Hamish Boyle Maggot is the absurd, expectation-subverting twice-removed daughter exiled to the colonies after a steamy night between The Goon Show and Monty Python. There is a damn good reason this show has the accolades it does. From the writing to the performance to the confounding choice of the show’s own title, Maggot may well be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on stage.
by Laura Ferguson Ivy Bar has huddled in a good crowd for the first show of Gay Icons, the comedy show from James Malcolm and Neil Thornton. It’s only Tuesday and it’s already been a long week so I’m looking forward to laughing and with Thornton and Malcolm, I can guarantee I will.
Corey Spence Dressing Up with Margot has its audience in a talk show-style situation with the titular Margot, a somewhat established fashionista; Margot perches on her stage throne, with side table for guest sparkling water, surrounded by clothing racks and treasure troves of clothes. Split into segments where we go through some of Margot’s 99 Rules of Fashion and learn more about Sasha Tilly, the woman behind the persona, it’s a fifty-minute eleganza extravaganza with a heartwarming tale of self-empowerment at the centre.
by Laura Ferguson Jessica McKerlie has travelled Fringe circuits across the globe and has landed in Wellington to give us her new show, Go To Bed, Jessica! McKerlie is a queer musical comedian and I count myself lucky to finally be able to catch one of her performances. I settle myself in, ready for a night of winking at clichés while simultaneously subverting them. I was not disappointed.
Hamish Boyle Clarissa Chandrahasen’s Committed is a public airing and exploration of mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, and how New Zealand’s current mental health systems cope with that. Or rather, how they don’t. Fortunately, Chandrahasen is as adept at handling this as she is an audience. The story that weaves its way across the multi-dimensional stage is, fittingly, an emotional rollercoaster for both the audience and performer.
Deanne Cherie Set in the dark, funky underground Cuba Street Ivy Bar, Tegan Jones’ space for her cabaret show Miley, Moon Unit & Me is cosy, colourful and inviting. Red drapes frame the stage, and a black brick backing wall is boldly lit with red and blue lighting resembling a french cabaret club which built anticipation for potential fishnets and corsets.
by Laura Ferguson Amber Topaz is on stage, sequinned skirt hiked up around her waist, knickers around her knees. She warbles in a drunken Irish tone about drinking more beer, her red hair falling into her eyes haphazardly. She mimes alleviating herself in a public street. It is hilarious and undignified. I love it.
Corey Spence Wellingtonians plays off the common stereotypes of young millenials who live in Wellington, such as everyone being vegan, obsessing over chickpeas, and hating on Aucklanders. Charlie (Jacinta Compton), Aroha (Gypsy-Mae Harihona), and Jack (Ethan Morse) share one bed in their damp and dank Wellington student flat while each unpacks some very different baggage. Problems ensue when Aroha’s old flame, Cam (Mark Whittet), starts spoiling the lives of the three flatmates in very different ways.
by Laura Ferguson I have been eagerly anticipating Three Dead Dogs since last Halloween. The Wellington theatre company Horse With No Name is back, bringing with them this funny, uplifting, heartwarming, tear-jerking show. The title is self-explanatory and anyone who has felt that unconditional heartstring tug for a pet, family member or even stuffed animal will be able to empathise with the love and care shown in this play.
Corey Spence Pardon Me Alan Turing is a cross-dimensional stage drama about the treatment of gay men in ‘the now’, during the time Alan Turing of the twentieth century, and Oscar Wilde of the nineteenth century. Reporter Daniel (David Capstick), codebreaker Alan Turing (Joseph Wycoff), and dramatist Oscar Wilde (Geoff Allen) come together and deluge the stage with their stories. It’s a comparative narrative that inspects the story of each man, showing how far we’ve come with gay rights and how much further we need to go. And while Pardon Me Alan Turing is a thought-provoking show that makes me acknowledge my privilege as a gay man in the twenty-first century, it’s just not theatrical enough to maintain my attention.
by Laura Ferguson Is there a better party in the city right now than Sound and Fury? Imagine, if you will,
entering a ‘pasta spaghetti’ tinsel curtain into the depths of Club 121. Walking down the steps, the throbbing music growing louder, opening into a LED-heavy club scene where sequinned bodies gyrate to amazing mash-ups from Dead DJ Joke, audience members dancing with and around the performers. Imagine ordering a wine from the bar and it arriving in a safe plastic receptable, a metaphor for how messy this evening will get. by Laura Ferguson Confession time: my knowledge of Don Giovanni, is limited to the fact that it is, in fact, an opera. Probably one by Mozart or Beethoven. The former turned out to be correct.
Performer Stuart Coats and director Lyndee-Jane Rutherford have wrestled Mozart’s epic tale of debauchery and regret into a one-man, one-hour jaunt of Don Giovanni. Beautifully synchronised with the amazing pianist Thomas Nikora, Coats energetically flings himself into the story of Don Giovanni, who, after a lifetime of dueling and sleeping with anyone who will have him, is dragged into hell for refusing to repent .  Bethany MillerClare Kerrison's Infernal Recall is a whimsical improv storytelling adventure that activates audience engagement in a unique way.
We sit in the new Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre, ready to watch Clare Kerrison's Infernal Recall. Clare Kerrison herself potters around, asking us (wisely) to move forward, since “it’s an intimate show”. She then adds, “oh but don’t worry, not touching-intimate”. by Laura Ferguson George Fenn’s G+Force begins with onomatopoeic sounds, forming an ASMR-like experience. Gluts and stuttering send a tingle down my spine. I’m already jittery and bright-eyed, eagerly awaiting the start of my first Fringe show of 2018, and the effect of this perceptual phenomena easily transmutes into the relaxing buzz of endorphins once the show begins.
Corey Spence It’s difficult to articulate how it felt waltzing into Rushes; seeing Circa’s foyer covered wall-to-floor in crumpled white paper isn’t something I anticipated. I’m inspired and intrigued watching the soft pink and purple LEDs refract and give an inviting, romantic glow. It feels like the show’s already begun: Rushes, a living, breathing performance art exhibition, where each room is another part of its body.
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