Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin Pure Grime by Warped Productions is the newest solo show from Em Barrett and is a bouffon-style 60-minutes that seeks to explore humanity’s relationship to death and decay; asking humans to question their own relationship to not only flies, but themselves.
Jenny Nimon Dialogue Before Sunset, created by transdisciplinary artist and researcher HT (Shannon Xiao) and her company Temporary Show, describes itself as a ‘live art journey’ that connects Ewengki and Māori narratives and traditions. It claims to blend improvised sound and spatial installation with walking, filmmaking and participatory theatre to honour the pūrākau of the Wellington Harbour taniwha.
Isaac Andrews  New Zealand Fringe Festival’s Ben Pope: Holy Cow stands as a quaint collection of robust anecdotes and inward reflections, which dares to peak into the deeper meaning of our daily lives. Knowing that I am seeing a UK comedian, I am quite excited and glad to see someone from abroad in the comedic field. The show’s promotional statement asks: “What happens after you die? What’s God up to? Is love forever?” Personally, I’m really looking forward to his answers.
Austin Harrison All the way from the UK, A Year and a Day is a solo, contemporary folk tale written and performed by Christopher Sainton-Clark and presented by Raising Cane Productions. The central premise is that narrator Nathan finds himself cursed to skip a year into the future for every day that he lives. Over the course of just two months of his life, Nathan’s wife, friends, family and enemies all liveout 65 years. It’s an enthralling conception but left me wondering why?
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin Kaytlin Bailey’s solo show Whore’s Eye View in BATS’ Stage space is described by Bailey as an aggressive lecture. It is a blood-boiling, hilarious romp through a complicated intersectional human history driven by the charismatic and charming host.
Taylor-Rose Terekia It always excites me to see emerging Māori artists presenting new work, and Hāpaitia by two descendants of Tūwharetoa is a double bill show that gives you plenty to feast on.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin The Forever Wave by Estrella Suerte Productions is a comprehensive exploration of a post-apocalyptic San Francisco after a tide didn’t stop coming in until most of the city had been submerged, except for it’s highest points. Inspired by the famous poem and radio drama Under Milk Wood, this radio play comes in at 90-minutes on Vimeo with subtitles.
Jack McGee The Cyranoid was originally produced as a Te Herenga Waka 300 level production paper in 2023. It has had a re-staging, mostly by the original team, in Te Auaha’s Tapere Nui theatre as part of NZ Fringe 2024. It's impossible to fully remove Cyranoid from its University paper context.
Jack McGee When Kipling DC and Keegan Thomas run out at the start of their stand up two-hander Skuxx Deluxe, shouting and hollering like we’re just about to watch a boxing match, I frantically scrawl at the top of my notebook - MEN - all caps, circled, full stop. There are no windows in the Cavern Club to let the testosterone out. I don’t regret this initial evaluation, this show is in fact - MEN - all caps, circled, full stop. But it works.
Jack McGee If it’s ain't broke, don’t fix it. There are 293 episodes of QI. It’d take you six days and nine hours non-stop to watch all of them. That’s a lot of gentle nodding and chuckling to yourself. Don’t Quit Your Day Job elicits all of those same responses, along with a healthy amount of beard scratching. While my inner tall poppy syndrome may find me occasionally wishing the panelists were a little more British (can you tell I wasn’t a 7 Days kid?), I have to give it up for how effectively Day Job nails the panel show format.
ONE BEDROOM AVAILABLE IN SUPER SUNNY CENTRAL WELLINGTON FLAT $260 PER WEEK EXCLUDING EXPENSES17/2/2024 Brie Keatley Kicking off my 2024 New Zealand Fringe Festival by seeing a show that hits a little too close to home (or should I say flat?) ONE BEDROOM AVAILABLE IN SUPER SUNNY CENTRAL WELLINGTON FLAT $260 PER WEEK EXCLUDING EXPENSES is theatre company P I V O T’s first show and it’s quite the debut. Jack McGee The pairing of Hadley Wilson’s No Hetero and Rachel Mercer’s Exes and Nos as a double bill makes a lot of sense. Both shows are highly confessional, and interested in thoroughly examining the performers' individual romantic history over an extended period of time. Ironically, they’re both created by ex-Canadians who, unknown to each other, used to perform comedy in the same small club above a racquetball court in the mid-2010s. I saw the two shows together at a preview showing in the lead up to their full seasons in NZ Fringe Festival later this month. I’m going to talk about them both individually, and as a double bill - since this is an experience they’re offering during Fringe as well.
Corey Spence Promotional Image for Lads on the Island Lads on the Island, written by Sam Brooks and directed by Nī Dekkers-Reihana, “very loosely inspired” by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, has sailed its way into Circa Theatre this past weekend. As we walk into Circa Two, an island with an array of objects (including a bong and a traffic cone) and a mini-fridge sit centre stage surrounded by a backdrop of thin, silvery-grey curtains. My immediate thought is, when you slap a Wellington student flat on an island in the middle of presumably nowhere, and the effect has us curious: what will transpire there? Who will visit the island? It’s not long before the audience settles and fog fills the theatre; Prospero’s storm has begun.
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