Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this review contains the name of someone who has passed away. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers of the work are also warned that SandSong contains images and voices of deceased persons. A shimmering, molten backdrop – gold and red like the surface of the sun or a crucible of red hot precious metal – stretches the full width and height of the ASB Waterfront Theatre Auditorium. This is only one of many images SandSong sears into the mind of the viewer. Evoking the unfathomable scale and beauty of the Kimberley and Great ..read more

Poetry and theatre lovers alike have been eagerly awaiting Tusiata Avia’s The Savage Coloniser Show to grace the stage. The Savage Coloniser Book is the second book of poetry by Avia to be transformed into an ensemble stage play since the award winning Wild Dogs Under My Skirt. Both shows have been produced by Victor Rodger (F.C.C) and directed by Anapela Polata’ivao. Many of the cast remain from Wild Dogs, and are joined by Mario Faumui and the young Iuni-Katalaina Polata’ivao-Saute in her acting debut.  I was lucky to catch the show on closing night. I milled into the Rangatira perform ..read more

An Inspector Calls?  A farce about the paranoia of totalitarianism, Revisor is a darkly comic choreographic blend of bodies, setting, light and sound.  Created by Canadians Jonathon Young (writer) and Crystal Pite (choreography and direction), Revisor follows the titular character (performed by Gregory Lau, and voiced by Young), a minor civil servant tasked with updating a piece of legislation by moving a comma.  Arrested and then mistaken for a visiting inspector by the prison’s overseers, the revisor becomes the centre of their politicking, corruption and personal ambition.&n ..read more

[“Just Fxcking Delicious”] Presented by Auckland Pride and Same Same But Different, and produced by Izzy, this Pride edition of Freya Daly Sadgrove’s Show Ponies is a riot of talent. This is poetry dialled to 11.  The stacked line-up features performances from Emma Barnes, Venessa Mei Crofskey, Sam Duckor-Jones, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Ruby Solly, Chris Tse, Rebecca Hawkes, Dan Goodwin, and essa may ranapiri. The poets are supported by a host of musicians, dancers, and performers including Christine Brooks and Liv Hall, the sound design of Oliver Devlin, dancers Andre Lauron and Al-Gervahn ..read more

[What’s Your Bus Number?] Absurd, playful, and freshly imagined. Co Theatre Physical have once again produced an comedic and engrossing piece. Mixing physical theatre, contemporary transport woes, live music, and light audience interaction, Wheel Head, written by Beth Kayes in collaboration with Katie Burson,  is a surprising and charming 50 minutes.  We are introduced to Joanna (Katie Burson), Aucklander and Birder extraordinaire, who finds one morning her car has been stolen and dumped some four kilometres away from her home. How will she get to work in this super city that is Tām ..read more

“I don’t know what to expect, and that’s exciting” an audience member said as we were queuing up for the opening night of Naked & Dangerous, the latest venture from Luck and Schooney, a veteran artistic duo specialising in Dance Theatre and Cabaret. The show’s description is brief and enticingly general, promising a cabaret show that will explore sexual taboos and body positivity.  As part of Pride and Summer at Q, the venue was bustling. As the audience waited for the show to start, people were dancing in their seats, drinks in hand, to bassy pop numbers (such as Whethan and Dua Lip ..read more

It’s the final week of the Auckland Pride Festival. With the festival turning out some amazing theatre this year, Concerning the UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill is one I’m glad I didn’t miss. Reon Bell gives a charming and thoroughly entertaining performance in this solo act as Dana, a young, closeted gay man in the 80s who has an increasing belief in aliens. The story starts out by steeping us in sci-fi mythoi as scenes from Doctor Who and Star Trek are projected on a large screen, putting mankind’s exploration of the universe, and ourselves, into the foreground, before taking us to a tiny d ..read more

[Oasis in a Storm] I, like many others, was excited about F.O.L.A’s initial line-up – promising an enticing array of local and international experimental artists, and a diversity of modes and mediums. It looked to be a festival that would blur and push the boundaries between art forms, genres and styles, that would not end once you stepped outside the theatre but would stretch into the whole venue, reminding us that art cannot be confined to four walls but that it is constantly around us, interacting with the personal and political. It was gutting for the majority of the festival to be cancel ..read more

The Court Theatre’s world premiere of Sense and Sensibility is a production of flair, noise and caricature. Whilst playwright Penny Ashton and director Hillary Moulder have a good handle on adapting the narrative dimensions of the source material, this production struggles to make any of it matter. For audience members new to Austen, this is unlikely to be an issue. But for audience members who already love Austen, this approach could be a tough pill to swallow.  A critic has two responsibilities when reviewing material:  to take stock of the work itself; to assess what feelings th ..read more

[In Space No One Can Hear the Smiths] It is a testament to the show that David Bowie is a more subject of conversation and debate, but the song that is played is not Space Oddity.  Written and directed by Luke Thornborough, Alone is a sci-fi drama about two astronauts on a return flight from a mission to a distant world that might hold the key to reversing climate change back on Earth.  Set in the control centre of a spaceship, the play is a contest of wills, ideologies and musical preferences between Taylor (Kat Glass), the scientist in charge of the mission, and Holland (Courtney ..read more