“I *am* going to make fun of something you believe in,” Neil Thornton chortles at us during A Cynic’s Guide to Enlightenment after another successful wave of laughter has permeated the audience, punctuated with a couple of good-natured, ‘ooh’s’.
Julz BurgisserWhen we think of the idiom The Wild Blue Yonder I think of heading off somewhere and never coming back, the internet describes it as when you go somewhere far away that seems exciting because it is not known. Heading into Brendhan Lovegrove’s show it explains pretty well how I felt. I’d heard a lot about his comedy and was excited to see the unknown for myself. He didn’t disappoint, he went some crazy places with his comedy but what a good time!
Julz BurgisserThat’s Shentotainment is exactly what the name promises, comedian Dan Shenton being entertaining. This is a show of big belly laughs, a guitar and a stream of conscious so unusual that makes you wonder what it’s like living inside Shenton's head.
Julz BurgisserCareer decisions to love life lessons, Louise Beuvink is having a Quarter-Life Crisis and she’s invited us along for the ride. Her dark humour and astute observation leads to some brilliantly funny confession stories and other sweet moments of introspection.
Julz BurgisserNik Bruce-Smith never had an answer to the question: “What's your five year plan?” Plans also have a way of not working out for him like he thinks. One glorious day he found the answer and it turned out to be a question…. Marry Me, Taylor Swift?
Julz BurgisserThe scene is set for the wedding of the century, or of the year, maybe the day. Scratch all that the scene is set for the marriage of the #1 in NZ, Reality TV Show personality, Chris Warner of Shortland Street. Marry Me Chris Warner will be the show that everyone is talking about because none of the invited magazines seemed very keen to cover it for some reason. Or so James Malcolm tells us as he sweeps onto the stage completing the picture of the perfect wedding. There’s only one problem really. The groom seems to be absent right now.
Julz BurgisserPressure Makes Diamonds and this show is a shining example of that. Laura Daniel is a 2016 Billy T Nominee and the pressure is on to compete with the other nominees for that coveted top spot. She promises us a spectacle and what she’s delivered is a rollercoaster ride of glorious glitter, dancing and comedy to sink your teeth into.
Julz BurgisserHe’s cool calm and collected and he really doesn’t want kids. Painting the scene for us and warning us of an upcoming fictional murder, Daniel John Smith Winner of Best Comedian at the 2015 Wellington Comedy Awards, guides us through his stream of reasons why not having kids is the right choice for him.
Eleanor MertonFirstly, it seems to me that Uther Dean is really really good at naming his shows; and secondly that he has an unflinchingly cohesive artistic brand. However, it also seems that I have only attended Uther Dean's two other shows that most closely resemble this one (along with his segment about Field Notes notebooks last year in Eamonn Marra's excellently curated What We Talk About). Seeing Everything is Surrounded by Water and Tiny Deaths left me prepared both for the presence of marine animals, and for rhythmic storytelling that would make me feel smart and cynical. A Public Airing of Grievances fails to deliver on the former (instead offering us the recurring motifs of admin and yoghurt) but absolutely delivers on the latter. Matt LoveranesIt’s a peculiar experience reviewing the opening night for A Trial because it is very clearly a part of a serial and its merit hinges on how the production unfolds as a whole. But for the purpose of this review, I will address my thoughts on this particular night’s show as objectively as I can. I’ve also chosen to review the second night, which I think is far more indicative of the show’s aims. As you would infer from the title, the show satirizes the proceedings of a trial. In this case, TVNZ takes an unnamed defendant to court for purporting that their infamous Kiwimeter survey is racist and that TVNZ themselves are propagandists serving the government agenda.
Eleanor MertonDisclaimer: I have existing relationships with members of the cast but I won't pull punches because I respect those relationships and am writing this review from a place of honesty and a desire to offer useful feedback for the creators of this work.
This is a show that knows it's being staged in a bar and uses that to its advantage. It wants you to have a few drinks. Which is a smart way for a show to be when it's also a show that hinges so much on audience participation. Zoe Joblin Titled is an interactive, devised theatre show, which is on in Wellington this week as part of the Town Centre Season at Bats Theatre.
Brooke MatherlyDeath Never Blinks is a delightful, silly, and funny delve into a radio drama. Extreme low light mostly conceals the five performers: four stationed behind their microphones and one behind a desk full of literal bells and whistles doing live foley artistry. Each performer fully invests in the melodramatic fun of this parody of classic film noir style detective stories. Aside from Steven Youngblood performing as our leading detective Dick Mason, each of the three other speakers played multiple roles affecting a range of voices and accents as required. |
Local Honest ReviewsAt Art Murmurs, our aim is to provide honest and constructive art reviews to the Wellington community. Archives
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