Art Murmurs Team
It's no secret that 2023 brought its fair share of storms for Te Whanganui-a-Tara theatre to weather. Our community has been hit by all manner of adversity and in-spite of it, we've continued to create all manner of bold, innovative, idiosyncratic, art. Fuck yeah! Let's celebrate that!
With only a few days left till 2024, it's a great time to look back and reflect on everything from the smallest Tapere Iti show, to the longest Circa Season. We've asked the members of our team to shout out some of their favourites from this year. Here's what they came up with...
With only a few days left till 2024, it's a great time to look back and reflect on everything from the smallest Tapere Iti show, to the longest Circa Season. We've asked the members of our team to shout out some of their favourites from this year. Here's what they came up with...
We’ve Got So Much To Talk About – Tahi Festival.
Jack McGee
Sally Stockwell’s triumphant solo show about motherhood is the best lesson I received this year on the importance of giving things a shot. I went in completely blind, with no expectations, and half a year later I’m still thinking about it. My scrambled, borderline dadaist, review, shows just how overwhelmed I was by this at the time. Concision and clarity still escape me now. It’s remarkable how many different feelings and ideas Stockwell managed to fit into a one-act show. Gets a special award for most accurate title of the year; she really had a lot to talk about.
Other shoutouts – The Haka Party Incident (Kia Mau), The Importance of Being Earnest (Circa), Paradox (NZ Fringe), Gabby Anderson: Bad-ish Teacher (Comedy Fest).
Other shoutouts – The Haka Party Incident (Kia Mau), The Importance of Being Earnest (Circa), Paradox (NZ Fringe), Gabby Anderson: Bad-ish Teacher (Comedy Fest).
The Importance of Being Earnest – Circa Theatre.
Emilie Hope
Circa's 2022 programme absolutely slapped, but this year's programme was a bit lackluster (I’m sad to say, in my opinion, 2024’s programme looks similar to this year’s) but an absolute stellar stand out was Jonathan Price's The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. The production was simply fabulous and I can't help but think Wilde himself would give it a standing ovation. The set, the costuming, the lighting, the over-the-top campy 19th century vibes was SO on point, it was the perfect production of this play.
It was a play which totally immersed me and gave me a break from life that usually only cinema does for me. And it helps that it was a floofy, silly play. It wasn't about the political climate, global wars or genocide, or climate change. Some might think this is to the production's detriment, but I argue the opposite. As someone who is active in these spheres, consuming art that is light and poking fun at ridiculously insignificant things and doing so with such gay vivacity gave my lil heart a reposed joy. In these difficult times we live in, we need the art that gives us a break as much as we need the art that challenges us to be better humans and to take action for meaningful change.
So I’d take back a statement I made in my review – The Importance of Being Earnest IS Circa's crown and all of its jewels of the 2023 programme.
Other shoutouts – similarly, Hausdown was also a break and had more freedom to explore Regency pomp as it is a new play. It was such fun and equally as silly (I particularly loved how breathwork was used to express intimacy) – well done to the whole team.
It was a play which totally immersed me and gave me a break from life that usually only cinema does for me. And it helps that it was a floofy, silly play. It wasn't about the political climate, global wars or genocide, or climate change. Some might think this is to the production's detriment, but I argue the opposite. As someone who is active in these spheres, consuming art that is light and poking fun at ridiculously insignificant things and doing so with such gay vivacity gave my lil heart a reposed joy. In these difficult times we live in, we need the art that gives us a break as much as we need the art that challenges us to be better humans and to take action for meaningful change.
So I’d take back a statement I made in my review – The Importance of Being Earnest IS Circa's crown and all of its jewels of the 2023 programme.
Other shoutouts – similarly, Hausdown was also a break and had more freedom to explore Regency pomp as it is a new play. It was such fun and equally as silly (I particularly loved how breathwork was used to express intimacy) – well done to the whole team.
Verbatim - Circa Theatre.
Alia Marshall
This is the only show I’ve been to twice this year, so I feel as though I have to shout it out. I’ll admit that I have a fond attachment to the text, having drawn a lot of inspiration from it back when I was studying, so to see it on the year of its anniversary was very special to me. Renee Lyons delivered a slick performance accompanied by minimal set so we could really focus on the idiosyncrasies and nuance of these characters. It reminded me of why I started doing theatre in the first place, a reminder I think we all need sometimes.
I ended up taking my friends and my partner for a second time mostly to see how the performance evolved over the season. Verbatim satisfied my little NZ theatre nerd heart, we desperately need more work like this to begin difficult conversations that are just as imperative now as they were thirty years ago.
I didn’t review it (probably for the best since I would’ve been far too sentimental) but check out my good friend Jack McGee’s review.
Other shoutouts – RATKING (BATS), ONO (Tahi Festival), Dakota of the White Flats (Te Auaha), Hausdown (BATS), The Importance of Being Earnest (Circa), One Night Band (BATS)
I ended up taking my friends and my partner for a second time mostly to see how the performance evolved over the season. Verbatim satisfied my little NZ theatre nerd heart, we desperately need more work like this to begin difficult conversations that are just as imperative now as they were thirty years ago.
I didn’t review it (probably for the best since I would’ve been far too sentimental) but check out my good friend Jack McGee’s review.
Other shoutouts – RATKING (BATS), ONO (Tahi Festival), Dakota of the White Flats (Te Auaha), Hausdown (BATS), The Importance of Being Earnest (Circa), One Night Band (BATS)
La Soupco - New Zealand International Comedy Festival.
Brie Keatley
I’ve been fiending to see Abby Howells perform again since I saw Harlequeen a few years ago at the Fringe and seeing this show brought me more squawking laughter than I thought I was capable of.
Howells flits between the script she wrote when she was 11 (still absolutely shocked she never got the Oscar for it!) and personal anecdotes about growing up being the ‘weird girl’.
Any media that explores the weird girl to late diagnosed Autism or ADHD pipeline is a win for me and Abby Howell’s La Soupco will forever be in my heart because of it.
Other shoutouts – Guy Montgomery: My Brain is Blowing Me Crazy (Comedy Festival), RATKING (BATS Theatre), Only Bones V1.10 (Te Auaha)
Howells flits between the script she wrote when she was 11 (still absolutely shocked she never got the Oscar for it!) and personal anecdotes about growing up being the ‘weird girl’.
Any media that explores the weird girl to late diagnosed Autism or ADHD pipeline is a win for me and Abby Howell’s La Soupco will forever be in my heart because of it.
Other shoutouts – Guy Montgomery: My Brain is Blowing Me Crazy (Comedy Festival), RATKING (BATS Theatre), Only Bones V1.10 (Te Auaha)
3 Steps Back - NZ Fringe.
Jenny Nimon
There was plenty to love this year, but Emma Katene’s solo show 3 Steps Back was a major highlight. To call it an exploration of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) would be to sell it short – it was a first-hand account come simulator that invited audience members to share in the experience for a night and, while I don’t have CFS, I connected on quite a personal level with the depiction of symptoms that overlap with neurodivergence. Of course, hard not to connect with Katene’s vulnerability and general creative prowess. I was lucky to review this show, so you can read my more detailed thoughts here.
Other shoutouts – Where the Water Lies (NZ Fringe), ADHD…the Musical!? (NZ International Comedy Festival), Long Ride Home (Te Auaha). I was gutted not to make it to Freya Daly Sadgrove’s Whole New Woman (NZ Fringe).
Other shoutouts – Where the Water Lies (NZ Fringe), ADHD…the Musical!? (NZ International Comedy Festival), Long Ride Home (Te Auaha). I was gutted not to make it to Freya Daly Sadgrove’s Whole New Woman (NZ Fringe).
Whole New Woman - NZ Fringe.
Evangelina Telfar
I was ecstatic about seeing that Freya Daly Sadgrove had a new work premiering in Fringe this year. I was not disappointed. There’s something about the way this whole show came together with poetry, music and chair destruction that works perfectly in a theatre context. There have been many shows about mental health that don’t really hit what it’s like to actually be inside it but this show does. By the end, the words no longer matter and it’s just chaotic noise and that feels like the point. This is not a poetry show, it is the combination of art forms and would not have been the same without the music of Ingrid Saker on guitar and Samuel Austin on the drums. It is a show I have thought about throughout this entire year and I can’t wait to see how Sadgrove explores multidisciplinary work in the future.
Other shoutouts - Arawhata (Hannah Playhouse), The Haka Party Incident (The Opera House), Gender Marxist (Ivy), One Night Band (BATS), The Importance of Being Earnest (Circa), and To Be Frank (Te Auaha).
Other shoutouts - Arawhata (Hannah Playhouse), The Haka Party Incident (The Opera House), Gender Marxist (Ivy), One Night Band (BATS), The Importance of Being Earnest (Circa), and To Be Frank (Te Auaha).
FLAMES - Kia Mau Festival.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin
I LOVE THIS SHOW AND I STILL THINK ABOUT IT. At a CNZ conference earlier in 2023 a keynote speaker emphasised the importance of “radical indigenous joy” and whenever I call upon that kaupapa for my own work FLAMES also leaps to mind. This show had me laughing so hard I was CRYING.
Kia Mau Fest as a whole is an inspiring hub of indigenous art but this show was high energy, absurd, radical, and most of all fun to watch. MY KINDA VIBE. I ended up watching the live version at Circa and the online version and they BOTH HIT so I hope they release that online version again so I can share it around!!
I wrote some words about it earlier in the year that you can find here!
Other shoutouts – lovE leTTer BOnanZA (Raglan Roast), Dakota of the White Flats (Te Auaha), Coolie: The Story of Girmityas (BATS Theatre).
Kia Mau Fest as a whole is an inspiring hub of indigenous art but this show was high energy, absurd, radical, and most of all fun to watch. MY KINDA VIBE. I ended up watching the live version at Circa and the online version and they BOTH HIT so I hope they release that online version again so I can share it around!!
I wrote some words about it earlier in the year that you can find here!
Other shoutouts – lovE leTTer BOnanZA (Raglan Roast), Dakota of the White Flats (Te Auaha), Coolie: The Story of Girmityas (BATS Theatre).
To Be Frank - NZ Fringe.
Katie Hill
Michael Hockey’s commitment to his character Frank, a loveable, sweaty and joyful interpretation of Frankenstein is phenomenal. I missed my chance to see To be Frank in the NZ Fringe, but managed to catch it in Melbourne. The show finds an insane equilibrium of joy and freakishness. The bioluminescent green lighting illuminated every droplet of Frank’s sweat as he staggered around the stage to live electric guitar by Stenn Francis-Deare. Hockey did not waste a single moment to capture our hearts as BFG Frank—playing to the purest elements of clowning to have us, potentially in love (?) with Frank in a tight 50 minutes.
I reviewed Lesa McLeod-Whiting’s debut show, On-Brand for the NZ Comedy Festival and I loved her ability to derail and then cleverly re-rail her set. If that was Lesa’s debut show, I can’t imagine what is in store for us.
I also thought Belinda Campbell’s direction of Top Girls was well considered and well casted. My other shout outs go to Poprox (Te Auaha and BATS), Abbey Howells’ La SoupCo (BATS), and Caution! Wet Floor (Te Auaha).
I reviewed Lesa McLeod-Whiting’s debut show, On-Brand for the NZ Comedy Festival and I loved her ability to derail and then cleverly re-rail her set. If that was Lesa’s debut show, I can’t imagine what is in store for us.
I also thought Belinda Campbell’s direction of Top Girls was well considered and well casted. My other shout outs go to Poprox (Te Auaha and BATS), Abbey Howells’ La SoupCo (BATS), and Caution! Wet Floor (Te Auaha).