New Zealand Theater Reviews
View the latest BroadwayWorld reviews of live + streaming theatre in New Zealand.
BWW Review: THE WOMAN IN BLACK at Pumphouse
by Monica Moore - June 14, 2022
The audience is robbed of their sense of security; blindsided by anticipation and fear. Thrilled and chilled yet enthralled in a nervous hope that the anxiety and build-up will soon break into yet another fright....gripped by the juxtaposed emotions of hope and fear....
BWW Review: DHABA ON DEVON AVENUE at TAPAC
by Glenda Pearce - May 29, 2022
Opening night of a world premiere – and it’s a passionate and eloquent drama of a family polarised by a gamut of emotions: pride, determination, challenge and heritage. A ypical conversation that you have with your parents about ‘you just need to let me do my thing. You brought me to a new country ...
BWW Review: HANNA at Dolphin Theatre, Onehunga, Auckland
by Monica Moore - May 05, 2022
Director Jennifer Ward-Lealand's expertise and wisdom of the stage lives and breathes through the performance of Cassandra Woodhouse in Hanna. Woodhouse captivated the audience for the entire 90-minute performance. She is sensational. No one was in their seats - they were with her as she carried us...
BWW Review: BRIDAL SHOP CONFESSIONS at Dolphin Theatre, Onehunga, Auckland
by Monica Moore - April 25, 2022
Dolphin Theatre's 'Bridal Shop Confessions' is a world premiere from award-winning New Zealand playwright Lindsey Brown. Directed by Robyn Bull it's the story of 5 childhood friends who follow through on their pact to be each other's bridesmaids....
BWW Review: GRAND HORIZONS at ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland
by Monica Moore - March 02, 2022
A spell-binding sandwich-making experience? The luncheon paper taking centre stage and the attention of all? I wouldn't have believed it either!. This is just one of the many kiwi moments made into artistry during Auckland Theatre Company's Grand Horizons presented by MINDFOOD....
BWW Review: THE COUNTRY HOUSE at Dolphin Theatre, Onehunga, Auckland
by Monica Moore - February 21, 2022
Dolphin Theatre Company, Onehunga Auckland delights with the New Zealand Premiere of the Donald Margulies, Chekhovian-inspired multi-generation play full of complicated thespians....
BWW Review: SOHO CINDERS at Te Auaha
by Lindsey Rusling - January 30, 2022
Currently at Te Auaha, Wellington Footlights Society is staging the New Zealand Premiere of Soho Cinders, a charming, gender-reversed telling of the original Cinderella story. With music by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe and a book by Anthony Drewe and Elliot Davis, Footlights is supporti...
BWW Review: THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA at The Pumphouse Theatre, Takapuna, Auckland
by Glenda Pearce - January 31, 2022
Opening night of the second play of the Shoreside's Auckland Shakespeare in the Park - and it's raining. However, spirits undeterred - the actors and the audience move into the auditorium, and the comedy begins. The Two Gentlemen of Verona was probably one of Shakespeare's first comedies alongside T...
BWW Review: Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE presented by Shoreside Theatre at The Pumphouse, Takapuna.
by Glenda Pearce - January 24, 2022
Opening night of the first play of the Shoreside's Auckland Shakespeare in the Park - and it's a clever comedy, its controversy eloquently driven by polarised emotions: friendship, revenge, love, hate, justice, mercy. Whether this is your first time or another of many viewings, there is much to surp...
BWW Review: DOUBLE BILL: AND THEY WERE WRONG/AN ENCYCLOPAEDIC INSTRUCTION at Courtney Creative
by Lindsey Rusling - December 17, 2021
These two plays are a theatrical Double Bill taking place in Courtney Creative on Courtenay Place in Wellington. It is wonderful to see experimental theatre by such young players who had obviously gone to great lengths in order to produce and direct their own plays but it was somewhat surprising not...
BWW Review: 'SPIDER'S WEB' at Dolphin Theatre
by Glenda Pearce - August 08, 2021
This is an intricate plot of murder, police, drug addicts, invisible ink, hidden doorways, secret drawers, dropped clues and engineered plot twists. Expertly directed by Matthew Cousins, with well-timed plot elements, well-balanced farce, and creative flair, the audience is entirely entertained and ...
BWW Review: TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS at Howick Little Theatre
by Jake La Jeunesse - August 04, 2021
hlt studio offers a dramatized memoir of an advice columnist, who forges a connection of love, support, acceptance and forgiveness with hundreds of strangers by offering them advice from her own personal experience, opening up about her mistakes and flaws. A powerful performance available only for a...
BWW Review: THE MOUSETRAP at The Pumphouse, Takapuna
by Glenda Pearce - July 29, 2021
What would you expect from a classic murder mystery, written in 1952 that ran in London's West End continuously until 16 March 2020? And even then the stage performances were only discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic! Aren't you just a little curious about this phenomenon?...
BWW Review: LES MISERABLES at Wainuiomata Little Theatre
by Lindsey Rusling - July 18, 2021
Boubil and Schoenberg's musical based on the novel by Victor Hugo is a beast. Dramatic, passionate and a firm favourite with many Musical Theatre lovers for its emotional music, historical setting and tragic but redemptive storyline....
BWW Review: SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET at Te Auaha
by Lindsey Rusling - July 18, 2021
Audiences in Wellington were holding their breath to see if, much-anticipated, WITCH Music Theatre's version of Sondheim's musical thriller, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street....
BWW Review: THE VIEWING ROOM at Howick Little Theatre
by Glenda Pearce - July 18, 2021
“Why did we wait a lifetime to speak?”...
BWW Review: AN APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH at Langley Theatre, Auckland
by Monica Moore - July 06, 2021
An all-female cast of clever young women delivered an intriguing and highly entertaining performance....
BWW Review: WONDERFUL at Basement Theatre
by Jake La Jeunesse - June 23, 2021
This one-man show portrays a professional clergyman-educator with a deep passion for film and theatre. The combined efforts of playwright Dean Parker and actor Andrew Laing portray a character who is subtle and complex, familiar and loveable. An excellent performance will allow the audience to feel ...
BWW Review: THE REVIVAL at Dolphin Theatre
by Jake La Jeunesse - June 07, 2021
The Revival focuses on a group of bickering actors who slowly begin to realize their show is haunted. Director Jan Saussey pulls together a witty script and some theatre magic to craft an experience that is both charming and frightening. A superb cast of actors adds life (and death) to some difficul...
BWW Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM at Hamilton Musical Theatre
by Marty Wilson - May 16, 2021
Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum has burst into life with gusto on the Hamilton Musical Theatre....
BWW Review: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN at Howick Little Theatre
by Glenda Pearce - May 14, 2021
Set in a suburban town in England in present time, 'THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN' is a contemporary and complex psycho-thriller, a 'whodunnit' with twists and turns, anticipations and numerous attempts to guess just who is guilty and who is not. Can we trust the 'storyteller' or she suffering from alcohol ...
BWW Review: LEGALLY BLONDE at Centrestage Youth Theatre
by Jake La Jeunesse - May 01, 2021
An impressive cast assembled by Centrestage Youth Theatre incited a standing ovation on their final performance of Legally Blonde. Performers displayed a range of nuance and talent worthy of respect. Review by Jake La Jeunesse...
BWW Review: SHORTLAND STREET: THE MUSICAL at Gryphon Theatre
by Lindsey Rusling - April 22, 2021
Shortland Street is an iconic Kiwi soap opera based around the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The soap first aired in 1992, has been broadcast all over the world and is one of the most watched programmes in New Zealand....
BWW Review: BLACKADDER ... IN LOVE at Playhouse Theatre Inc
by Marty Wilson - April 22, 2021
I was invited along to opening night of Playhouse Theatre's production of Blackadder ... In Love. So, I grabbed my 'proxy aunties' and we came along. As fans of Blackadder in general we looked forward to an evening of entertainment. ...
BWW Review: GREASE at Harelquin