Tag: theatre

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Murder on the Orient Express: Unadulterated Entertainment

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

Cameron Rhodes (Hercule Poirot), Edwin Wright (M Bouc) Photo Andi Crown

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express

Adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig

Auckland Theatre Company

Dir: Shane Bosher

Set: John Verryt

Lighting: Sean Lynch

Costumes: Elizabeth Whiting

Composition and Sound: Paul McLaney

Motion: Harley Campbell

Dialect: Kirstie O’Sullivan

Intimacy: Todd Emerson

Engine Room Assistant Director: Nī Dekkers-Reihana

With Bronwen Ensor (Greta Ohlsson), Sophie Henderson (Countess Andreyi), Jennifer Ludlam (Princess Dragomiroff), Mayen Mehta (Hector McQueen), Ryan O’Kane Col Arbuthnot/Samuel Ratchett), Mirabai Pease (Mary Debenham), Cameron Rhodes (Hercule Poirot), Jordan Selwyn (Michael/Head Waiter), Rima Te Wiata (Helen Hubbard), Edwin Wright (Monsieur Bouc)

ASB Waterfront Theatre

Until 10 May

Reviewer Malcolm Calder

Photo: Andi Crown

I’ve had a busy time of it lately.  What with school holidays, two successive long weekends and a seemingly endless round of rather long and demanding days, I had half a mind to settle for a quiet glass of red, a good book and an early bedtime blithely avoiding any additional responsibilities that might involve going out to the theatre. Had to rush to make the 7pm start too!

Thank goodness I didn’t.

With this re-vamp of the original classic, Director Shane Bosher has turned in a blinder for Auckland Theatre Company and come up with something that is pure, unadulterated entertainment. 

Adaptor Ken Ludwig’s cull of the original murder mystery, after having been approached by Agatha Christie’s grandson for the Christie Estate, was first performed in 2017.  So if you are a Christie devotee looking for a simply stage-adaptation of her original go no further.

Ludwig adamantly insists that he is a writer of plays and not simply a ‘murder-mystery guy’.  As a result he has redrawn, reduced and compacted the number of characters, enhanced the comedy and come up with a tightly-scripted and genuine ensemble piece that adds to the already enormous output that has made him arguably the most produced playwright of his generation.

It is sometimes suggested that more serious undertones may have underpinned aspects of Christie’s original but few are evident here.  Bosher may have drawn some slight allusions to contemporary geo-political issues that underpin the entire structure but this may or may not be the case.  What he has done however, is generate something that entertains big time. 

The result is an actor’s piece to die for.  And this cast do more than just deliver.   Just as Auckland Theatre Company, CEO Jonathan Bielski has urged audiences to avoid spoilers about resolution of the murder, mystery and mayhem of the play itself, it would be churlish to single out any one cast member.  The entire cast is let loose, projecting archetypes rather than convincing portrayals of real people.  Each character is distinct, their backgrounds are as varied as their accents and the ensemble functions as a singular unit predominantly by using that essence of great comedy – precision timing and the credibility of relationships between them.

ATC is to be congratulated too on once again continuing to develop pathways for increasing numbers of younger actors and production people who we are seeing as first-time performers with ATC.

This is a consummate, professional ensemble and even a tiny glitch with a prop on opening night was more than successfully ad-libbed around, the comedy was sustained and the professionalism acknowledged by an audience who got it.

I am advised that ticket sales for MOTORE are already strong and ATC is to be congratulated on both the production itself and for hopefully hitting a jackpot.

The 7pm start time may have been a bit of a scramble but it had the bonus of my being home and abed well before 10pm.  No book though – my head was still laughing inside itself.

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Animal: The great little show in the farmyard

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Animal

Cirque Alfonse

Q Theatre

March 19 – 23

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

It was not much of an act, chucking an egg in the air, have it land on your back and keep it there while you jiggle around. Anyone could do it , except one of the performers in the Quebec based group “Animal” had to have three goes at it. One of the eggs splatting on his back and head and two more landing on the stage. He got more applause for the broken eggs than did his two fellow perfomers for their safely caught eggs.

It’s always great to see performers achieving pulling off acts , but it’s more amusing when they fail – fail, recover and get on with the show. It often reveals the skill and dexterity of the performer and shows up our own lack of skill. In another of their acts one of the females spins a bucket full of seeds which is supposed to keep the seeds inside  . She misjudges and we get a stage strewn with seeds and she doesn’t miss a beat – it almost seems as if she meant that to happen. I think the little children may have learned one of their basic science lessons about centripetal force.

Theres a lot of basic science in” Animal” along with basic acrobatics as the group perform basic balancing, juggling and springboard work. They take the audience on a slightly surreal  journey through their weird farm of outlandish animal  and wacky activities – tossing pitch forks, balancing on milk churns, riding bucking cows.

As well as being skilled acrobats and contortionists the group are also skilled musicians playing guitar, trumpets, a range of percussion instruments, flute and keyboard – and they can sing too, belting out their own French compositions which are probably very witty if you are up on your French.

The Canadian Cirque Du Soliel group has shown us  how to put on a high-powered performance with cool moves and dazzling costumes but “Animal” is more down to earth, using all the contraptions from the farm, – wheelbarrows. milk churns and  hay forks, along with a jumble of clothes and hats which they must have found around the barn. Their routines are all clever and entertaining, bringing together circus, song, dance and theatre with some  quirky live music.

It may be designed for children but it has a universal appeal  with their displays of strength  agility and balance in their boutique version of the grander Cirque displays.

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Lula Washington Dance Theatre

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Lula Washington Dance Theatre

Aotea Centre

March 13 -16

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The Lula Washington Dance Theatre is a contemporary modern dance company  in Los Angeles which has performed across the United States and toured internationally. It was established forty years ago when Lula Washington realised there were few black dance institutions in America  .

They have a stylish approach to contemporary dance incorporating elements of African and Caribbean dance as well as contemporary modern dance and ballet. All these elements were seen in the opening number where three dancers – Love, Faith and Hope,  performed to  heavy beats, foot stomping and clapping with the audience encouraged to add to the heavy clapping to that of the dancers and he riotous drumming morphed from African beats to something closer to hip hop.

Three female dancers were joined by male dancers who became intertwined and there was a sense of the dancers and audience all part of a church service, street performance or gym workout.

Accompanying the hectic dancing were references to American segregation, slavery, lynchings and race riots – Charleston, Springfield, Watts and an image of George Floyd

Accompanying this dancing was some relentless drumming with and  intense energy more akin to that of a night club and each of the sequences was given multiple bursts of applause from the audience.

Throughout this sequence the woman danced like ghost or departed spirits, their dancing a combination of celebration and remembrance of the African roots of the movements and music.

Because of the emphasis on these aspects the dances all seemed to be something of a political force and the dancers’ political activists.

In a later sequence one of the dancers shouts out the repeated chant “America is killing me” and this was accompanied by a visceral scream, a dramatic event one would not encounter in a Royal New Zealand Ballet performance and shows the level of the political urgency behind the Lula Washington project.

There was an intensity to many  of the dances with a physically close to that of a Whirling Dervish. But alongside this there were elements of playfulness and whimsy which were all performed with a finesse close to that of classical ballet dancers.

The political or polemical aspects of the dances often felt to be less satisfying of the performance without a dance vocabulary which did not express the angst and anger which was conveyed in the words which accompanied the dance.

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Belle: Spectacular and disjointed

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Belle Image. Andi Crown

Belle

A Performance of Air

Movement of the Human (MOTH)

Director / Producer, Malia Johnston

Kiri te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre

March 6 – 9

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

“Belle” had all the elements to make it a stand-out performance however it never quite managed to make it a truly  thrilling show.

The all-female cast of skilled aerialist / dancers/ singers performed a range of acts with a touch of magic and their routines were all immersed in a riotous soundscape and a remarkable light and fog environment.

Sometimes it felt a though someone had told the musicians that they only needed to play loudly and that would cover any mistakes or lack of continuity.

There was also a  lack of cohesion between the various sections or vignettes which was a major  problem. Even though the acts were spectacular, there was no sense of narrative or trajectory.

Many of the sections had a sense of cavorting angels or goddesses and this could have related to the figures and Ranginui and Papatūānuku in the digital work “Ihi” by Lisa Reihana which is in the Aotea Centre foyer.

Most of the acts were performed in a half light, with the performers often seen in silhouette. Along with the dramatic use of light this added to the drama of the performance but it also meant the audience was often not able to appreciate the athleticism of the performers.

Some of the acts were brilliant conceived with figure rising and falling from the stage and disappearing into the enveloping fog of the stage. Other sequences saw the cast using elaborate equipment such as aerial wheels and large pivoting wheels.

But the lack of interconnection and lack of coordination between the sequences and music did  a disservice to the acts and a disappointment to the audience.

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Six The Musical: More Than Mere Glitz

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

Photo : James D Morgan

SIX THE MUSICAL

by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss

Directors Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage

Choreography Carrie-Anne Ingrouille

Set Design Emma Bailey

Costume Design Gabriella Slade

Lighting Design Tim Deiling

Sound Design Paul Gatehouse

Orchestrator Tom Curran

Musical Director Beighton

Civic Theatre, Auckland (until 30 March)

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

1 March 2025

It would be easy to pigeon-hole SIX as a high energy show with lots of froth and bubble, and aimed fairly and squarely at the tiktok generation.  But you would be wrong.  It is rather more.

All things must change and musical theatre is no different.  SIX is important enough to represent another of those significant change points in history – following in the footsteps trodden by Oklahoma or West Side Story or Cats or Hamilton.

On leaving, I overheard an audience member mutter something about SIX being really just a glossed up pub cabaret.  And, to a certain extent, it is.  Originally conceived by a couple of then relatively unknown Cambridge students in 2017, Moss and Marlow took it to the Edinburgh Fringe that year, was a huge success and soon wound up at the Arts Theatre in the West End before a Broadway opening almost immediately before Covid struck.  There was a sort of relaunch in 2021 and SIX now enjoys semi-permanent residence in both London and New York and has gone on to world-wide success with multiple productions all over the anglosphere, as well as Europe and in Asia.

So what has driven this success? A well-known Australian commentator once suggested it resembles a Spice Girls concert directed by Baz Luhrman – but one where the girls can actually sing.  Quite apt I thought at the time.  But this show is a lot more than that.  It is VERY much a significant part of the musical theatre tradition.  In fact there are so many references, acknowledgments and subtle nuances running through SIX that enumerating all of them becomes difficult.

First and foremost, this is a NOW show.  As such it reaches its target easily and then some. So, yes, to the tiktok generation.  But it is  bigger than that and, while it might help grow memberships of amateur music theatre organisations, that is rather simplistic view as it impact is considerably greater. Not to put too fine a point on it, the key fundamental of SIX is pure entertainment built around that old adage – a good story told well that enthrals its audience.  And good entertainment knows no age boundaries – the grandmother in front of me was up and out-boogying her two grandchildren at the end.  Underlying import counts too. 

The stories of the six queens are told in the language of the second decade of the 21st century – not by the archival or even slanted recollections of historians about the politics and intrigue surrounding the first Tudor king.  Most of whom were men, and of a fairly clearly-defined social class at that.  Further, it is told from a women’s perspective.  And remember, some of the queens were all exceptionally young when they married and the Royal Court revolved around power, politics and intrigue.  So we leap immediately to empowerment for women – a rallying cry for millions – and a clear audience profile for SIX.

Structurally, as the fairly comprehensive promotional campaign has pointed out, SIX is built around a history lesson and a competition.  OK.  Thank you.  Got that.  It puts the six queens up against each other each other – an Eisteddfod if you will – or is that merely a device for something bigger?

The six queens never leave the stage and their individual songs merge into six-voice choral arrangements, complimentarily and contrapuntally at times, with occasional snatches of spoken dialogue (but not very much at all).  The staging itself is outstandingly conceived by Emma Bailey and reflects a modern high-tech concert stage that integratesTim Deiling’s dynamic lighting and Paul Gastrehouses’s sound in a way that clearly works.  The stage is also peopled by an astonishingly well-rehearsed, syncopathic and complimentary all-girl band for the entire show.

This primarily Australian cast comes well credentialled.  Dancing skills are clearly in evidence with very tight routines throughout and, even if there were one or two very minor vocal wobbles, vocal strength was generally strong and led by the assurance of Loren Hunter (Jane Seymour).  But let’s face it, this show is presented more like an eisteddfod or a competition and it doesn’t really matter – one voice will always overlap another. The tenderness of Heart Of Stone and the hilarious rap of Haus of Holbein were both standouts for me.

The primary focus of attention however is largely rivetted on Gabriella Slade’s award-winning costumes. Little wonder that her outfits have a dash of Spice Girls about them as she devised Spice World back in the 1990s.  But now she has embellished some glittering and futuristic sequinned outfits in ways that not only catch the eye, but help tell each queen’s story.  The ‘beheadeds’ have chokers for example, Jane Seymour’s black and white bodice echoes the half-timbered houses of Tudor England, the green of Anne Boleyn’s outfit references the popular myth that this evergreen was composed by the much-wedded Henry VIII himself (that’s factually incorrect, but let’s stick with the myth). It’s interesting that one interpretation of this song concerns the promiscuity in young women, something Henry’s henchman Archbishop Cranmer used in arranging divorce and subsequent beheading.

The references go on.  In fact they are never ending.  There are the pop divas found in the songs : I think I heard echoes of Beyonce, Ariana Grande and Alicia Keys and probably missed a few more.

The sense of fun and campness is constant.  SIX takes neither itself, nor musical theatre in general, seriously and whimsy is everywhere.  Phones in the theatre, for example, were quite correctly asked to be turned off pre-show and then during the encore (or more correctly the ‘finale’), encouraged the audience to light them up again.  And they certainly did. It was another moment of sheer joy and made the audience a part of the show. I think that grandma in front of me got a pretty good video take.

Any good production simply tells a story.  SIX does so with succinctness and very, very well.  It is not a long show, but is pretty demanding on both voices and the attention-span of audiences.

I always relish a well written show that is objective and contemporary rather than one that delves into the introspective meanderings of L-plate writers.  SIX is mature writing and very clever staging.  

The filmed on-stage reunion of Six’s original West End queens will be released in cinemas next month and, rather ironically, Auckland’s Civic remains one of the larger in-theatre venues it has played.  After here, it’s off to complete its second lap of Australia at the Civic’s sister in Newcastle, while Asia awaits

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Shakespeare in the Park: A cold blooded tragedy and a highly promising comedy

Auckland Shakespeare in the Park 2025

A Shoreside Theatre production

Pumphouse Amphitheatre

(if wet – Pumphouse Theatre)

Richard III

By William Shakespeare

Dir Catherine Boniface

Jan 22, 23, 24, 28, 31, Feb 1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15

The Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare

Dir Mags Delaney-Moffat

Jan 23, 29, 30, Feb 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14

Review by Malcolm Calder

22 January 2024

Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Chris Raven) surrounded by his friends, perceived rivals
and even some who survived his ascension to the throne

Tragedy is a commonly used euphemism in theatre for when lots of people die.  Richard III doesn’t quite reach Titus proportions, but it has to be up there and this particular production is in good company.

It is part of Shoreside Theatre’s annual Shakespeare in the Park series, now in its 29th iteration, and staged at the delightful, terraced, outdoor amphitheatre adjacent to Lake Pupuke at Takapuna’s Pumphouse theatre.

Rather than try and recreate Shakespeare’s historical setting and fail, Director Catherine Boniface has chosen to locate her Richard III in a seedy but sartorially splendid 1930s London.  Her program notes suggest the setting is reminiscent of Peaky Blinders – and, yes, there were some artfully angled flat caps on display.  Gangland in a word.  It works too, largely because it is analogously appropriate to the dastardly deeds that Richard, Duke of Gloucester got up to towards the end of the the English Civil Wars.

I won’t even begin to list all the deaths he generates.  Suffice to say it’s a lot – one might even suggest he ‘eliminated’ his way to the top.  And misogynistically too because, as far as I recall, all those who died were males.  Something to do with lineage in those dastardly days when York’s rose challenged that of Lancaster and the distaff lines were those who suffered the pain and of loss.

Richard, of course, received his final comeuppance and the reference to Leicester reminded me that his remains were eventually discovered under a carpark there only 15 years ago.

Chris Rather played Richard with a suavely cool and assured arrogance, his ambition plainly on display, and even his disintegrating final days were well handled.  He was a standout for me in 2024’s Measure for Measure and it was good to see him progress to the Richard role.  The supporting roles more than served to enhance and focus attention on Richard’s dominance but the standout for me this time was Suzie Sampson as Lady Margaret – subtle, nuanced and very, very professional.

The period setting on a simple stage is fairly stark but allowed the inclusion of some delightful props – the wooden Lancaster bomber, the pistols and, of course, the costumes.  I could swear the ghoulishly severed head with spectacles intact was still dripping blood.  Although I did wonder if the prominently held and waved cigarettes may have in fact been vapes.

On balance, another competent and highly entertaining part of the Shakespeare in the Park series.

Conversely the comedic Taming of the Shrew is the very antithesis of Richard.  Its content, gender-neutral casting and the fact that it is performed by what is effectively Shoreside’s youth company mean it would be facetious to compare the two.

Katerina (Matilda Chua) and Petrucio (Heather Warne) in The Taming of the Shrew

The plot itself of Shrew is well-known.  In overly-simple words, Lucentio loves Bianca but cannot court her until her shrewish older sister Katerina marries. The eccentric Petrucio marries the reluctant Katerina and uses guile and trickery to render her an obedient wife.  Lucentio marries Bianca and, in a contest at the end, Katerina proves to be a most obedient wife.  The end !

There is probably a moral in there somewhere but the play is almost like a minefield for actors with cross-cuts of double entendre, split-second timing and that all important factor – suspension of disbelief. Shrew calls for a closer understanding of, and appreciation of the nuance in Shakespeare’s words coupled with the timing that is essential to pull this off revealing the farce beneath.  Without them the humour just doesn’t work.

And that is where director Mags Delaney-Moffat is to be congratulated on clearly focussing her youthful and highly-promising cast.  They work as an ensemble, there are laughs aplenty and the work that has gone into achieving them is clearly on display.  

It would seem churlish to single out anyone but the work of Heather Warne (Petrucio) is almost upstaged at times by the wit, humour and general antics, and indeed the timing and presence, of Lizzie Morris as her ‘man’-servant Grumio.  And, despite a demure start, Matilda Chua (Katerina) grows in confidence as true love with Petrucio eventually blossoms.

But there are many highlights and both director and cast are to be congratulated.

The annual two-play Shoreside season is now firmly established on the Auckland theatrical calendar in this, its 29th season.

Note: If wet, transfers indoors.

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Triumph Returns

Image. Stephen ACourt

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Royal New Zealand Ballet

Choreography – Liam Scarlett

Music – Felix Mendelssohn

Music Arranger – Nigel Gaynor

Set & Costume Design – Tracy Grant Lord

Lighting Design – Kendall Smith

Conductor – Hamish McKeich

Orchestra – Auckland Philharmonia

Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre (until Dec 8)

Then Bruce Mason Theatre, Takapuna

OK, Shakespeare started all this theatrical fantasy stuff more than 4 centuries back when he developed some of the Greeks’ allegorical reflections on love and its mythical interpretations by writing A Midsummer Night’s.

It has a convoluted and fantastical plot that epitomises the suspension of disbelief and is perfectly suited to the meandering minds of creatives.   So they did.

A young Felix Mendelssohn had an initial stab at expressing it musically before King William Frederick IV convinced him to enhance his music further as accompaniment to a theatrical staging where it became a favourite of the Prussian court.

I have no idea what William Blake was on when he expressed Shakespeare’s work visually a century later, nor the mindset of various theatre and even movie directors as the original was variously interpreted until eventually becoming a stock in trade for theatre over a couple of centuries.   Little wonder then that it would evolve much later into a significant full-length ballet that is commonly attributed to Georges Ballanchine – apparently a fairly tame interpretation by contemporary standards.  Eventually The Royal New Zealand Ballet was to be congratulated on collaborating in 2015 with the fairly progressive Queensland Ballet in a completely new interpretation devised by the even more weirdly wonderful and progressive mind of the late Liam Scarlett. 

Mendelssohn’s original incidental music was skillfully re-arranged and expanded by former RNZB Music Director Nigel Gaynor and, with an innovative set and a costume design by the distinguishd Tracy Grant Lord, the result was a full-length two-act contemporary ballet that audiences greeted with joyous rapture.

A subsequent 2021 season was rudely interrupted by Covid and this Dream only played in Wellington.   However it has finally toured nationally and reached Auckland where those earlier plaudits can ring even more true today.  This Midsummer Night’s Dream is something that makes one wallow in pure enjoyment.

Yes, of course the threads of serious Greek allegory on humankind are not lost, but it is the telling of the tale that makes this production so outstanding and to marvel at what Liam Scarlett, and the team he headed, has produced.

Firstly, lets look at Tracy Grant Lord’s set.  This combines colour and texture that, when coupled with Kendall Smith’s lighting, results almost as if an additional dimension has somehow been added to the stage. There is a depth and a height and a breadth that I could swear somehow exceed the theatre’s stage dimensions.  This dimensionality is exploited to the fullest in the choreography and the costumes that somehow reinforce the set rather than the other way around.  It is night.  It is a woodland.  It is ethereal.  It is enchanted.  It is a place where subtlety, confusion and a comedy of errors are rife.  It is actually the inside of someone’s mind.

That is largely achieved and certainly enhanced by Nigel Gaynor’s sympathetic musical arrangement of Mendelsson’s sumptuous score and which itself defies traditional convention.  Off-stage voices are introduced under Hamish McKeich’s baton and I could swear I heard someone humming along during the triumphal Wedding March.

The ballet opens with an imperious Oberon (Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson) and his compellingly superior Queen Titania (Ana Gallardo Lobaina), assisted by his energetic and whimsical sprite Puck (Shaun James Kelly) who attempt to influence and even thwart the course of true love via the use of a supposedly magical pixie dust.  When sprinkled this confuses things a bit and just about everyone on stage loses track of who is love with whom.  There is whimsy and humour around each and every corner and the characterisations are superb – none more so than Bottom (Calum Gray) who magically develops a donkey’s head and tail.

The characterisations are superb, the detail in the dancing shows real connections and Liam Scarlett’s stunning choreography is built around fluidity and motion that blurs fantasy with reality and gives us something unexpected at each turn.  Just as one is starting to relax after a particular marvellous pas de deux, for example, this Dream slides effortlessly into something equally ethereal albeit several feet in the air serving only to amplify, elevate and unify the whole.

Plotwise … no, I won’t bother you with the complexities … suffice to say it all becomes totally confusing but love wins out in the end.  Of course.  And the donkey is human underneath it all – a message for all of us.

This Midsummer Night’s Dream is indeed a sparkling, spectacular ballet of sheer theatrical magic that is a Christmas treat for audiences everywhere

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This Doll’s House Sizzles

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

Laura Hill (credit Tatiana Harper)

A Doll’s House Part 2

By Lucas Hnath

Directed by Paul Gittins

Design John Parker

Costumes Elizabeth Whiting

Lighting Jane Hakaraia

Production/SM Teresa Sokolich

With Laura Hill, Stephen Butterworth, Danyelle Mealings, Maya Dalziel

Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland

14 Nov to 1 Dec 2024

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

A Doll’s House, Part 2 runs about 90 minutes with no interval and is a bit like a well-cooked, multi-course series of tastes – or tapas if you will.  It is a meal that sizzles and left me feeling delightfully sated.

Each taste is marvelously well-prepared and each is impeccably presented.  Chef Hnath’s initial offerings covered ground prepared by others although he put an individual tweak to each and ensured they were delightfully delivered in ways that addressed time-proven issues of women’s independence, choice and self-fulfillment. 

His chief protagonist Nora Helmer arrives through the same door through which Ibsen had exited her 15 years previously.  But now she bears the scars, world-weariness and hard-won wisdom of a woman who has emphatically found and secured her place in the world as a clearly successful writer.  She is confronted by the worldly-wise Ann-Marie , Nanny to her abandoned children, an older woman who has looked, listened and learned much.  Ann-Marie is able to match Nora when it comes to verbal sparring and their discussion, debate, and general discourse delves into independence, freedom, patriarchies and the expectations of society.  And what that means.  But up to this point Hnath’s menu largely provides tastes with which we are familiar – albeit extremely well done with lashings of aspiration and confidence and some magical energy exchange between the two women.

Humour is never far away, arguments are sophisticated and standpoints and circumstances are outlined one after the other.

However well-presented these standpoints are and just as I was thinking I had heard most of their supporting arguments previously and had mistakenly arrived at a law moot, Hnath introduces Nora’s perhaps-former husband and not quite-ex Torvald.  His arrival is somewhat unexpected to the two women and now the meal and its courses becomes successively tastier.  New garnishes are added – subtly at first as incomprehension, resentment and self-doubt became apparent between all three.  But liberal sprinklings of emotion that initially bubble to the surface and then burst forth as spicy aromas that grow as they are savoured.

And that is the crux of Hnath’s play.  I sat enthralled as each new dish was served raising questions about family, marriage and responsibility.   Again, hardly new arguments, but assembled in dramatic combinations.

The dialogue is fast and vibrant – some of it using very modern vernacular. There is confusion and disagreement and miscomprehension that is sharp and pointed.

Director Paul Gittins is the interpreter of Hnath’s dishes and adds depth and nuance to each.  Designer John Parker enhances them with a simple set that is little more than a platform containing three or four chairs, a small table and an omni-present door frame that acknowledges where Ibsen left off.  Its very simplicity allows Gittins’ cast to better explore and extract light and shade.  Elizabeth’ Whiting’s costumes hint at Ibsen’s period, but nor are they of the present.  Timeless and script-driven are terms that spring to mind.

Rightly so, Laura Hill is billed as the ‘star’ and makes a compelling Nora as the chemistry between her and others is abundantly clear.  Her initial interactions with a remarkably strong Maya Dalziel as Nanny Anne-Marie and then with Torvald reveal the maelstrom that lurks beneath the surface of their worlds.

From being initially nervous and confused Torvald’s emotions soon take over and A Doll’s House 2 really starts to sizzle.  His Torvald is achingly sympathetic one moment, a blustering tyrant the next and ultimately a confused soul.

Their calm and rationale daughter Emmy (Danyelle Mealings) attempts to metaphorically and literally patch up the father-she-never-has-known as a voice of balanced reason but her voice is largely ignored, becoming almost that of a rather more dispassionate audience.

In conclusion one can only applaud.  This is an actor’s play that provokes its audience to empathise with different perspectives and director Gittins allows his universally strong and highly experienced cast to do so.

It is rather like that tapas meal where each course sizzles making A Doll’s House Part 2 a delight and, for me, one of the standouts of Auckland theatre in 2024.

As advised in all the pre-promotional material, familiarity with Ibsen’s 1879 original is not essential, but there are direct and indirect references and clues to it are strewn liberally throughout Hnath’s 21st century sequel. One might think of them as yet another layer of satisfaction – or a hidden dessert if you prefer.

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ATC’s six plays for 2025

John Daly-Peoples

Murder on the Orient Express

AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY 2025 SEASON

John Daly-Peoples

Auckland Theatre Company have announced their 2025 Season of six plays ranging from Shakespeare’s 400-year-old Romeo and Juliet to Roger Halls latest.

These plays include two world premieres, an Auckland premiere, and a translation of a one of the classics. The productions will be directed by some of the country’s best talent including Shane Bosher, Oliver Driver, Benjamin, Alison Quigan QSM and Katie Wolfe,

The Plays

a mixtape for maladies
by Ahi Karunaharan
4 – 23 Mar
Ahi Karunaharan’s talesweeps from 1950s Sri Lanka to modern-day Aotearoa. Directed by Jane Yonge (Scenes from a Yellow Peril) this is both a love letter to Sri Lanka and a lament, the story plays out over 17 songs – ranging from Dusty Springfield to La Bamba to the hit single from a Tamil rom-com.

A collaboration between Agaram Productions, Auckland Theatre Company and Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival.

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express
Adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig
22 Apr – 10 May
The classic that birthed an entire genre comes to the stage with Cameron Rhodes (King Lear, North by Northwest) as the inscrutable Hercule Poirot, supported by Rima Te Wiata, Sophie Henderson, Ryan O’Kane and Mayen Mehta. This play was adapted for the stage by Tony-nominated playwright Ken Ludwig and is directed by Shane Bosher.

Roger Hall’s End of Summer Time
17 Jun – 5 Jul
New Zealand’s most successful playwright Sir Roger Hall brings back one of his most famous characters, Dickie Hart who made his first appearance almost 30 years ago in C’mon Black. This is an affectionate and hilarious skewering of an old grump who realises he still has a lot to learn about the world when he moves to Auckland to be closer to his grandkids. Directed by theatre stalwart Alison Quigan, the play sees Andrew Grainger (Peter Pan, North by Northwest) bringing his big-hearted comedic talent to this solo show that like, all of Hall’s plays, has more than a little bite to it.

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
15 Jul – 9 Aug
William Shakespeare’s tale of passion and heartbreak is recast as a fast-paced thriller in this large-scale production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by the co-director of 2023’s runaway hit King Lear, Benjamin Kilby-Henson. Theo Dāvid (Shortland Street) and Phoebe McKellar (One Lane Bridge) make their Auckland Theatre Company debuts as the star-crossed lovers in a Missoni and Pucci-inspired take on 1960s’ Italy, supported by a stellar cast including Bronwyn Bradley, Miriama McDowell and Beatriz Romilly. As potent today as it was when written more than four centuries ago, this tragedy celebrates the triumph of love over hate.

Mary

MARY: The Birth of Frankenstein
by Jess Sayer
19 Aug – 7 Sep
A villa in Switzerland, in the dark winter of 1816. Mary Shelley stands over a bloodied corpse and knows her words are to blame. The script, written by award-winning playwright Jess Sayer in collaboration with Oliver Driver, builds on the bones of history to re-imagine the events of the infamous night that birthed one of the most famous novels of all time: Frankenstein. In Mary: The Birth of Frankenstein, co-created and directed by Oliver Driver (Amadeus), the production transforms from a parlour drama into an unsettling, drug-fueled, lust-drenched Gothic horror as Shelley, played by Olivia Tennet, casts off the men who seek to control her and steps from childhood into life.

Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking

TIRI: TE ARAROA WOMAN FAR WALKING
by Witi Ihimaera
4 – 23 Nov
The Season closes out with a history-making new adaptation of the epic tale of Tiri Mahana, a 185-year-old matriarch, from her birth at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi to present day Aotearoa. For the first time, the play will be performed in two parts, English and te reo Māori, with both versions capturing the enduring spirit of Te Ao Māori. With the multi-award-winning team of The Haka Party Incident creator Katie Wolfe (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama) and actor Miriama McDowell (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi); Witi Ihimaera’s (Te Whanau a Kai and Ngāti Porou) extraordinary play will shine once again, re-imagined in te reo Māori by Maioha Allen and company.

Categories
Reviews, News and Commentary

Tempo Dance Festival: In Transit, Matter and Slip

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

In Transit

Te Rerenga o Tere | Tempo Dance Festival 2024

Rua, – In Transit & Matter

Q Theatre

October18

Slip , Rebecca Jensen

October 20

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

In Transit

Choreographer, Louise Pōtiki Bryant

Sound / Av, Paddy Free

Lighting, Jo Kilgour

Costumes , Kasia Pol

Slip, Rebecca Jensen

Louise Pōtiki Bryant’s In Transit imagines the links between Maori  myth, ritual and their notion of the ancestors observing the nutuarl  world and its cretasures. Here the shaping of the creation myths, are given narratuives and images which give meaning to the transition in human life  paralleling those of the spirit world.

The work appears to dwell on several aspects of Māori myth such as the creation story of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, whose, children exist for a time in  in the dark world until Tāne, separates their parents, bringing the children into light.

There is also reference to the evolution of the  taiaha which Tū, the god of war asks Rūrūtangiākau, the weapon maker of the gods to create a weapon.

The dance opens with a low droning sounds as the sole figure, representing Tū or Rūrūtangiākau who dances through shafts of light with a  branch balanced on his head., He moves from an underworld into light and is joined by five other dancers who perform with long sticks or the evolving taiaha. They dance to a soundscape which [provides a sense of the being under water along with bird sounds.

The dancers seemingly inspired by bird and reptile  movement, move with short sharp steps id birds, strutting, foraging and pecking. These  movements were accompanied by staccato like breath which add to the sense of existing n another dimension.

Some of the dancers entwine cresting manaia shapes suggesting the notion of messenger between the mortal and spirit worlds.

The slender taiaha are used to create a Papatūānuku womb-like shape out of which  a figure emerges.

The work is full of robust dancing, flickering shafts of light along with a mesmerizing soundtrack along with relentless beats. It blends together sound, music, visual and movement describing the transitions between the physical world and the spirit dimensions.

Matter

Matter

Choreographer & Sets, Ross McCormack

Composer, Jason Wright

Lighting, Jo Kilgour

Costumes , Vicki Slow

“Matter” choreographed by Ross McCormack opens with a lone figure seemingly transfixed by one of the five post erected on the stage. He was joined by another figure and from their fitful movements it appears that they are inhabiting a world where they are seeking, discovering or being activated by lines of force or energy, possibly emanating from the poles.

Then they are joined by a group of dancers who move to a cacophony of sound, inching forward, creating a reptilian-like form with a nod to the work of the German choreographer Pina Bausch. Their erratic shuffling moves, driven by an inner tension and massive roars of music is by turns orderly as though responding to laws of Nature or manipulated by an unseen hand.

Two of the dancers appear to respond to other sounds as though out of their control and they engage in movements which area mix of tussle and dance, their movements  hinting at forces which are attracting and repelling g them.

We get the sense that the poles are the xxx of these forces-  electromagnetic, natural rhythms or xx.  Other bodies separate and merge becoming alien creatures and the sounds and music we hear are the sound of  massed bodies  and the arms and legs becomes tentacles.

Throughout the work the dancers seemed to be either seduced or buffeted by the music and sounds, their movements at times urgent and  sharp while at other times graceful and submissive.

In the latter part of the dance the poles /  pou are moved taking on more symbolic meaning- the crucifixion, the triumphal Iwo Jima image  of WWII.

There is a surreal beauty to the dancing which is created with a subtle mix of  sound and lights while at one point the music takes on the rhythms of the Pacific with a hypnotic quality.

Another dramatic sequence involves first two dancers and ultimately all eight moving and dancing as mirror images of each other creating a dramatic frieze. This architectural aspect is also present in many of the other sequences, deriving from the five poles.

Much of the time the dancing could be likened to the movements of atoms and molecules in chemical and physical reactions, conforming to notions of particle physics and string theory.

Slip

Slip, Rebecca Jensen

We don’t often get to see true absurdist dance in the style of the absurdist dramatic works of the 1950s and ’60s. Nothing that suggest the human condition is essentially absurd and devoid of purpose.

Rebecca Jensen’s “The Slip” seemed to offer an absurdist dance which was set in a bizarre or surreal environment. The stage looked like an art installation  – a step ladder, bucket, watering can, a table cluttered with apparatus, a sole cup and a large, directional microphone.

The opening minutes of the work continued the absurdist premise as we watched a couple of stagehands pouring water into containers and splashing it over  the stage. It looked as though it was a work about sea level and climate change. This idea was reaffirmed throughout  the production with images and the sounds of water.

After that opening  sequence Rebecca Jensen appeared, dressed in a medieval gown, the first of her iterations. She sat, meditatively  on the stage, performing simple gestures which were  in marked contrast to her hectic movement in the latter part of the work.

“Slip” is a filled with precise  and deliberate movements, mixed with moments of humour and provocation. It is an experimental work where the  flaws and interventions that show up over the course of the performance add to its idiosyncratic quality.

It’s a work which can be interpreted as having  surreal narratives, the themes of which will occur to the individual viewer as they come to grips with  the many vignettes.

The focus of the work comes from the title, ”Slip”. There is a constant slippage between what we see and what we hear, between what is natural and what is fabricated between the  role of the performer and the place of the technician.

While Jensen is the dancer/actor in “Slip” she is aided by Aviva Endean who acts as sound technician, participant and  guide,  controlling a table full of noise producing devices both physical and electronic.

When Jensen first appears, she dives into her backpack extracting various items such as a key, a bag of chips a bottle of water and a newspaper. But when she handles these items, it is not their natural sound we hear, it is Endean – shaking her own newspaper and pouring her own bottle of water, the sounds picked up and enhanced by the large microphone. When Jensen eats a chip, the crunch we hear is from Endean’s microphone enhancing the sound of her biting on a stick of celery.

This dislocation and enhancement occurs throughout the work in different forms. When Jensen walks around the stage we hear the sounds of Endean’s feet crunching on shells. At other times when Jensen walks, we hear the sounds of her body creaking as though she is robotic.

Jensen explores a range of movements from small gestures though fluid and dramatic balletic moves to the volatile actions which see her almost out of control.

The soundscape produced by Endean is similar to the enigmatic sounds created by the experimental group From Scratch and like that group she uses unlikely items to create the sounds.