Austin Harrison
Annabella Gamboni I’m not a parent, but I did take a two-year-old to The Lost Letter. She doesn’t have a lot of words, and theatre definitely isn’t one of them, but she was riveted for almost all the 50 minutes of this Capital E National Theatre for Children show – and if that isn’t an advertisement for kids’ theatre, I don’t know what is.
Kate Norquay Shitspeare is a rapid-fire devised piece, cutting together words from various Shakespeare plays to reframe them from a feminist perspective. It examines gender power imbalances in modern day Aotearoa and calls for change.
Corey Spence Promotional image for 'Celestial Nobodies', design by Aimée Sullivan When I think of outer space, planets experiencing identity crises and crumbling under the pressure to be exactly who or what we’ve told them to be are not the first things that come to mind. Perhaps, then, this is precisely what makes the premise behind Celestial Nobodies land so well. Written by Evangelina Telfar and directed by Anastasia Matteini-Roberts, Celestial Nobodies is a clever polylogue that uses its otherworldly scope to engage with identity, individualism, labels, social pressures, and expectations. Mostly, the show does so with satisfying panache, combining stellar performances with a bright, poetic script, but occasionally, it becomes pockmarked by uneven crafting.
Jenny Nimon Whenever I see stand-up comedy, I wonder if it will keep me engaged for a full hour. It’s not easy when it’s just you and a mic, but the winner of Best Solo Show for Nelson Fringe 2020, The Cool Mum by comic Jo Ghastly, removes the downfalls of stand-up by pulling narrative into the equation. Instead of having to listen to someone crack one-liners for an hour or tell a long-winded story, the audience gets to sit down to something with a structure that has actually been thought out.
Emilie Hope Anyone had doubts about the universe? More specifically, faith? Is there a god or higher power? Why are we here? These are serious existential questions, and seeing Spiritual Banana won’t necessarily give you the answers, but it’s an entertaining ride all the same.
Spiritual Banana is filled to the brim with hip hop songs, rap, breakdancing, singing, interpretive dance, monologues, and yoga. It’s an eclectic controlled-chaos vignette-style show where Joana Simmons a.k.a. Banana Jolie takes us through her journey with faith and what faith means.  Kate NorquayFab Beasts is a double bill of two short comedy shows about mythical creatures. The first, The Utterly Last Unicorn is about a group of property managing unicorns fighting for a place on Noah’s ark. The second, A NESScesary Detective is about Detective Ness, a loch ness monster detective who solves a local murder.
Austin Harrison I Don’t Know How to Dance is a theatrical celebration of dance brought to the New Zealand Fringe Festival by contemporary folk duo Good Habits (Bonnie Schwarz and Pete Shaw). The show revolves around a series of audio interviews with dancers of all sorts from around the world. From the pressure of being a professional dancer in a social dance setting to the history of Capoeira in Brazil, the interviews are varied and interesting and beautifully accompanied by Good Habits and dancer Cade Hansen.
Lizzie Murray The Yellow Cat Collective reimagines Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s 1892 short story as a dreamy dance horror. The Yellow Wallpaper dazzles the senses with its immersive set, use of scents, poetic narration and ethereal movement. Exploring themes of isolation and oppression from an early feminist text, I can’t think of a better show to share with you on International Women’s Day.
Jenny Nimon Frames of the Chaos is a pre-recorded solo retelling of an immigrant rights protest from the perspective of documentary-maker Shinzo. In its blurb in the Fringe programme, the show describes itself as ‘epic poetry of our time’ and touts writer and performer Hideto Ambiguous as an ‘award-winning migrant storyteller’. It sets me up with high expectations, and what is delivered does not come close to meeting them.
Kate NorquayCupid’s Guide to Modern Romance is an improvised romantic comedy with the aim of helping us figure out this whole love thing. It’s part cute and wholesome queer romance, part self-help and 100% a feel good time.
Jenny Nimon Big Foot by Fringe-nominated makers of Should Have Said No, Blue Flicker Productions, explores the space where imagination and denial meet. Siblings Eva (Rebekah de Roo) and Charlie (Daniel Nodder), now adults, go hunting for their presumed-dead childhood friend Big Foot in the Land Beyond the Garden Shed, taking the audience on a tour of the fantasy world, their sibling relationship and their grief.
Lizzie Murray ALONE is a thrilling, intergalactic journey that asks the big questions about life, religion and David Bowie. Winner of Auckland Fringe Festival’s Best Theatre and PANNZ Tour Ready Production awards last year, Dusty Room Productions brings ALONE to Wellington and it lives up to the hype.
Jenny Nimon No! I’m Not Australian! by Ocean Denham is a storytelling stand-up comedy show centred around an OE gone wrong – over and over again. In 45 minutes, we travel across the UK, vicariously living out Denham’s most mortifying moments.
Abby Rainbow The delightful and talented improvisers of The Pāua Ballads show off their vocal, comedy and quick-thinking skills in The Musical: The Musical. In the meta-musical, audience members become the Master Director and offer suggestions to create your night’s musical. Saturday night’s musical was Coriander Curry, with heavy emphasis on the coriander.
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