Jack McGee  Mo Munn is a multi, multi, hyphenate. Internationally touring improviser, stand-up comic with a debut solo hour fast approaching, and now, playwright. Munn is the star, producer, and author of Oversharer. There’s not a director credited on the BATS page. Mo’s husband, Quentin Potts, and Aroha Faletolu are credited as “Wider Production team” so they may have served as outside eyes, but it’s reasonable to assume that Munn directed the work as well.
Alia Marshall It is a hot and sticky Saturday as I make my way to Tāwhiri, anxious that I’m about to get more sweaty in a big dark warehouse. I am on my way to Untitled Warehouse Project’s Entry: Encounter performance, with no expectations, but excited to see what my mates have been working on for the past few months. (Note: I am good friends with many of the designers and performers on this project, but I have done my best to provide an unbiased review).
Julia Bon-McDonald Accompanied by visuals I can only assume were heavily inspired by big-boy truck commercials, Guy Gunn: Beast Basher begins with an intro from Guy Gunn (Kevin Orlando) and his assistant Alex (Sean Dugdale-Martin), about who they are (Beast Bashers) and what they do (bash beasts).
Brie Keatley It’s been a while since I’ve left a theatre show with more questions than answers. But this is what Hey Siri is - a cerebral carousel full of questions about memory, technology and control.
Brie Keatley To explore your trauma onstage is to walk a tricky tightrope between alienating your audience and creating a meaningful piece of entertainment. Thank goodness Therapy: A Musical Comedy is the latter.
Campbell Wright For My Family, and Yours is a beautiful reflection on love and close familial relationships.
From the moment we enter Nautilus studio, Ravi the Poet is introducing himself to every audience member individually. Don’t let his soft voice fool you, Ravi is one of the most engaging performers I’ve ever seen with a guitar in hand. Tadhg Mackay I loved going to the circus as a child. I would watch the performers achieve superhuman feats with awe and sit on the edge of my seat gaping at the risks being taken. While there may not have been a big top tent in Te Auaha's Tapere Nui, I felt that same joy nonetheless.
Brie Keatley A wooden but nevertheless tittering pīwakawaka flits through the audience, playfully landing on delighted children as we enter the Pāteke room at Zealandia. This sets the scene wonderfully for the charming spectacle we are about to witness from Stringbean Puppet’s Flutter.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin Entering into Te Auaha’s Tapere Iti the tableau on the stage is of scattered childrens toys, a laundry basket (filled) and an abstract human-sized human-thing made of a similar cream coloured cotton sitting slumped forward. This stage image captures part of the essence of this show. Liv Tennet is a mid-thirties mother with a son going on five years old. She has crafted a body of work around the turmoil of raising a brand new person but also holding true to who you were, and what you loved, before you had such monumental obligations.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin CatGPT is a modern freak show as Robin Wealleans wheels out his re-animated cat L3NT1L. Having passed away some years ago, Wealleans embodied Dr Frankenstein on a meandering and fretful path to somehow bring his beloved cat back into his life. After some unsuccessful taxidermy attempts, more than a few years of mechanical tinkering and around $60,000 later… Wealleans has in some way played god. Having the bones of the kitty built into a machine that houses multiple robotic moving parts and all functions with an artificial intelligence written and educated by Wealleans himself.
Julia Bon-McDonald It took me a while to write this review. One reason for that is because I actually like this show so much that I’m worried I can’t be objective about it. I wanted to sit with my thoughts for long enough that this doesn’t read like a love letter to This Wasn’t The Plan… hopefully it worked. I also think though, that Glenn bared a little of his soul to us. So maybe, in the spirit of This Wasn’t The Plan, I should do the same for him.
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.
Brie Keatley Letitia Lickkit (Amy Grace Laura) is the shiny queen of ASMR youtube and we’re all invited to her party. If you love Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) like I do, you’re in for a relaxingly aural treat with ASMR Party!
Jack McGee  MODERN GOD is immediate. It’s urgent and overwhelming. Bloody. Its concerns are with the now; the intersections between social media, capitalism, and us. The world seen from down in the weeds. Hindsight, and the perspective it affords, are years away, but choreographer Jeremy Beck seems unconcerned with this. Who needs to see the forest when the trees are on fire?
Jack McGee  Te Auaha, which is currently set to host over 35 shows this Fringe, is at serious risk of being closed. Mayor Tory Whanau has asked the government to intervene, but considering this is likely a consequence of the coalition's plan to dissolve Te Pukenga, it’s unlikely we’ll see them come to the rescue.
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