H.R. The Musical #2 – Q Theatre: 25 Nov – Dec 6 (13th Floor Theatre Review)
HR The Musical #2, the sequel to 2004’s big hit, revealed Human Resources for its irredeemable double-speak: how inhuman and unresourceful “human resources” are; how impersonal are the Personnel Department where, due to “privacy concerns,” employees are referred to only as numbers.
Life On A Loop – Q Theatre: November 11, 2025 (13th Floor Theatre Review)
Life on a Loop brings theatre icon Ellie Smith back to the local stage for the first time in 17 years with her award-winning solo show, direct from London, throwing us with humour and heart straight into a care home. And if you’re in the right demographic, it zings!
The Dry House, by Eugene O’Hare – Basement Theatre: 4-15 November
The Dry House is confronting. We’re greeted with a small suburban lounge, a house full of debris, a selection of empty bottles, and Alison Bruce with a bad case of the shakes.
Tiri: Te Araroa, Woman Far Walking by Witi Ihimaera & Auckland Theatre Company, at ASB Waterfront Theatre
Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking gives us a 185-year-old woman born on the day the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.
In the Web of Louise Bourgeois — Auckland Art Gallery
Open Late: In the Web of Louise Bourgeois marked the Auckland Art Gallery’s new exhibition Louise Bourgeois: In Private View, which runs to 17 May 2026.
Last Call – Pitt St Theatre: September 24, 2025 (13th Floor Theatre Review)
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel … like going to Pitt St theatre. Where Stray Theatre are putting on a play about the end of the world—Last Call—exploring what and whom one would find most important in our last hours.
The Monster in the Maze – Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre: September 20, 2025 (13th Floor Theatre Review)
MONSTER IN THE MAZE “re-imagines” in modern opera the legend of Theseus, the Minotaur, and the annual slaughter of Athenian youth to that monster. It evokes therein the tragedy of refugees forced afloat on the Mediterannean, of hostages imprisoned, of youth slaughtered in war and famine, and (perhaps) of unnamed hazards felt by youth from […]
Mother Play (a play in five evictions), by Paula Vogel – Q Theatre: 4-20 September
Hot off its 2024 run on Broadway, MOTHER PLAY has us packing and unpacking — emotions, family relationships, sexual orientations, living arrangements —all of them. All are unpacked, laid out, and put back. As our narrator Martha admits: she’s getting good at it.
Mary: The Birth of Frankenstein – Auckland Theatre Company, ASB Waterfront Theatre: 21 Aug – 7 Sept
It’s wonderful to attend the first performance of a bold new play exploring mighty themes, delivered with such power one leaves the theatre reeling. Unfortunately, I have to report that Auckland Theatre Company’s new production Mary: The Birth of Frankenstein is not that play.
A Rich Man – by Sam Brooks: Old Folks Association: 5-9 August (13th Floor Theatre Review)
Eight years in the making, premiering last night, Sam Brooks’ new black comedy A Rich Man confronts us with an unusually complex menage a quatre confronting, and evading, some difficult choices about the future and their past.
William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar – Basement Theatre: July 22-26 (13th Floor Theatre Review)
William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar sometimes seems like it has a cast of thousands. Last time we saw it in Auckland it had at least twenty. Last night, at the Basement Theatre with two actors and one effective sound and lighting manager, it had a cast of two. It was remarkable.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – ASB Waterfront Theatre: July 17, 2025
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been done so many times in so many ways it has almost become a cliché. Almost. Almost. We’ve seen Baz Lurhmann do it as a brawl on Venice Beach, and Leonard Bernstein take it to a Westside Story. I’ve seen many different interpretations myself—but I’ve never seen it done as a […]
The Ballad Of Briar Grant – Basement Theatre: July 15, 2025 (13th Floor Theatre Review)
The Ballad of Briar Grant is a slightly surreal mystery with a story about personal change. It’s an ambitious piece of writing with some vignettes of brilliance, delivered confidently by director Lia Kelly and a theatre team who know what they’re about. And it does have a real ballad.
George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan – Dir: Grace Augustine: Q Theatre June 25, 2025 (13th Floor Theatre Review)
Saint Joan puts us into the mind of a young girl who led a revolution, to be betrayed by those her will and resolve had elevated. As the curtain closes on Flyleaf Theatre’s magnificently sparse re-creation of Bernard Shaw’s masterwork, an audience member behind us cried out, “Holy fuck!” I knew how she felt. We felt […]
The Play That Goes Wrong – ASB Waterfront Theatre (13th Floor Theatre Review)
Could you do with a laugh? When you look at the state of the world today – Ukraine, tariffs, inflation, Gaza, homelessness, unemployment, the ‘C’ word – it’s almost certain you could use some light relief. The Play That Goes Wrong is guaranteed to break the gloom just as it has done for the past 10 years […]
Darkfield’s Séance and Flight – Aotea Square: May 13, 2025
Two unassuming shipping containers sit end to end in Aotea Square. Painted white there are some rust stains here and there and a few dings at the corners. A single word is painted on each: Flight and Séance. Welcome to Darkfield, two immersive audio experiences that unfold almost entirely in the dark.
An Evening Without Kate Bush – TAPAC: April 18, 2025
An Evening Without Kate Bush is very much an evening with Sarah-Louise Young. The multi award winning performer is on stage and in perpetual motion for the full 90 minutes of this entertaining and involving cabaret.
Oleanna – Dir. Nick Brown – Pumphouse Theatre: March 13, 2025 (Theatre Review)
OLEANNA at the Pumphouse Theatre throws us straight into a cauldron of miscommunication and abuse of power, the two actors delivering David Mamet’s hothouse of a play with nerve and aplomb.
Wardruna – Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre: January 30, 2025
In the foyer, black clothes prevail. Cloaks and helmets with horns even. These are serious fans. I ask two what genre Wardruna are. They were stuck for a moment. Norse-noir says one. Scandi-pagan says the other.
Peter Pan – Dir: Carl Bland & Ben Crowder. ASB Waterfront Theatre – October 8-26
PETER PAN is back for the school holidays in this new adaptation about the mischievous little boy who flies towards the “second star to the right and straight on ’til morning,” to reach his beloved Neverland.