Arts and culture in Ōtautahi Christchurch
Jordon Jones reviews SwapRox, presented by PopRox Improv, at Little Andromeda, Thursday 20 August 2026. If you've ever thought that improv comedy just isn't chaotic enough these days, have I got a show for you! SwapRox is an acknowledgement that attention spans are shrinking, and has been specially designed to shake things up just as… Continue reading Review: SwapRox – chaotic improv with miscreant energy for those with short attention spans
Charlotte Thornton reviews Redemption, presented by Ginge and Minge at Little Andromeda, Thursday 20 August 2026. Behind every great idea are a dozen bad ones. Discarding these bad ideas, known as ‘killing your darlings,’ is a painful but important part of the artistic process. They get locked away in the Notes app alongside half-finished to-do… Continue reading Review: Redemption – bad ideas turned chaotic good
Erin Harrington reviews Friends to the End, created and performed by Wiremu Tuhiwai and Brendon Bennetts with Criss Grueber, at Little Andromeda, Friday 12 June 2026. The award-winning improvised theatre show Friends to the End feels like it needs a graphic novel rather than a written review. There’d be a lot of pow and thwop… Continue reading Review: Friends to the End – not even the apocalypse can bust up this delightful bromance
Jordon Jones reviews Death at Murder Manor, directed by Brendon Bennetts, at the Court Theatre, presented as part of the NZ International Comedy Festival, Thursday 7 May 2026. The audience falls into a hush as the lights dim. The entrance music—a series of songs one might find in Noël Coward's personal record collection—fades out. There… Continue reading Review: Death at Murder Manor – clever improvised theatre that’s dead funny
Ruth Agnew reviews The Early Early Late Show, presented by the Court Jesters in the Wakefield Family Front Room at the Court Theatre, Tuesday 23 September 2025. The Early Early Late Show (EELS) is something of a school holiday fixture, with the first version performed in 2007 in the Court Theatre at the Christchurch Arts… Continue reading Review: The Early Early Late Show – a beloved, brilliantly executed school holiday fixture
Erin Harrington reviews Forna Cape, presented by the Court Jesters, at the Court Theatre, Thursday 18 September. The current Court Jesters’ improvised show was initially programmed as Zeitgeist, a placeholder that would allow the company to respond to whatever was floating to the top of the pop cultural soup. Forna Cape looks to our current… Continue reading Review: Forna Cape – chaotic beachside improv about hot people, pashing, and maybe true love?
Lisa Allan reviews PopRox Improv, at Little Andromeda, Saturday 14 June, 2025. It is Saturday night and the foyer at Little Andromeda is packed with punters who have come out in force to see the Wellington improv comedy troupe, PopRox, perform. It is not surprising to see a cohort from Christchurch’s own professional improv troupe,… Continue reading Review: PopRox Improv – a generous, playful and positive force
Erin Harrington reviews Grifted and Talented with Jim Fishwick, presented by Jetpack Theatre, at Little Andromeda, Friday 11 April 2025. Multi-hyphenate creative and improvisor Jim Fishwick knows how to get the best out of performers. Their new improv? performance? comedy? humiliation? show format Grifted and Talented (a title both great and triggering) is a clever… Continue reading Review: Grifted and Talented – a hilarious game show that pits talent against treachery
Erin Harrington talks with Brendon Bennetts, the creator / producer / co-Dungeon Master of Dungeons and Comedians, about the show’s development and production, and what’s special (and challenging) about producing a live, improvised theatrical actual play series in the era of digital content. D&C has been running since 2018, and live recordings are also available… Continue reading Interview: Brendon Bennetts on developing Dungeons and Comedians
Erin Harrington reviews Murder! At the Hotel Bon, directed by Georgie Sivier and Kat Forrester for Play Space Productions, at Riccarton House, Wednesday 26 July 2023. Play Space Productions’ immersive comedy Murder! At the Hotel Le Bon marries late 1940s Hollywood glamour with Hollywood squalor, as we – a group of film investors turned detectives… Continue reading Review: Murder! At the Hotel Bon – madcap Hollywood hijinks
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