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

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
MICHELE A’COURT IN STUFF I FORGOT TO TELL MY DAUGHTER: Everyone leaves the theatre with a smile
Playhouse Theatre, Dunedin
presented by NOTORIOUS*
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

A’Court knows how to captivate an audience and exactly how to time her anecdotes for maximum hilarity. She makes an instant connection with her audience from the first moment of her show, which is a slideshow of photos of her daughter.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
BEYOND THE BRIGHT BLACK EDGE OF NOWHERE: Suspenseful and creepy, but do we really care?
Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum, Dunedin
by Simon Wilkinson (UK)
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

An intriguing story: in 1959, a science teacher leads eight of his brightest Magic Valley Liberal Arts College students deep into an Idaho desert.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
CATERPILLARS: Totally bewitching
Kavanagh Auditorium, Kavanagh College, 255A Rattray St, Dunedin
Created by Thomas Monckton & Kallo Collective 
Presented by SHOW PONY
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

The children adore them, especially when they play naughty tricks on each other, and chortle with delight at their sneakily competitive relationship. In fact the bouncy musical soundtrack is much enhanced by trills of live laughter throughout.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
BEYOND THE BRIGHT BLACK EDGE OF NOWHERE: Perfect for conspiracy theorists, and lovers of mystery and urban legends
Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum, Dunedin
by Simon Wilkinson (UK)
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

There are some stories that grab you and don’t let go. They get inside you and add another dimension to your life as they make you see the world in a different way. Sam Wilkinson was captured by just such a story when he was thirteen years old.

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Tempo Dance Festival 2016
INSOLENT RIVER: A TANGO: Insolent River: a tango: the beautiful mundanity of coupledom
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
Choreography/direction: Michael Parmenter
Set design - John Verryt 
Lighting design - Sean Curham
Original music - David Downes
Photography - John McDermott for Commotion Company 
Producer - Lydia Zanetti for Zanetti Productions
- reviewed by Sarah Knox

Vignette style, the work is centered around a momentary embrace, and a rock in the space: an anchor, a burden, a constant. It is a landscape where everything and nothing is possible. Where the trek from the bedroom to the kitchen is a life changing journey. Where no matter how loud you talk you will never be heard, and still without even a whisper you can hold an intimate conversation. Where it is possible to be heartbreakingly lonely even when constantly with someone you love. The river that runs between these two souls is treacherous and yet utterly romantic.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
DIRT AND OTHER DELICIOUS INGREDIENTS (2015-16): A heady whirlwind of flavour and laughter
Athenaeum Building, The Octagon, Dunedin
Choreographer: Sascha Copland
- reviewed by Hannah Molloy

This was definitely a show aimed at pleasing adventurous children. It’s fun watching children’s expressions range from bemused to laughter, from wondering if these people are actually going to get away with being that naughty to wondering if maybe they could try it out at home (I definitely saw that on a couple of wee faces). On the other hand, I watched one woman who looked determined to be unimpressed all the way through, and her children who kept sneaking glances at her to gauge how they should be responding and consequently seeming to have a much muted experience of this show. I kept wishing they would look at the man at the other end of their row who was utterly delighted with the experience, laughing infectiously and clapping exuberantly.

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New Zealand Improv Festival 2016
THIS ONE TIME: A breath-taking, giddying display of mastery
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington

- reviewed by Patrick Davies

Sometimes reviewing is difficult – what to highlight, what to reflect on, what to draw attention to, what to say. This is not one of those shows. This is difficult for another reason. This show is just too damn good. I stop taking any notes because I am so caught up in the magic of the improv.

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New Zealand Improv Festival 2016
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH: A joy to be a part of
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Directed by Peter Nordstrand
- reviewed by Patrick Davies

Nothing But The Truth is a one-off show based upon a long improv format from Sweden directed by Peter Nordstrand. A murder has been committed, someone is accused and we, the jury, will hear the evidence of the court case and decide the defendant’s fate.

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New Zealand Improv Festival 2016
IMPRODOME: Joys to behold
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington

- reviewed by Patrick Davies

The teams only find out who they are 20 minutes before performing which means there’s little to no knowledge of what their teammates’ specialties are. This also means that the improv is truely raw and based upon the central building stones of offers, acceptance, advancing and extension – and most of all listening.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
OUT OF THE BOX (2015-16): Exuberance, freedom of expression and fun
Kavanagh Auditorium, Kavanagh College, 255A Rattray St, Dunedin
Artistic director: Andrew Cesan 
Choreographers/dancers: Andrew and Joshua Cesan, Chevrolet Mikaere, Matthew Moore, 
Taniora Motutere, Leighton Rangi, David Setiawan
- reviewed by Hannah Molloy

The choreography makes me think of a series of scenes from films – sci-fi, action, spy, horror – as the dancers manipulate each other and swept from individual movements to beautifully synchronised sequences. There are quite a lot of robotic and puppetry-type moves but these are interspersed with lots of humour between the dancers and fantastic facial expressions, some of which I think were part of the choreography and some perhaps exertion!

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SONGS FOR THE FALLEN: Bursting with energy, debauchery and fabulous one liners
Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
Written and Performed by Sheridan Harbridge 
Director Shane Anthony 
Musical Director, Composer and Sound Designer Basil Hogios
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

It is time to brush up on your French and your sexual positions, people. If you aren’t good at either, then Songs for the Fallen will help you with both. If you are lucky enough to be hauled out of the audience you may even get a one on one tutorial.

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LOSING FAITH: Post-natal truths
Edgewater Resort, Wanaka
Written by Liz Breslin 
Directed by Fiona Armstrong
- reviewed by Sue Wards

This is theatre produced by a community fortunate enough to include an accomplished writer, talented – and trained – actors, and a young director with a sure hand. 

The play looks at the trials of new parenthood through the lens of coffee group culture.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY ABRIDGED: High seas antics hilarious, serious
Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
Written by comedic playwright Gregory Cooper 
Directed by Mark Hadlow
- reviewed by Elizabeth Bouman

Comical and exceedingly clever, a chronological account of naval history was dealt out in text, rhyming couplets and patter song by a very talented cast ...

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
COMMANDER CLAIRE & THE PIRATES OF PROVENCE: High seas antics hilarious
Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
Written by Gregory Cooper 
Directed by Mark Hadlow
- reviewed by Elizabeth Bouman

A big audience of enthusiastic children and grandparents on holiday duty added vocal support in true panto style for Commander Claire and the Pirates of Provence, a fast-paced children’s pantomime that swamped the audience with high-seas adventures, or, more correctly, around the coast of New Zealand.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
THE DEVIL'S HALF-ACRE: Con-artists’ tale magical performance
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
By Ralph McCubbin Howell 
Directed by Hannah Smith 
Produced for Trick of the Light by GoldFish Creative (NZ)
- reviewed by Kimberley Buchan

Jack and Dylan are two con artist brothers looking to escape their past who have settled in the titular slum. 

They are scratching a living through sleight-of-hand tricks targeting new arrivals on the wharves. 

A mysterious man watches them from the shadows.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
KRAPP’S LAST TAPE: Unsettling and brilliant, a play not to miss
Fortune Theatre - Hutchinson Studio, Dunedin
By Samuel Beckett 
Directed by Jonathon Hendry
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

There are three excellent reasons to go to Krapp’s Last Tape. 

The first is Samuel Beckett’s unsettling, baffling play about Krapp — on the verge of his threescore and ten, his identity unravelling, staring into the void of mortality ...

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
THE DEVIL'S HALF-ACRE: Consistently tense and engaging
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
By Ralph McCubbin Howell 
Directed by Hannah Smith 
Produced for Trick of the Light by GoldFish Creative (NZ)
- reviewed by Reuben Hilder

If you have seen a production by Trick of the Light Theatre before you probably don’t need my recommendation to see The Devil’s Half-Acre because you already know that they deal exclusively in quality.

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
SONGS FOR THE FALLEN: A wild and exuberant romp
Concert Chamber, Town Hall, Auckland Live, Auckland
Written and Performed by Sheridan Harbridge 
Director Shane Anthony 
Musical Director, Composer and Sound Designer Basil Hogios
- reviewed by Uncredited online

Written and performed by Australian Sheridan Harbridge, the award-winning show celebrates the irrepressible spirit of a life devoted to champagne and pretty things but also manages to express the pathos of a woman who was used and abused by the men who sustained her decadent lifestyle.

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
SHEBA'S TRIBUTE TO NINA SIMONE: A resounding success
Concert Chamber, Town Hall, Auckland Live, Auckland
Sheba Williams
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

It’s clear from the first that this is not a character impression: Sheba’s vocal tone is a few pitches higher, more melodic and resonant than her unique subject’s quintessentially deep timbre, but the beguiling blend of bold reverence and cheeky sass is all there.

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
VALERIE: Emotional Resonance
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Created by Robin Kelly, with Tom Broome, and Cherie Moore. 
with direction by Benjamin Henson 
Presented by Last Tapes Theatre Company
- reviewed by Rachael Longshaw-Park

Valerie is a biographical cabaret that deconstructs itself into a deeply personal unravelling of Kelly’s inner thoughts. We watch as Kelly battles his own rationalisation of hereditary mental illness through the story of his grandmother, Valerie.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
KRAPP’S LAST TAPE: A sublime realisation
Fortune Theatre - Hutchinson Studio, Dunedin
By Samuel Beckett 
Directed by Jonathon Hendry
- reviewed by Reuben Hilder

But what brings it all together and makes all the other elements feel so significant is the magnificent performance of Simon O’Connor. The play’s shifts between slapstick comedy and deadly serious self-examination are handled so deftly that they not only feel natural, but can be communicated through a split-second look.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY ABRIDGED: You’ll laugh, cry and learn something
Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
Written by comedic playwright Gregory Cooper 
Directed by Mark Hadlow
- reviewed by Alison Embleton

Greg Cooper’s writing is witty and hysterical, bringing the 75 year history of the RNZ Navy to life through stories, impersonations, re-enactments, one-liners and songs. A scene delivered entirely in jack-speak (Royal Navy slang) ...

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ORDINARY DAYS: Delicately moving
Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, Wellington
Music and lyrics by Adam Gwon 
Directed by Cassandra Tse 
Music directed by Michael Stebbings 
Presented by Backyard Theatre
- reviewed by Shannon Friday

Ordinary Days is a musical that plays out on a small scale. The cast is small – just 4 people. The instrumentation is small – a single piano played live. The conflicts are small – will or won't two couples in New York stay together. But Ordinary Days knows it scale, and is thoroughly charming for it.

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SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET: Can’t be recommended highly enough
St James Theatre, Wellington
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim 
Book by Hugh Wheeler from an Adaptation by Christopher Bond
Originally Directed by Harold Prince 
Originally produced on Broadway by Richard Barr, Charles Woodward, Robert Fryer, Mary Lea Johnson, Martin Richards.
In Association with Dean and Judy Manos.
Directed by Stuart Maunder 
Conducted by Benjamin Northey 
A New Zealand Opera co-production with Victorian Opera 
By arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd Exclusive agent for Music Theatre International (NY).
- reviewed by Michael Gilchrist

The action seems so well pitched – partly, no doubt, because of the assured sense of the Grand Guignol style mentioned earlier, and the sense of style of the piece more generally is a triumph. The cast are all outstanding.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
WHALES: Something real has been shared
The Octagon, Dunedin
Presented by BINGE CULTURE
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

No escape now. We are issued an unmistakeable challenge: “Are you here to help or just watch? We need to keep them wet and ultimately refloat them. Will you be a buddy for a whale? Some are in a critical condition. We need volunteers!”

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
MARY STUART: Worth a look for the costumes
Globe Theatre, 104 London St, Dunedin
by Friedrich Schiller 
Adapted and directed by Keith Scott
- reviewed by Barbara Frame

Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I never actually met — but this hasn’t prevented Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart (premiered in 1800), which imagines just such an encounter, from becoming a classic

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NATIONAL SHAKESPEARE SCHOOLS PRODUCTION 2016: Immeasurable value
Maurice Joel Auditorium, Otago Boys’ High School, 2 Arthur Street, Dunedin
Macbeth – Director: Stuart Devenie 
Julius Caesar – Director: Colin Spicer 
The Comedy of Errors – Director: Kim Morgan 
Presented by Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand
- reviewed by Hannah Molloy

What a talented bunch of up and coming performers! The three-hour long Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ National Shakespeare Schools Production clearly demonstrates the depth of talent we have in this country – and they’re still in high school.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
THE CUBE: A fantastic display of bleeding edge expression
Shipping container on the Museum Reserve, Dunedin

- reviewed by Reuben Hilder

Perhaps the best way to think about The Cube is as a showcase of the potential of Virtual Reality as a medium for the presentation of visual art, and viewed as such it is a triumph.

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
BLACKBIRD ENSEMBLE DREAMS: Visually sumptuous and musically accomplished but not what’s promised
Concert Chamber, Town Hall, Auckland Live, Auckland

- reviewed by Candice Lewis

The stage itself is filled with promise: a large drum, various instruments and two unmade beds. The promotional pamphlet says they will be exploring “music inspired by our subconscious minds, dream states, nightmares, lullabies and rituals of the bedroom”.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
COMMANDER CLAIRE & THE PIRATES OF PROVENCE: Plenty of comic business and eager participation
Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
Written by Gregory Cooper 
Directed by Mark Hadlow
- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

We get exactly what we are promised: a fast-paced and funny show with lots of audience participation, puppetry, songs, and over-the-shoulder cardboard ships. It’s great to see a female heroine ...

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NATIONAL SHAKESPEARE SCHOOLS PRODUCTION 2016: Tragical historical comical
Maurice Joel Auditorium, Otago Boys’ High School, 2 Arthur Street, Dunedin
Macbeth – Director: Stuart Devenie 
Julius Caesar – Director: Colin Spicer 
The Comedy of Errors – Director: Kim Morgan 
Presented by Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand
- reviewed by Mike Crowl

Bringing forty-eight secondary school students from around the country together for only a week to perform three extracts from Shakespeare’s plays takes some organising, but once again the Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ pulls it off.

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THE GRUFFALO: Slick, professional and enjoyable
Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland
Adaptation by Tall Stories Theatre Company 
Olivia Jacobs & Toby Mitchell, artistic directors 
Directed by Olivia Jacobs 
Produced in New Zealand and Australia by CDP Theatre Producers
- reviewed by Leigh Sykes

I really enjoy the physicality and unison work that the performers bring to the show: they are sharp and energetic and deliver a cartoon-like style that works very well for this show and this audience. They create locations and moments of tension with some great physical commitment ...

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THE GRUFFALO: Slick, professional and enjoyable
Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland
Adaptation by Tall Stories Theatre Company 
Olivia Jacobs & Toby Mitchell, artistic directors 
Directed by Olivia Jacobs 
Produced in New Zealand and Australia by CDP Theatre Producers
- reviewed by Leigh Sykes

I really enjoy the physicality and unison work that the performers bring to the show: they are sharp and energetic and deliver a cartoon-like style that works very well for this show and this audience. They create locations and moments of tension with some great physical commitment ...

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
CABARIOT: FRISKY AND MANNISH: Putting the riot in cabaret
Concert Chamber, Town Hall, Auckland Live, Auckland

- reviewed by Candice Lewis

Quickly critiquing each song and how it falls short of embracing equality is extraordinary, due to the fast pace and flawless connection between the English duo. If I’m not smiling I am staring in appreciation.

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
CABARIOT: FRISKY AND MANNISH: Queen St Riots
Concert Chamber, Town Hall, Auckland Live, Auckland

- reviewed by James Wenley

Frisky and Mannish are quick to put the audience in their place. Those seated closest to them are clearly the best people in the room. The middle section is okay. This reviewer was seated at the back, fittingly, with the rest of the scum. The Town Hall Concert Chamber is a hotbed of injustice and inequality.

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Arts Festival of Dunedin 2016
MARY STUART: Intimacy adds to immediacy
Globe Theatre, 104 London St, Dunedin
by Friedrich Schiller 
Adapted and directed by Keith Scott
- reviewed by Kathryn van Beek

In our times of terrorism and Trump, Mary Stuart – a play about the entwined fortunes of two global powerhouses – could hardly be more relevant. 

Author and historian Keith Scott has adapted and refreshed Schiller’s original play for a modern audience.

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THE NEXT STEP - WILD RHYTHM TOUR: Inspiring
ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland

- reviewed by Hannah Stannard (with Estelle Wright and Abby McLeay)

As I see the excitement of my two pre-teen dance students, who are also co-reviewers for the day, I realise this kind of experience is engaging, inspiring and allows the hopes of young aspiring dancers to be seen in an attainable reality.

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
SONGS FOR THE FALLEN: Enduring story told through vaudeville, erotica, satire, humour and song
Concert Chamber, Town Hall, Auckland Live, Auckland
Written and Performed by Sheridan Harbridge 
Director Shane Anthony 
Musical Director, Composer and Sound Designer Basil Hogios
- reviewed by Dione Joseph

Written and performed by Sheridan Harbridge, Songs for the Fallen is an almost perfectly timed hour-long extravaganza where cabaret-meets-baroque-meets-MTV accompanied by musical narrative, superbly orchestrated by musical director, composer and sound designer Basil Hogios

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
VALERIE: Heartfelt tribute with impassioned soundtrack
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Created by Robin Kelly, with Tom Broome, and Cherie Moore. 
with direction by Benjamin Henson 
Presented by Last Tapes Theatre Company
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Valerie is an avant-garde, intensely cerebral and at times emotionally visceral account of bandleader Robin Kelly’s family history of complex mental disorders, shown primarily through the words of his grandmother Valerie, spoken by lead singer Cherie Moore.

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Auckland Live International Cabaret Season 2016
SUITS: A cathartic blast of punk rock fun
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Jessie Cassin +
- reviewed by Nik Smythe

Suits is a vehicle for Jessie’s personal confession, being from a Catholic background yet evidently given to retooling the old ways to suit her own style. Sharing her most personal experiences and pastimes ...

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THE FAIRYTALE COOKBOOK: Building a world of imagination
Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, Wellington
Directed by Jennifer O'Sullivan and Aaron Blackledge 
Presented by Kapitall Kids’ Theatre
- reviewed by Jo Hodgson

While we the audience love to be entertained, improvising is a fantastic medium through which to engage children in theatre, as they also love to be actively and vocally involved. This show has that in good measure.

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LOST GIRLS: Timely exposé of macho environment
Te Pou Theatre, 44a Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland
Written and produced by Patrick Graham 
Directed by Mark Oughton 
Presented by Theatrewhack
- reviewed by Leigh Sykes

In a week where very public outrage was required before appropriate action was taken about the Losi Filipo case, this sense of powerlessness about the sheer number of cases like those depicted in the play needs to be addressed.

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PUSS IN BOOTS: Another Court Theatre triumph of excellent children's theatre
The Court Theatre, Bernard Street, Addington, Christchurch
Adaptation and Lyrics by Georgia-Kate Heard 
Music by Matt Everingham 
Directed by Ross Gumbley
- reviewed by Ruth Agnew

Fortunately, by commissioning new writing talent to create exciting new versions of traditional tales, the Court Theatre's stronghold on holiday entertainment shows no sign of weakening. Georgia-Kate Heard's reimagining of Puss in Boots is lively and entertaining, and will appeal to an audience beyond its target age group.

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VANILLA MIRAKA: A sincere quest or an ‘othering’ piss-take?
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
Written and performed by Hayley Sproull 
Directed by Jo Randerson 
Taki Rua Productions
- reviewed by Maraea Rakuraku

‘He whakapapa Māori, he Māori’ 

Do you have the right to tell your own story? Even when others say to you that you don’t have the right to tell it? I think the answer to that is, yes, you do. Even if it’s not my story. Even if, as a Māori woman, secure in my identity, I am thinking, no way, this is definitely not my story.

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

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