As someone who has never had a bent for movement, it always astounds me to see the way that dancers can tell a story with their bodies alone. Flying Down Sand Dunes is the first full-length work by Well Fare State—recent graduates of contemporary dance at the New Zealand School of Dance. Created as part of the Toi Pōneke Choreographic Residency, it explores the human condition, addressing themes of love, fragility, strength, and loss.
Lizzie MurrayFootnote New Zealand Dance presents five emerging artists in their short-term dance company, ChoreCo 2019. In Nobody Hears the Axe Fall the talented team suspend reality and envelop the audience in a visceral, haunting world.
Jenny NimonWaste Not Want Not: Bethany’s Guide to the Thrift Life, Bethany Grace Miller’s debut solo show, is a piece of comedy that thrives off a thrifty Wellington audience. It is witty, imaginative, and strangely close to home.
Jenny NimonBlonde Mountain Wolf Man, a piece of solo physical theatre by Craig Geenty, is an exploration of family history with strong emphasis on name, place, and identity. In an hour, the audience is taken on a journey that is both lighthearted and oddly intimate.
Kate NorquayOrder Up is a devised cabaret show inspired by the stories of hospitality workers in Wellington.It is also performed by a cast of mostly past or current hospitality workers. Order Up is a fun late night show which will make you laugh and cringe. But more than that, Order Up is both a critique and celebration of the hospitality industry that will make you think twice before you complain about shoddy service.
Emilie HopeDolphins are fun, friendly, and full of energy, and Thinking Dolphins at BATS was also all of these things. As I walk up to the Heyday Dome, the doors are closed and I panic that the show has already begun! Thankfully, this was only to keep the mysterious stage smoke within the theatre. As soon as I stepped into the space, the actors greeted me and spoke enthusiastically to the audience. Their energy juxtaposed the ominous smoke and the moody blue and green lighting palette.
Lizzie MurrayLana, 20-something, Rotorua. A Sagittarius-cat owner-stand up comic with a “it was mutual” breakup haircut seeks romance, midnight snacks and ex boyfriends’ weddings. In her first solo NZ Comedy Festival entry, Lana dishes on her disastrous attempts at dating and faking having everything together.
by Laura FergusonOne event I truly miss since moving from Christchurch is their annual World Buskers Festival. That’s one reason I look forward to the productions of Rollicking Entertainment starring husband-and-wife team Lizzie Tollemache and David Ladderman. Their latest offering, Seven Deadly Stunts, brings me more of what I crave in a busker festival-less world: excitement, thrills, fun and the bouncing curiosity of seeing feats even my imagination wouldn’t dare attempt.
Tollemache and Ladderman’s Seven Deadly Stunts is exactly as it sounds: seven sideshow acts that combine anticipation, vicarious fear and comedy. It delivers this in chainsaws, and no, that isn’t just an awkward substitution for spades. 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”. Alexandra Frost“Psychological flexibility is the sign of a healthy mind. A friend once told me ‘people have the right to their own stories’. Both of these things seem true, and yet they work against each other.” We May Have To Choose demonstrates, even in its very title, that ideological conflicts don't necessarily live on either side of a fence called truth.
Bethany MillerWho are you? Who? by Best on Tap bravely explores this difficult question through an equally brave form. They present audience members’ anonymous self-assessments as a string of improvised scenes and stories, where improvisation stems from truth over comedy. By playing towards “Honest Truths” Best on Tap aim to challenge the preconception that improvisation should primarily be funny. But how truthful can an interpretation be? We write our brief identity blurbs onto cards, place them in a bowl and witness the portrayals of ourselves unfold.
Lizzie MurrayShirley Gnome’s one-woman show Taking it Up the Notch is a hilarious, unapologetic raunchy riot. Accompanied with her glitter guitar and stunning voice, Gnome shares country ballads about sex, masturbating, existential crises and sex. But don’t worry, she gives you the chance to leave after the first song if it's too much to handle.
Zoe JoblinTrue to it's title, In Bed starts in a very ordinary double bed, with a blue checkered duvet and an excess of pillows. Seasoned Improviser, MC and Director Brendon Bennetts welcomes the audience to the makeshift bedroom on BATS theatre’s second floor, with warmth and confidence. In his intro, Bennetts tells us why he wanted to stage a show in a bed, explaining that we spend most of our time in bed yet rarely see it accounted for on-stage. In Bed aims to shine a little light on the intimate, moving, sexy and funny moments that can occur between the sheets. Courtney Rose BrownPlaying a part in this year’s Young and Hungry Festival, Owen Baxendale’s script Dead Days is a dynamic piece with a black comedy forefront that is guaranteed laughs. Debra Mulholland (director) navigates moments of dark humour with moments of vulnerability and loneliness, with a slowing of pace and a stillness which creates many moments of empathy alongside laughter.
Courtney Rose BrownLike Sex, written by Nathan Joe (winner of Playmarket’s Playwrights B425 2016) and directed by Samuel Phillips is part of this year’s Young and Hungry Festival that is now taking over BATS Theatre for the rest of the month. Like Sex explores the sex life of teenagers, navigating preconceptions, awkward interactions and bold gestures; seven scenes, with seven different pairings playout. Cleverly structured so the person from the previous scene shares the next scene with a different person. In effect, creating a new link in the chain.
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Local Honest ReviewsAt Art Murmurs, our aim is to provide honest and constructive art reviews to the Wellington community. Archives
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