Katie Hill Wellington’s Pāua Ballads are back off a sold-out Improv Fest show, and a Christmas special with High School: (The Improvised) Musical. Improvising veteran, Austin Harrison opens the show as a ruthlessly cheerful school principal, normally I’d anticipate some kind of audience-rousing activity, but it’s not necessary, this Tuesday night is crowd is warm, particularly a patch in the bottom right who whoop and holler before Harrison gets his second syllable in.
Mia Oudes I am a complete outsider to what it is that Thank You, Ten is celebrating. I have never seen a Footlights show, but I was looking forward to sitting back to watch some musical theatre... and try to resist the urge to sing along.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin The annual Circa Theatre Pantomime is a consistent good time and a worthy watch to celebrate the last leg of the year. Written by Simon Leary and Gavin Rutherford, with Rutherford also taking the mantle of directing. This pantomime marks 20 years since the first at Circa and it’s jam-packed with double-entendre, local jokes, incredible costuming (shoutout to Sheila Horton, assisted by Sharon Johnstone and Maysie Pyatt), as well as song and dance medleys you’ll no doubt know and love (unless you’re the under 10s who got on stage and didn’t know Hot To Go by Chappell Roan).
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin Endling is a show about nothing. Each of its sketches, individually, have no sense of theme or emotional catalyst, and once thought of together, as a collection, they also offer no meaning. We are told by Monckton near the top of the show that if we find any underlying meaning that it is entirely our fault. To search this show for meaning would be to rummage around in an empty box. There is something to be said about emphasizing a point of meaninglessness so much that we, an audience of humans, are going to search harder for one.
Jack McGee By the time we find our seats in Circa Two, it’s all but clear that Kamala Harris has lost the election. The tone of the room is far from sombre. Sure, there’s the occasional sad-sack (myself) wearing it on their face, but mostly people are chipper, excited. It’s rare for me to come to a local show where I know there are fans in the crowd. Not friends of Penny Ashton, fans. Dyed Hot Pink in the wool, branded-tea-towel-purchasing, social-media-following, real, loyal, fans. Ashton is here to give them what they want.
Imogen Capes With a story so well-known and beloved as JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, it is a difficult task to successfully cram the epic tale into anything the average theatre-goer can comfortably sit through. At barely less than 3 hours, The Lord of the Rings - A Musical Tale manages to weave the familiar story, ostensibly told from the Shire hobbits’ perspective, in such a way that the audience is drawn into Middle Earth to join on this quest. Though not without its pitfalls, the show is an energetic and engaging retelling of the seminal fantasy saga.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin Every now and then you go to a show and think “Thank god this was made.” Show do Cafe is a warm embrace of a dance show, a mix of live and recorded music, with a thick aroma of coffee hanging in the air. It is a joyous and heartfelt immersive performance which explores the profound impact of coffee on society.
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