Review: A Christmas Carol – an important, innovative take on a seasonal classic

Erin Harrington reviews A Christmas Carol, presented by Many Hats Theatre Company and devised by the cast, Saturday 2 December 2023. Community support organisation Skillwise does exceptional work with people with disabilities and their whānau. One of their many creative initiatives is the innovative and inclusive Many Hats Theatre Company, which provides performance opportunities for… Continue reading Review: A Christmas Carol – an important, innovative take on a seasonal classic

Review: Long Ride Home – an engaging, innovative two-hander that doesn’t quite make it home

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

Review: The Haka Party Incident – bold, ferocious, essential viewing

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

Review: Dance Nation – a banger of a play about fierce and feral girlhood

Erin Harrington reviews Dance Nation, written by Clare Barron, directed by Alison Walls, at the Court Theatre, Saturday 23 September 2023. The Court Theatre’s fierce production of Clare Barron’s 2018 play Dance Nation invites superlatives. The show, as directed by Court Theatre AD Alison Walls, offers us a bonkers, vulgar, hilarious, vulnerable take on A… Continue reading Review: Dance Nation – a banger of a play about fierce and feral girlhood

Review: CLAS103 Greek Mythology – a madcap romp through antiquity

Erin Harrington reviews CLAS103: Greek Mythology, performed by Vincent Andrew-Scammell, and co-directed by Lucy Dawber, at Little Andromeda, Thursday 7 September 2023. There’s a moment quite early on in the semi-improvised show CLAS103: Greek Mythology where actor Vincent Andrew-Scammell, wearing a ridiculous bed-sheet toga and giving a flirtatious take on Greek god Hermes, mimes handing… Continue reading Review: CLAS103 Greek Mythology – a madcap romp through antiquity

Review: Colour Me Cecily – a promising show in need of more colour

Naomi van den Broek reviews Colour Me Cecily at Little Andromeda, 20 April 2023. In the 1980s my mother, fresh from the breakup of the parental marriage, did what many women in her situation did. She looked for a career that could work around full-time parenting - particularly something that allowed her control over her… Continue reading Review: Colour Me Cecily – a promising show in need of more colour

Review: Off Centre – Requiem, Much Ado About Nothing, and being a city

Erin Harrington pokes around at the Off Centre festival, including performances of Requiem and Much Ado About Nothing, at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Friday 3 - Sunday 5 March. For other coverage see a review of A Baby Called Sovereignty here. When The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora was severely impacted… Continue reading Review: Off Centre – Requiem, Much Ado About Nothing, and being a city

Review: A Baby Called Sovereignty – a koha, a wero, a celebration

Naomi van den Broek responds to A Baby Called Sovereignty, presented as part of the Off Centre Festival at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Saturday 4 March 2023. “We are not invisible, I know you see us” Weaver of stories, people, themes and contemporary concerns, Juanita Hepi, gives us the koha of A… Continue reading Review: A Baby Called Sovereignty – a koha, a wero, a celebration

Review: Sense and Sensibility – a sparking romantic romp

Erin Harrington reviews Sense and Sensibility, adapted by Penny Ashton from Jane Austen's novel, directed and choreographed by Hillary Moulder, at The Court Theatre, Saturday 11 February, 2023. I didn’t come to Jane Austen until quite late – my 30s. When I was assigned to read Pride and Prejudice in third form English I was… Continue reading Review: Sense and Sensibility – a sparking romantic romp

Review: I Didn’t Invite You Here to Lecture Me – in defense of a collective experience

Erin Harrington reviews I Didn’t Invite You Here to Lecture Me, presented by Artsense Productions, at Little Andromeda, Friday 10 February 2023. The writer and producer of I Didn’t Invite You Here to Lecture Me, Amy Mansfield, clearly took some pretty good notes during her time as a university student – better than most. This… Continue reading Review: I Didn’t Invite You Here to Lecture Me – in defense of a collective experience