New Zealand Theater Reviews Page 3

Review: THE HEART BREAK CHOIR at ASB Waterfront Theatre
by Monica Moore - February 19, 2023

Auckland Theatre Company has begun its 30th anniversary year with a heartwarming play with all the great elements of top-class entertainment underpinned by deeper more gripping issues of trauma, loss, healing and the strength of community....

Review: 'THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR' BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE at Shoreside Theatre
by Glenda Pearce - February 09, 2023

What did our critic think of 'THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR' BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE at Shoreside Theatre?...

Review: ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA at Shoreside Theatre, Pumphouse Theatre
by Glenda Pearce - January 24, 2023

What did our critic think of ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA at Shoreside Theatre, Pumphouse Theatre?...

Review: DI AND VIV AND ROSE at The Pumphouse Theatre, Takapuna, Auckland
by Glenda Pearce - November 13, 2022

What did our critic think of DI AND VIV AND ROSE at THE PUMPHOUSE Theatre, Takapuna, Auckland?Don't we all hunger for human connection? Love? Support? Laughter?  Directed superbly, with exquisite attention to detail, by Stephanie McKellar- Smith, the action of this emotionally-charged play centres o...

Review: THE MADE at ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland
by Monica Moore - October 06, 2022

What did our critic think of THE MADE at ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland?...

Review: THE WHALE RIDER at The Pumphouse Theatre, Takapuna, Auckland
by Glenda Pearce - September 25, 2022

What did our critic think of THE WHALE RIDER at The Pumphouse Theatre, Takapuna, Auckland?...

Review: THE CAMPERVAN at The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland
by Monica Moore - September 18, 2022

The play boils society down to two sorts of people: the ones who are focused on the accumulation of more, and the self-serving leeches who survive off those who accumulate. The audience starts by laughing at the characters but leaves wondering if we were laughing at boldly painted versions of oursel...

Review: THE WASP at Q Theatre, Auckland
by Glenda Pearce - September 18, 2022

What did our critic think of THE WASP at Q Theatre, Auckland?...

Review: SHEPHERD at Howick Little Theatre
by Glenda Pearce - September 11, 2022

What did our critic think of SHEPHERD at HOWICK LITTLE THEATRE?...

Review: THE WRITER at Q Theatre
by Glenda Pearce - September 04, 2022

THE WRITER is an emotionally rich, eloquent and engaging play that surprises. This is an adult play that addresses creativity, gender inequalities and power, particularly in the theatre setting: 'You get to make the world and I get to live in it.'...

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: 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....