodd

Ophelia Thinks Harder is an exposition of sexual repression and power-games, and a celebration of the struggle for realising one’s self identity and worth. It is a play that wends its way through your defences, making you laugh and cringe as it weaves wry humour and startling bathos amidst the grotesquerie which is a woman’s lot in Elsinore. Worse is the awareness of how it does not live just in Elsinore.

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HAMLET: Intelligently wrought, consummately performed
The Dark Room, Cnr Pitt and Church Street, Palmerston North
By William Shakespeare 
Directed by Ania Upstill 
The Lord Lackbeards Touring Company
- reviewed by Adam Dodd

The Lord Lackbeards’ performance of Hamlet is one of textured characterisations, each character is individual and has a knowing familiarity with the others that invokes the history and existing bonds between them. This is all the more impressive as but eight actors take on the roles between them, managing well the hasty transitions and costume changes necessary for this feat.

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Southland Festival of the Arts 2016
THE BOOKBINDER: Delightful, amusing, spooky, thought-provoking
Repertory House, 167 Esk Street, Invercargill
Written & Performed by Ralph McCubbin Howell 
Directed by Hannah Smith 
Trick of the Light Theatre
- reviewed by Sarah McCarthy

It’s just magical, this hour. I thump my seatmate with glee. My hand covers my mouth in horror. I laugh, sometimes with relief. I have shivers running up and down my spine. It is transcendent theatre; we are transported far away from where we are. The audience leans forward towards the stage, breath bated. There is a wonderful silence in the crowd.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
GET IN MY HEAD ARJ BARKER: INEXPLICABLY SATISFYING
Opera House, Wellington
Presented by Mary Tobin
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Nothing flamboyant or flashy about him, Arj is just a normal gen-x guy pacing around in jeans and sneakers, espousing his views and opinions and dishing out the occasional morsel of advice. There’s no topic beyond or beneath him, although he openly worries about whether or when he might find he’s crossed that ominous line of offensiveness with his casual observations on Stephen Hawking, for instance.

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Southland Festival of the Arts 2016
MICHELE A’COURT IN STUFF I FORGOT TO TELL MY DAUGHTER: Hilarious, informative, eye-opening
Repertory House, 167 Esk Street, Invercargill
presented by NOTORIOUS*
- reviewed by Sarah McCarthy

A packed house greets Michele A’Court at Invercargill’s Repertory Theatre for Stuff I Forgot to Tell My Daughter. A one-woman stand-up show, it does the seemingly impossible, melding sweet memories, bawdy laughs and basic feminist theory.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
VOTE BATT! TIM BATT: Smart, enjoyable political comedy
Fringe Bar, 26 Allen St, Wellington

- reviewed by Simon Howard

Taking inspiration from the political rise of candidates like Donald Trump, Tim Batt is a man on a mission, stepping away from his career as a stand-up comedian to try his hand at politics. We are welcomed into the Fringe Bar for what we are being told is a ‘political rally’.

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SED SPEECHES THEORIES OF STUFF 2016: Smart enough to mix it up
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
PlayShop
- reviewed by Shannon Friday

The speeches follow a pretty set pattern: personal anecdote about a need to explore a topic, a series of more-or-less connected thoughts about either that topic or the random photos on the slide show, finished off by a Take Home Message or Big Thought.

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NOW 2016: Spontaneity, self-absorption, petulance, and promise
Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
Choreographers: Julia Harvie (Christchurch), Sarah Knox (Auckland), Lucy Marinkovich (Wellington) and Jessie McCall (Auckland)
Presented by Footnote New Zealand Dance
- reviewed by Hannah Molloy

I like watching works by emerging choreographers because they give me a sense of potential. In a new dance work by a developing professional, there’s such imagination, courage and vision on display, not always perfectly executed, sometimes quite literal, but, for me, the beauty of it lies in its dreaming. These four pieces by Lucy Marinkovich, Jessie McCall, Julia Harvie and Sarah Knox were a beautiful example of this. There were layers of sophistication and naiveté, blended with colour, energy, expressive dancers and a great soundtrack. My ears kept perking up and I wished several times that it wouldn’t be bad form to get my phone out to Shazam some of the tracks.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
ASK SARANYA HOW NOT TO BE A F*CKWIT: Clear, simple advice only a f*ckwit would ignore
IVY BAR, 49 Cuba St, Te Aro, Wellington
Anya Rzhevitskaya and Saran Goldie-Anderson
- reviewed by Dianne Tennent

The punk rock of comedy – Saranya (Anya Rzhevitskaya and Saran Goldie-Anderson) – combine forces to reveal the f*ckwit in all of us.

The show opens with a theme song to get the party started, showcasing the pair’s newly founded life coaching business. The innocent, playful mood of the ukulele comically juxtaposes the crass and unapologetic nature of their material.

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CHAPSTICK ROSIE CANN: A great trip and a great riff
BATS Theatre, Studio, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington

- reviewed by Patrick Davies

She’s a philosopher with attitude and takes no prisoners with her language but she’s never really offensive and the crowd are totally on her side as she hits her marks through her show. She’s having a great time performing and we’re having a great time being there, and at times onstage. But don’t worry ...

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COCONUT MOJITOS: A playful and surprisingly refreshing hour of Kiwi theatre and humour
Montecristo - Upstairs, Auckland
The Covert Theatre
- reviewed by Aminata Hamadi

This intimate show has you close to the action and keeps you guessing what on earth is going on and trying to keep up with the rapid pace of the characters and scenes. I applaud the way each of the actors slips into very different characters in a moment with such ease. The cast of eight delivers a myriad of characters and a number of unscripted storylines.

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CINDERELLA: Committed but compromised by staging issues
Te Pou Theatre, 44a Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland
Written & directed by Michael Jamieson 
Music and lyrics by Blaise Clotworthy 
Musical Director: Blaise Clotworthy
- reviewed by Leigh Sykes

The audience is having fun, so the long scene change to the King’s palace puts a dampener on their spirits. Our short introduction to The Prince (Tyler Warwick), who doesn’t want to be King and doesn’t want to have a Ball either, suffers from some unevenness with the lighting and a lack of progression with the story.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
BRINESTORM ALICE BRINE: Indelible images
BATS Theatre, The Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington

- reviewed by John Smythe

Her pre-diagnosis symptoms give her great material – the nail polish / wallpaper incident is a classic – not to mention her mum, the ADHD boys at school, her current and past flatmates, and work experiences. Except she does mention them, of course, with entertaining relish. The bathmat issue is hysterical. Likewise the implications of butterflies blu-tacked to a computer monitor.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
YOUNG GUNS 2016: Some are definitely on their way
Fringe Bar, 26 Allen St, Wellington
Presented by Humorous Arts Trust
- reviewed by Patrick Davies

MC Rob Harris is sick. Not in the ‘sick comedy’ kind of way, but just sick. And hopefully not contagious. Well, perhaps a little bit. It’s the measure of a good comedian that they can take circumstances and fold their material into it which he does effortlessly. It’s a small crowd at the Fringe Bar but we become ‘we happy few’ as Harris helps us to get to know each other.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
AWESOME? NAH, BRO CORI GONZALEZ-MACUER: Speaking truths we all feel
SAN FRAN, 171 Cuba Street, Wellington
Proudly presented by Creeping Charlie
- reviewed by Patrick Davies

First up it’s a riff on his recent roaming through Aoteoroa, and how the various venues he performed in reflect NZ. For each location there’s a funny recollection of what happened followed by a killer observation about ourselves. Each is delivered with a touch of distaste which could be somewhat offensive were it not coupled with the fact that’s its true and the charm with which it’s delivered.

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NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
DISNEY PRINCE ELI MATTHEWSON: A welcome change in format
BATS Theatre, The Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Directed by Kip Chapman 
A New Zealand Comedy Trust Creative Comedy Initiative
- reviewed by John Smythe

It’s all very stylish and up-to-the-minute so the opening internet dial-up tone and landline telephone images (which will multiply as the hour progresses) are surprising. It turns out a US soldier, Michael, is calling his Grandad with news he assumes will devastate him but it’s his own gob that gets smacked. A promising prologue: expect the unexpected?

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Southland Festival of the Arts 2016
AN EVENING WITH THE MODERN MÂORI QUARTET: Amazing voices and great harmonies
SIT Centrestage Theatre, Invercargill
Presented by The Modern Mâori Quartet
- reviewed by Donna Kawe

The show opens with an excited audience anticipating a great show ahead. Right from the entrance we are all in laughter at the humour with the jibes and stories they have to share.

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

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