Theatreview Weekly: 20/10/11

A selection of reviews from Theatreview from the last week including Rita And Douglas, Silent Night, Yo Future, and Jamie Bowen In Munfred Bernstein’s Cabinet Of Wonder.

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

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4 Moncrieff St., Mt. Victoria, Wellington - THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE: Wild imagination of school holiday theatre

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

In Rob Ormsby’s account of Aesop’s fable [The Hare and the Tortoise] the two animals join forces in a skiing race down Mt Ruapehu against two monkeys wearing tutus.

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Circa Two, Wellington - SPACED OUT!: Wild imagination of school holiday theatre

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

In Spaced Out! they are asked to believe that the ample figure of Pete Doile is a cross between a giraffe and a zebra on the planet Waldorf.

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Whitirea Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington - YO FUTURE: Well-wrought, compelling and salutary

- reviewed by John Smythe

Every assessment and judgement you are likely to make about these people will be subverted or at least thrown up for question in the sequences that follow. Can abduction and forced face-painting be part of a peaceful protest? What is that Guy Fawkes motif beloved by activists around the globe all about anyway (wasn’t he a Catholic terrorist)? Which is better: to be part of a group or independent?

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Basement Theatre-return season, Auckland - JAMIE BOWEN IN MUNFRED BERNSTEIN’S CABINET OF WONDER: Treasure trove of silliness

- reviewed by Nik Smythe

A jack of many trades – poet, bard, keen amateur taxidermy enthusiast and so on – our hero recounts the details of his underprivileged childhood as the son of an alcoholic mouse-hanger, his formative years including two years spent in a sleeping bag, and a treasure trove of cosmopolitan anecdotes from his prolific travels.

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Dorothy Winstone Theatre, Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, Auckland - AROHANUI – THE GREATEST LOVE: Blazing the trail for Maori performance potential

- reviewed by Tamati Patuwai

Straight off the bat, if you want to enjoy an invigorating and enlivening experience of the beautiful Maori world you should definitely go to this piece of what is aptly named “Haka Theatre”. If you are a practitioner of performing arts and want to deepen your understanding of Maori storytelling and performance mastery, Arohanui is the best place right now to get this.

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Suter Theatre, Nelson - SILENT NIGHT: Celebration is anything but quiet

- reviewed by Leonie Hall

If you’ve ever wanted to make a “banana candle”, look no further than Silent Night. Played by Yvette Parsons, Irene McMunn and her Be Bold With Bananas cookbook left plenty to the imagination.

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BATS, Wellington - THE NZ IMPROV FESTIVAL 2011: Energy and enthusiasm beats ineffectual limpness

- reviewed by Caoilinn Hughes 2

The highlight of Saturday’s shows in my opinion was Geary’s The Fairytale Cookbook. As the name might suggest, is aimed at children, so I didn’t come prepared with tissues for the tears of laughter that were induced.

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Theatre Royal, Nelson - RITA AND DOUGLAS: Play sheds light on top artists’ lives

- reviewed by Michael Monti

This is a dramatisation of the relationship between painter Rita Angus and composer Douglas Lilburn using the letters Angus sent to Lilburn.

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Theatre Royal, Nelson - RITA AND DOUGLAS: Seamless mix of words and music

- reviewed by Gail Tresidder

It was inevitable that Rita Angus, a troubled genius, stoic, strange and difficult, who painted like an angel, and Douglas Lilburn, the odd one out in a farming family, for whom composing, playing and teaching music was a passion, would find in each other a kindred spirit.

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Circa One, Wellington - SEX DRIVE: Intimacy lacking in play about intimate matters

- reviewed by John Smythe

Our reward for forgoing the France v Wales clash last Saturday is a d.vice gift bag, denoting the buzz of anticipation the full house has brought to the impending comedy. We may also expect the core message massaged through Sex Drive to translate into a sudden rush of business for ‘the toy shop for grownups’.

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Circa One, Wellington - SEX DRIVE: Sex Drive cruises in fourth gear but finally hits turbo

- reviewed by Laurie Atkinson

The funniest scene in Sex Drive is the finale when this rambling and not exactly subtle comedy suddenly explodes like a fizzing bottle of champagne. At times it seemed that the traditional cheeky sit-com jokes and situations and its one or two flaccid moments were unlikely to provide a satisfactory climax. The first night audience was ecstatic.

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The Open Stage, Hagley Community College, Christchurch - NOHUPUKU: A body which speaks volumes

- reviewed by Julia Milsom

The space is simply designed but the potency of the symbols fills it beautifully. Down stage right, white pebbles form a human figure reminiscent of polynesian petroglyphs; on the opposite a piece of driftwood gently thrusts into space. Centre stage, two white screens stand like waha roa which literally and aptly translated means, the gates, or the mouth. I feel like a visitor waiting to be welcomed onto this abstract and timeless Marae.

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The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland - HAIRY MACLARY: A fabulous show in every way

- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

The audience erupted in delight at the appearance of this small, black, shaggy and knobbly-kneed creature largely because he looks so like Dodd’s illustration – no mean feat – and this sets the scene magically for what is to follow.

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NASDA Theatre, E Block, CPIT, Christchurch - SOUL OF THE BEAST - ANIMA DELLA BESTIA: Natural vs un-natural ways

- reviewed by Julia Milsom

The three dancers are foreigners - almost alien-like, they explore their environment. It is as though they are returning to a pre-historic time or traveling as innocents into the present. Shelley seems to be asking are we any different to our ancestors or have we been corrupted beyond recognition? Our bodies are not dis-similar but the world we exist in has transformed beyond comprehension.

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Galatos, Auckland - RETHINK POSSIBLE WORLDS: Well padded and full

- reviewed by Aidan-B. Howard

It would be too simplistic to call reTHINK Possible Worlds a poetry recital. Drawing from the fields of poetry, performance, music, dance and film, this elegant work asks the question, as its by-line, “Who are you in the maze of life?”

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Mangere Arts Centre, Auckland - FINAL SHOWING FROM THE PACIFIC DANCE CHOREOGRAPHIC LAB: Three up and coming Pacific women choreographers -- watch this space

- reviewed by Margi Martin

The Pacific Dance Choreographic Laboratory is an annual lab in which three choreographers of Pacific descent create dance works; this year under the guidance of esteemed dance mentor Neil Ieremia, of Black Grace. This public performance showcases the works in development by these up-and-coming dance choreographers - Sesilia Pusiaki Tatuila, Ojeya Cruz Banks and Tapaeru-Ariki Lulu French. Watch this space!

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Q Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland - INSTANT KIWIS: Cut-throat fight for survival

- reviewed by Sian Robertson

They opened last night with Improv Survivor: stranded in the Q Loft with nothing but their wit and talent as survival tools, two teams of four actors battle it out. The audience votes for the best team at the end of each round, the losing team has to eliminate one of its members by anonymous pipe-cleaner vote.

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Aotea Centre at THE EDGE®, Auckland - SACRE: THE AUCKLAND DANCE PROJECT: A rich experience all round

- reviewed by Raewyn Whyte

By the end of the music, 25 minutes later, the dancers have evoked various elements of a distinctly Pacific themed society - arriving from afar by sea, tribally-based with hunting and gathering for sustenance, honouring their ancestors, plagued by traditional enemies, and very much affected by weather. This is a strong contrast to the society which Stravinsky's music evoked, that of ancient Russian peasant society and their sacrifice of the Spring maiden to ensure future crops, but it is within the spirit of Maldoom's original version of this project produced in Berlin in 2003 with school children and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.

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Suter Theatre, Nelson - SILENT NIGHT: Bravery and optimism in the face of loneliness produce Christmas cheers

- reviewed by Gail Tresidder

She wears easies and built-up sandals with lycra fixings (funny/sad moments when she takes a swing at her sandals to undo them) and brick red pants of some synthetic material. Her teeth come loose and, despite her long list of ailments and pills to assuage them, she is staunchly cheerful.

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Middleton Grange School Performing Arts Centre, Christchurch - CARNIVAL HOUND: Intellect and emotions challenged with athleticism and conviction

- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

‘Crossover theatre’ was the term which took me there and cross over one must, beyond the conventional language of the stage and into territory both dark and illuminating.

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Dorothy Winstone Theatre, Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, Auckland - AROHANUI – THE GREATEST LOVE: Kapa haka greatest treasure in epic tale

- reviewed by Janet McAllister

A traditional-style epic tale, this well-paced musical extravaganza is by turns cheesy, dramatic and genuinely moving.

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Q, 305 Queen St, Auckland - FINDING MURDOCH: All credit to the boys and the girl

- reviewed by Lexie Matheson

Before crouch touch pause engage, Dan Carter rippling in his Jockeys, intimate peeks at the Rexona – refreshed armpits of All Blacks and Mils Muliaina slurping milk product from a tiny, crushable carton, rugby was a different game. No-one got paid, tours lasted three months or more ...

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St Mary’s Anglican Church, Addington, Christchurch - THE EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE: A remarkable enterprise: complex and generous

- reviewed by Lindsay Clark

A sure way to engage the immediate and serious attention of a Christchurch audience is to fabricate one of those rumbling, shuddering things, even when we know it’s a fabrication and temporary and part of a story. This production however – presented in and around St Mary’s Anglican Church in Addington – has had us riveted from the start.

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BATS, Wellington - THE NZ IMPROV FESTIVAL 2011: Making it their own

- reviewed by Caoilinn Hughes

BATS Theatre is buzzing with the NZ Improv Festival, now in full swing. There are two more days to get in on the action, with three shows tonight (Friday) and five shows tomorrow — two daytime and three evening performances.

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Dorothy Winstone Theatre, Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, Auckland - AROHANUI – THE GREATEST LOVE: A tragic tale at psychedelic pace

- reviewed by Jack Gray

While I could go through the show and find moments that could be more fully integrated and developed, the real essence of the show is left till the very end – when the performers finally are able to dispense with the construction and revert back to their complete strength. Kapa Haka. Served straight up – it is everything I want the performance to be and more. It speaks in its own language, conveys the feeling and vibe to audience in a way that only Maori dance can do (the ability to make hairs on the back of your neck stand up and tingle). I see mana, tradition, whakapapa, atua and aroha. These things are the essential qualities of Maori dance and can’t really be manipulated or improved upon.

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Hagley Open Stage, Christchurch - WEG: A-WAY: Unapologetically provocative, political and anarchic

- reviewed by Julia Milsom

She dances with articulation, attack, flow and without pretension. She intrigues us. The movement is sinuous but broken, languid and harsh, she shifts and transforms like a shapeshifter as she gently and almost accidentally undresses. I think she may have hypnotized us. There is no doubt that this artist is a choreographer, that her body is her palimpsest. (Especially when she invites the audience to write on her naked body as she dances).

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Opera House, Wellington - AROHANUI – THE GREATEST LOVE: Mythical, magical, majestic

- reviewed by Lynn Freeman

This is huge – operatic kapa haka blending the contemporary and the traditional, tied together with a message for our times. It is ambitious and it demands a huge amount from those on stage, who give it their absolute all.

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Globe Theatre, Dunedin - PRUFROCK’S LOVE SONG: Irreverent, jolly fun

- reviewed by Terry MacTavish

Anyone who has ever been haunted by a bit of poetry, maybe even a song lyric, will understand how it is that lines of T.S. Eliot’s marvellous, evocative The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock have lingered tantalisingly in writer Elsa May’s mind until she felt compelled to confront them.

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Globe Theatre, Dunedin - PRUFROCK’S LOVE SONG: Production a definite original

- reviewed by Barbara Frame

A man with a bald spot sits alone at a cafe table writing the old-fashioned way, with a pen. In a teacup sits something that may be a peach.

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The Wine Cellar, St Kevins Arcade (K Rd), Auckland - JOSEPH HARPER: THE BOY AND THE BICYCLE: Raw, honest and enjoyable

- reviewed by Candice Lewis

Joseph Harper’s deeply personal, funny and touching one man show draws you in from the start. His conversational tone and quirks quickly endear him to the audience as he explains his predicament.

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

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