Observations from the ground.
Flat City Field Notes offers reviews and essays about theatre, arts and culture in and around Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Latest Posts
Guest post: The fast and the slow of it – Hester Ullyart on time, creativity, motherhood, and gestating new work
We occasionally invite guest posts from artists who are grappling with big questions about craft and practice, at points of personal and creative transition. Here, ahead of the release of her debut album The All Clear, Lyttelton-based multidisciplinary artist and poet Hester Ullyart thinks through the relationships between time, creativity and motherhood. This is ‘tick…
Review: StoryLab Christchurch Story Night – a balm to the heart and soul
Charlotte Thornton reviews StoryLab Christchurch Story Night, at Papa Hou, Friday 6 November 2026. People are great. This is an increasingly unpopular point of view, both for those feeling jaded and for the pro-AI crowd who do the jading. But I stand by it – even if we could all do with a reminder. StoryLab…
Review: Wonder – an imaginative new work with humour, compassion, and some very bossy household items
Erin Harrington reviews Wonder, presented by Sahara BreeZe productions, written by Sarah and Blaise Barham, directed by Pedro Ilgenfritz, at Little Andromeda, Thursday 5 November 2026. Wonder is having a hard time. She is stressed out at work and concerned for her health, but most pressingly she is in an intractable situation with the things…
Review: Bride of Hyde – a satisfying gothic horror about becoming something new
Erin Harrington reviews Bride of Hyde, written by Bryn Sparks, directed by Dan Bain, at Little Andromeda, Wednesday 28 October 2026. The new play Bride of Hyde mashes together two classics, Robert Louis Stephenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (and its various adaptations) and My Fair Lady (the best-known adaptation of…
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