The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Dir. by Paul Gittins: Pitt St Theatre (April 7)
THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER is one of those stories that everybody knows, but few have ever heard, and rarely as well delivered as this. It’s a poem, you know, by Coleridge — from the very dawn of the Romantic Era — full of ice and snow and haunting spirits who punish an evil […]
AIGA – Touch Compass Theatre, dir. by Moana Ete, Te Pou Theatre, Henderson March 20-24
AIGA is Sāmoan for family/whānau. Family is what Lusi Faiva (Lusi’s Story, Tuapou, Mr & Mrs Jones) almost lost, as a child institutionalised with cerebral palsy, then rediscovered. It’s the support of her theatre family now that lifts her up, works with her, helps her tell her story.
Before Karma Gets Us – Q Theatre: A Mulled Whine Production, 20-24 February
BEFORE KARMA GETS US is what this is called. But what the hell “it” is I’m really still struggling to say. It was mime, it was magic, it was artifice. It was art. My partner reckons she has never laughed so hard. So if it’s anything at all, it’s a success.
Meet Me at Dawn, by Zinnie Harris, directed by Kacie Stetson, Q Theatre 20-24 February
MEET ME AT DAWN messes with your mind. In a good way. It aims to cover a lot ground in its 65 minutes, and almost succeeds.
Romeo & Juliet, at Sky City Theatre 17-25 February, directed by David Lawrence
ROMEO & JULIET must be one of the world’s most well-known tropes. But not exactly a well-known play (spoiler alert: they both die in the end, you know). “Never was a tale of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” But before the woe we see young love, young hope, and great drama. […]
Pop-Up Globe’s ‘Twelfth Night,’ at Sky City Theatre, 10-25 February, directed by David Lawrence
TWELFTH NIGHT brings the Pop-Up Globe’s rambunctious take on Shakespeare back to the heart of the city, and leaves the audience buzzing, if not bemused.
HYPERSPACE by Albert Beltz at the ASB Waterfront Theatre, 9-24 Feb
HYPERSPACE is a slick and joyous celebration of disco dance meets kapa haka, complete with a Shakespearean twist. It has it all. It touches your heart and digs deep. You are laughing but feeling a resounding truth. Something everybody knows — that looking good and moving your body is cool and fun and we are all […]
Tales Of An Urban Indian: Directed by Herbie Barnes, Te Pou Theatre -January 11, 2024
Tales Of An Urban Indian is definitely theatre with a difference. When writers say things like “the drama took me on a journey,” this time it’s meant literally.
Sally Stockwell Performs Pin It Down/Village: 13th Floor Singles Session
Sally Stockwell Her new theatre/music show, We’ve Got So Much To Talk About, opens at Lopdell Theatre in Titirangi this Friday.
Chairs! – Basement Theatre: November 14, 2023
CHAIRS! starts off like a long-lost episode of the The Twilight Zone, yet unfortunately doesn’t really know how to finish.
Auckland Theatre Company Announces Impressive 2024 Season
Auckland Theatre Company have announced eight plays in their 2024 Season, presenting a line-up of shows across the whole year that feature star-studded creatives and high flying collabs, alongside striking international works.
The Music Man – Aotea Centre: October 12, 2023 (Musical Theatre Review)
The Music Man is back! The big-band musical premiere on Broadway way back in 1957 and now it is playing for four nights at Auckland’s Aotea Centre. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda was there.
DIVAS – ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland: Wednesday 11 October 2023
DIVAS is so much more than a tribute act show: it’s high level cabaret, showcasing the incredible talent of Australian Bernadette Robinson and the songs of ten diverse divas, alongside insights into their characters.
WAITING – Q THEATRE: 26-30 September (Theatre Review)
WAITING is a very personal solo show at Q Theatre, written and performed by actor and poet Shadon Meredith. It’s a one-hander, but it’s not a simple monologue. It’s been called beat poetry, but it’s not a poetry reading. It rejoices in rhythm and movement, but it’s not a dance. This is engaging, absorbing theatre. […]
ÉMILIE – Directed By Sophie Lindsay: Q Theatre, 19-23 September
ÉMILIE is an ambitious music-drama telling the tale, or trying to, of the woman who brought Isaac Newton’s Latin prose to the people, and so first popularised –and extended – his ground-breaking scientific achievements.
Boom Shankar – Q Theatre Loft. Sept 6, 2023 Directed by Ahi Karunaharan.
Boom Shankar is billed as “an explosive comedy about life, love, and bomb defusal.” But our bomb is just a plot device (ahem) to get the jokes going — and too many of them fail to go off.
An Imposter – Basement Theatre: August 29, 2023
An Imposter is a song cycle and melodrama by Ron Gallipoli, at the Basement Theatre. It may begin as melodrama, but ends as something entirely more penetrating.
Glengarry Glen Ross – taut, spare, and full of bile
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS – directed by Brian Keegan David Mamet’s GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS won a Pulitzer Prize and became a film called one of the nineties’ best. This performance at Onehunga’s Dolphin Theatre takes us ‘under the hood’ into the untruths and consequences of a nest of high-pressure salesmen. We bear witness to their bad behaviour as […]
ATC’s Production of King Lear – vicious, tragic, bloody & Unmissable
The Auckland Theatre Company’s production of King Lear is an astonishing, dynamic and truly mesmerising rendition of the well-known Shakespearian epic tragedy. World-class, innovative storytelling, with non-traditional staging, fabulous costumes, thought-provoking details and storming performances from a stellar cast.
King Lear and Maori Culture – Joe Dekkers-Reihana: Interview
The Auckland Theatre Company’s production of King Lear opens today. Here is actor Joe Dekkers-Reihana to tell us how Shakespeare and Maori culture overlap.