Guy van Egmond When it comes to polished period theatre, Stagecraft takes the cake in Pōneke. ‘Stagecraft Theatre presents’ has become shorthand for well-produced and relevant classic productions, as evidenced by a packed opening-night for their current show, The Heiress. A well-chosen and -directed script, The Heiress proves to be another feather in the company’s cap.
Guy van Egmond There’s a delicate tightrope to be walked by writers who use narrative shorthands. Rely on them too heavily and they invariably lead to a disengaged audience keeping one eye on the clock. However, when your show has a shoestring budget and a 60-minute timeslot, cliches can be effective ways to bypass exposition and set up inventive punchlines.
Guy van Egmond  Photo credit: Josh Hopton-Stewart A good theatre adaptation is one that retains the core of the original piece; one that culminates in the same emotional revelation, leaving an audience feeling altered and not wanting. Director Josh Hopton-Stewart hit it bang-on with Stagecraft’s production of The Seagull, by Anton Chekov.
Jenny Nimon Powersuit Productions’ touring show The Culture written by Laura Jackson is a warm and pacey inside view to the relationship of two flatmates as they navigate their past traumas and dating in the modern world. It is billed as ‘a story about deep and enduring friendship’, and it’s exciting to be able to sit in on the New Zealand debut of this Sydney-set production.
Jenny Nimon The first show in Stagecraft’s 2023 season, Breadcrumbs directed by Emily K Brown, sets a high casting bar for the year to come. This one-act play is a keen exploration of Alzheimer’s and of character, and is one of the only works I have seen that has put the character at the forefront rather than the disease.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin Wellington Repertory Theatre’s show Apartment written by Tama Smith, co-directed by Smith and Belinda Campbell and production managed by Ewan Coleman is a play about us, two years ago. Apartment gives us a chance to come together, acknowledge the power of community, and compassionately reflect on how we have all navigated the storm over the past two years.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin Wellington Repertory Theatre’s show Rope, written by Patrick Hamilton in 1929 and directed by Helen Cashin and Paul Stone, is no classic whodunnit, because we know who did it right from the start. It follows a party unfolding from the perspective of the hosts, two high-key psychopaths and low-key lovers, Wyndham Brandon (Slaine McKenzie) and Charles Granillo (Tom Foy) and the tension of the piece comes from their evasiveness of their guests sleuthing and joking instead of from a hunt for clues.
Austin Harrison It’s a rainy Wednesday night. There are only two shows on in Wellington this week, and I’m stoked to be heading to the Gryphon Theatre for one of them. The Spitfire Grill promises to be a nostalgic look at small town America in the 70s, based on the 1996 film of the same name. The production premiered in 2001 off-Broadway and has taken 21 years to make its New Zealand premiere. Tonight is that night and, being a Wellington Repertory opening night, there is free food and drink and a warm buzz that immediately leaves the wind and rain outside.
Katie Hill New Zealand Theatre Live’s MILK OF THE GODS is the show where the audience is given agency through water (and milk) balloons, and it is a welcome sequel to their frenzied 2021 Fringe season of MILK!
Bethany Miller What a way to finish the evening! The hit musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is the second show of Wellington Footlights’ Heart + Music festival, Night B (intentional?). It is outrageously delightful and explosively funny, which perfectly suits the enthusiastic company and their performances.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee centres on several eccentric and distinct prepubescents, participating in a spelling bee that is fun but fiercely competitive, and the imperfect adults or parents who facilitate (or not) the contest and their success. This production could not be more brilliantly cast. Every character is a hit, Bethany Miller The Wellington Footlights’ first ever musical theatre festival “Heart and Music” has just kicked off. Night B opens with Flatline with Two Sugars, a premiere of an original musical written by company members Laura Gardner (book and lyrics) and Katie Morton (music).
Flatline with Two Sugars is dark magical realism, a bittersweet mix of tragedy, comedy, and bleak reality. A dreary cafe barista has an unwanted gift in which she visualises the time and means of someone’s death just by touching them. This musical sees Lucie’s desperately confined life turn upside down, and we get to experience the drama, excitement, heartache, and even black comedy pleasures that go along with it. |