Arts and culture in Ōtautahi Christchurch
Charlotte Thornton reviews Folk Tales, presented by Rollicking Entertainment for the Lyttelton Arts Festival, at the Lyttelton Arts Factory, Sunday 19 July 2026. Let’s talk about the apocalypse. It’s hard to say if we’re properly in it now, or still dodging it Matrix-style, but this year has seen a distinct mood shift. Blues and folk… Continue reading Review: Folk Tales – a much-needed cuddle in dark times
Charlotte Thornton reviews Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette, presented at Lyttelton Arts Factory as part of the Lyttelton Arts Festival, Satuday 18 July 2026. Back in March, I reviewed The Gigantic Gay Late Night Game Show at The Court Theatre during its Rainbow Festival. It featured Dan Pengelly as sassy, French-accented compére Pierre, Criss Grueber… Continue reading Review: Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette – a great show lost in its crowd
Jordon Jones reviews Great Comic Writing, presented by Joe Bennett as part of the Lyttelton Arts Festival, at the Lyttelton Arts Factory, Sunday 12 July 2026.A week ago, I went to Lyttelton Arts Factory to hear Joe Bennett in discussion about Shakespeare's Greatest Comedy. This last weekend, both of us returned to the same place… Continue reading Review: Great Comic Writing – an incisive, insightful masterclass in wit and wordplay
Charlotte Thornton reviews Stars Lyttelton, presented by Shay Horay and friends as part of the Lyttelton Arts Festival, at The Loons, Saturday 11 July 2026. TV used to be awesome. On ITV’s Stars in Their Eyes, a regular person would get awkwardly interviewed before disappearing into a cloud of smoke and re-emerging dressed as a… Continue reading Review: Stars Lyttelton – the best talent quest in town
Erin Harrington reviews the Feminist Clown Posse Annual Gala, at Lyttelton Arts Factory as part of the Lyttelton Arts Festival, Tuesday 7 July, 2026. The joyful takeaway message from the third annual Feminist Clown Posse gala is hooray for the idiots, and hooray for idiocy - idiocy for freedom, idiocy sprung of anger, idiocy in… Continue reading Review: Feminist Clown Posse Annual Gala – changing the world one fail at a time
Jordon Jones reviews Shakespeare's Greatest Comedy, by Joe Bennett, presented at Lyttelton Arts Factory as part of the Lyttelton Arts Festival, Sunday 5 July 2026. Thanks to the Lyttelton Arts Festival, which kicked off last week, I had the pleasure of going along to see local legend Joe Bennett discuss the Bard in Shakespeare's Greatest… Continue reading Review: Shakespeare’s Greatest Comedy – wit, energy, and infectious enthusiasm
Erin Harrington reviews The Feast, directed by Fleur de Thier and Renee Ryan and created with the cast, at Lyttelton Arts Factory, Friday 6 February, 2026. The return season of Fleur de Thier and Renee Ryan’s stunning 75-minute performance work The Feast is set at a long black banquet table, which is backed by a… Continue reading Review: The Feast – sumptuous, emotional storytelling through dance, monologue and music
Naomi van den Broek on learning to be a clown under the tutelage of comedian Tessa Waters - including the work, joy and importance of creating feminist communities in comedy and performing arts. Sometime in 2023 I was added to a Facebook group with the name Feminist Clown Posse (FCP) and an amazing profile pic… Continue reading Behind the Curtain at Clown Club (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love to Bomb)
Erin Harrington reviews The Tempestuous: A Shrew'd New Comedy by Will Shakespeare and Penny Ashton, at Lyttelton Arts Factory, 9 August 2024. Surely at some point we get to call Penny Ashton a national treasure? Her terrific new one-woman musical comedy The Tempestuous, co-written with one W. Shakespeare, certainly reiterates that she’s one of the… Continue reading Review: The Tempestuous – hot pink comedy meets the Bard’s best bits
Erin Harrington reviews We've Got So Much to Talk About, created and performed by Sally Stockwell, directed by Julia Harvie, at Lyttelton Arts Factory, 20 October 2023. Sally Stockwell’s excellent We’ve Got So Much to Talk About is one-woman multidisciplinary tour de force that grabs tightly onto the messiness of motherhood and maternal identity and… Continue reading Review: We’ve Got So Much to Talk About – a vital, defiant show about motherhood and identity
Flat City Field Notes 