Arts and culture in Ōtautahi Christchurch
Lisa Allan reviews Caterpillars, created and directed by Thom Monckton and produced by Circo Kali for the World Buskers Festival, at Altiora, Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Festival, Wednesday 29 January, 2025. Two lycra-clad clowns actively welcome the audience from a stage adorned with three colourful rounded screens. The performers are covered from head to… Continue reading Review: Caterpillars – skilful and generous clowning
Naomi van den Broek reviews Two Girls One Gun, created and performed by Comedy Gold, at The Great Hall, Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, as part of the World Buskers Festival, Friday 24 January, 2025. Comedy Gold describe their work as ‘genre bending’, and I think it’s an entirely apt description of what… Continue reading Review: Two Girls One Gun – a top-tier spy parody in the wrong place at the right time
Sophie Ricketts reviews The Tape Face Show, presented as part of the World Buskers Festival, at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Thursday 23 January 2025. The prodigal son has returned! From the stages of New Zealand, to stages around the world (including the glitz and glamour of America’s Got Talent and Las Vegas), it is a… Continue reading Review: The Tape Face Show – delightfully silly, absolute heaven
Erin Harrington reviews the Anthony Harper Summer Season of The Complete Voyage of the RMS Titanic (in 90 Minutes), produced by Rollicking Entertainment, performed outdoors at the Archery Lawn, Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Friday 10 January 2025. For more than two decades summer theatre in the Botanic Gardens, supported by MVP sponsors Anthony Harper, has taken… Continue reading Review: The Complete Voyage of the RMS Titanic (in 90 Minutes) – Disaster? I hardly know her!
Ruth Agnew reviews O Little Town of Beckenham, written by Greg Cooper, directed by Dan Bain, at Little Andromeda, Thursday 5 December 2024. Little Andromeda’s annual Christmas show has become something of a tradition for Ōtautahi audiences, and this year, Little A has gone one step further in spreading festive cheer by shifting Christmas to… Continue reading Review: O Little Town of Beckenham – an unashamedly hammy Christmas cracker
Erin Harrington reviews Strictly Ballroom The Musical, created by Baz Luhrmann, directed by Benjamin Kilby-Henson, with musical direction by Richard Marrett, at the Court Theatre, Saturday 23 November 2024. Summer musical Strictly Ballroom is the Court Theatre’s final mainstage production before it shifts to its new central city premises. It’s designed (in every element of… Continue reading Review: Strictly Ballroom – a camp, glitzy goodbye
Naomi van den Broek reviews Wobbly, created and performed by Emma Newborn, designed by Nick Zwart, and directed by Tessa Waters, at Little Andromeda, Friday 22 November, 2024. Emma Newborn’s first showing of her one woman show, Wobbly, is a riotously funny lambasting of our relationships with our bodies, wellness culture, and how it feels… Continue reading Review: Wobbly – an assured one-woman comedy about having a body
Ering Harrington reviews The Raft, by Carl Nixon, directed by Julian Anderson, presented by Canterbury Repertory Theatre at the Elmwood Auditorium, Wednesday 20 Nvomber, 2024. Carl Nixon’s emotional drama about grief, memory, and forgiveness The Raft brings together a shattered family on a terrible anniversary. Mark (Matt McMenamin) and Tonia (Emma McBride) suffered through the… Continue reading Review: The Raft – an exploration of grief, anger, and forgiveness
Erin Harrington reviews Prima Facie, by Suzie Miller, presented by Kavanah Productions, at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Wednesday 6 November 2024. Criminal defence barrister Tess (Mel Dodge) is successful and hard-edged. She’s a working-class girl who’s made it alongside privileged private school boys thanks to grit, brains, and a vicious competitive streak. She proclaims her… Continue reading Review: Prima Facie – an intense legal drama about broken systems
Erin Harrington reviews Richard O'Brien's The Kingdom of Bling, at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Wednesday 16 October 2024. Richard O’Brien’s new fantasy rock musical The Kingdom of Bling is a little like Badjelly the Witch for grownups: a political, satirical one-act radio play, performed live by an impressive emsemble of theatrical A-listers and a pair… Continue reading Review: The Kingdom of Bling – a rocking satirical parable from a living legend
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