Arts and culture in Ōtautahi Christchurch
Erin Harrington reviews Every Brilliant Thing, written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, directed by Hillary Moulder, at the Court Theatre, Friday 6 April 2024. A content note to start: is it okay to call an interactive play about depression and suicide joyful? UK playwright Duncan Macmillan’s Every Brilliant Thing is a river of concentrated… Continue reading Review: Every Brilliant Thing – an intense collective experience about hope and imagination
When something is restaged, why not get a reviewer to revisit it? Jordon Jones re-reviews BLUE Experience, written and performed by Sophie Ricketts at Cloisters Studio, Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, Saturday 23 March 2024. I have previously reviewed Sophie Ricketts’ solo show BLUE Experience when she debuted it back in 2019; now,… Continue reading Review: BLUE Experience – a sweet and emotional revisitation
Erin Harrington reviews Icky, written by Viki Moananu and directed by Lizzy Burton-Wood as Oh That Theatre Company!, staged at Little Andromeda, Friday 22 March 2024. For much of the big-hearted dramedy Icky, its titular character (Viki Moananu) circles literally and figurately around a freestanding, empty wooden door frame that dominates the centre of the… Continue reading Review: Icky – throwing shade, trauma-dumping, and the joys of tartare sauce
Sophie Ricketts reviews False Idol, written and performed by Andy Manning, directed by Melanie Luckman, and produced by Ben Freeth, at Little Andromea, Friday 1 March 2024. The theatre was dark, and from the shadows emerged a cloaked figure who began to play powerchords on the centre-stage keyboard. Dramatic lighting and gospel-esque sounds signalled to… Continue reading Review: False Idol – all types of fabulous
Erin Harrington reviews Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express¸ adapted by Ken Ludwig, directed by Dan Bain, at the Court Theatre, Saturday 2 March 2024. The Court Theatre is entering its final year in the Shed in Addington before it shifts into its new premises in the central city’s Performing Arts Precinct. Director Dan… Continue reading Review: Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express – a stylish, engrossing murder mystery
Erin Harrington reviews the Anthony Harper summer season of The Odyssey, staged by Noosed Octopus at the Botanic Gardens, and directed by Dan Bain, based on the epic poem Odyssey by the ancient Greek poet Homer, Thursday 25 January, 2024. The Christchurch City Council’s summer theatre productions are a welcome way to mark the end… Continue reading Review: The Odyssey – a dynamic outdoor comedy about taking the long way home
Erin Harrington reviews Something Rotten! book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, directed by Benjamin Kilby-Henson, with musical direction by Richard Marrett, at the Court Theatre, Saturday 25 November 2023. The Court Theatre has a long tradition of presenting big budget summer musicals that seek to… Continue reading Review: Something Rotten! – a boisterous, witty musical that’s anything but
Erin Harrington reviews Long Ride Home, written and directed by Jack McGee for Squash Co. Arts Collective, at Little Andromeda, 16 November 2023. If you want to have a hard conversation with someone, everyone from internet strangers to expensive therapists will tell you it’s a good idea to do it in car where you’re stuck… Continue reading Review: Long Ride Home – an engaging, innovative two-hander that doesn’t quite make it home
Erin Harrington reviews The Haka Party Incident, written and directed by Katie Wolfe, at The Court Theatre, Friday 27 October 2023. In 1979, a group of Māori activists, who would come to be known later as He Taua, went to the University of Auckland to confront a group of engineering students who were preparing for… Continue reading Review: The Haka Party Incident – bold, ferocious, essential viewing
A midwinter restrospective for springtime: Erin Harrington reviews Ka Noho, Ka Mate, presented in the Great Hall as part of the Te Matatiki Toi Ora Arts Centre Matariki Festival, 14 July 2023. The Matariki performance (or gig? or lamentation?) Ka Noho, Ka Mate starts solemnly. Kaiako and rapper Kommi Tamati-Elliffe (Kāi Tahu, Te Ātiawa), producer… Continue reading Review: Ka Noho, Ka Mate – a journey in and out of grief that reminds us everything is here
Flat City Field Notes 