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Private Lives | Regional News

Private Lives

Written by: Noël Coward

Directed by: Janet Noble

Gryphon Theatre, 5th Feb 2024

Reviewed by: Stanford Reynolds

With Noël Coward’s works entering the public domain this year, Stagecraft’s production of Private Lives is the first in Wellington to bring new life to the playwright’s classic comedic style. Despite originally being performed in 1930, the play’s subversive portrayal of gender roles is ripe and juicy for a modern audience. Though he was closeted during his lifetime, Coward’s queerness adds a biting wit to his work.

After a messy divorce, two ex-lovers (played by Dan Harward Jones and Lydia Verschaffelt) have married new spouses (Laura Gardner and Tom Kereama) and are happily honeymooning when they discover that their hotel rooms are right next to each other. Passions reignite and they flee from their new marriages together – only to be reminded of the reasons why they got divorced.

Coward’s characteristically fast-paced, witty dialogue is realised confidently by every member of the cast, which is rounded out by Margot Allais as Louise. Dialogue is clear even with the speed of the banter, the cast’s accents are consistent, and there is skillful variety in the pacing of the lines. The effect is a delightful show that keeps the audience laughing. It is clear that the actors understand the humour in their lines, and their comedic timing and delivery make the most of the hilarious script.

Set design by Tanya Piejus is also fantastic, beginning with the cast pulled forward in front of a curtain for a believable hotel balcony. The set then opens up to a stylish box set for a Parisian apartment, complete with charming painted streets visible through the back windows. Both spaces are used well by the cast, whose movement feels natural and motivated. Costume design (Meredith Dooley) and hair styles and make up (workshopped by Aimée Sullivan) all add great believability and personality to the characters and the era of the play.

Janet Noble’s direction has made an exceptional interpretation of the script as a time capsule of a classic comedy filtered through a modern lens. Stagecraft’s Private Lives is a very enjoyable production with plenty of risqué humour that still has plenty to say about modern gender roles.

Flow | Regional News

Flow

(PG)

84 minutes

(4 out of 5)

Reviewed by: Alessia Belsito-Riera

Like a dripping tap, Flow starts off slowly and steadily until suddenly you are immersed in a world of beauty and danger that is overflowing with emotional depth and thematic vision, awash beneath a flood both literal and metaphorical.

From inky waves and crystal pools, the bright orange eyes of a little black cat meet our gaze, reflecting our own complex thoughts and emotions back at us. Cat scampers and hunts in the tangled undergrowth of a forest, his home a dwelling abandoned by humans, who are absent throughout this animated dreamscape from visionary Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis despite their influence being acutely felt. When a flood of biblical proportions submerges the world, Cat must adapt. Cat jumps onboard a passing sailboat, joining a ragtag crew of creatures comprising a capybara, ring-tailed lemur, golden retriever, and secretary bird. Together, they embark on a picaresque adventure through paintbrush landscapes (created by designer Zilbalodis and animation director Léo Silly Pélissier), each episode more charmingly heart-wrenching than the last.

Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, and Ron Dyens’ script is devoid of dialogue yet not of expression. The characters are not anthropomorphic in the slightest, their movements hyper-realistic and their sounds recorded from real life creatures, and yet they are sprinkled with a touch of magical realism that administers us with enough suspended disbelief to become utterly entranced in the story. Each character has its typical animalistic quirk – I picture Cat who knocks Lemur’s trinket off the shelf just because – yet they possess enough humanness to make them emotionally capable of exploring relatable themes of loss, bonding, and camaraderie. Flow is a tale about a wary creature learning to trust and depend on others as it learns about the intrinsic interconnected nature of the world.

In this way, Zilbalodis’ cinematography places us directly into the action from Cat’s point of view, his editing fast-paced to build tension but allowing breathing room in between to give way to more gentle moments. Combined, they give Flow a game-like lens, teaching the audience through visual details. Meanwhile, Zilbalodis and Rihards Zalupe’s score carries us through moments of peril and playfulness with music tailored perfectly to the ebb and flow of the narrative. In Flow you are not a spectator, but a passenger both on the lifeboat and within this devastatingly beautiful world we call home.

Hope | Regional News

Hope

Written by: Jenny Pattrick

Directed by: Lyndee-Jane Rutherford

Circa Theatre, 29th Jan 2025

Reviewed by: Tanya Piejus

In a scarily possible near future, a new government has favoured tax cuts for the middle classes over investing in the public health system, resulting in the Last Year of Life Bill. This sees people with terminal illnesses denied all but palliative care once they’ve been ‘classified’ as too far gone to be worth treating, so freeing up beds and medication for younger, more worthy patients.

One of the classifieds is Irina (Perry Piercy), a Ukranian refugee who escaped before the ongoing war. Her two children, Yulia (Mel Dodge) and Daniel (Tāmata Porter), have very different attitudes to their mother’s plight. Yulia is a nurse who daily sees the effect of an ageing population on a struggling health system and believes the new law is saving lives, while Daniel procures and administers black-market cancer drugs to try to buy his mum more time. Also in the mix is Adam (Jack Buchanan), one of Irina’s former piano students whose own health issue has arrested his career as a maestro.

Starting with an attempted suicide and seemingly about a heavily doom-laden subject, Hope is surprisingly uplifting. That’s largely because it’s funny and this vein of humour as each character wrestles with the ethics of the appalling situation they find themselves in is what stops Jenny Pattrick’s finely balanced script being a buzzkill.

The cast is excellent, each clearly articulating their character and interacting with believable emotions and chemistry. They are supported by a lusciously coloured set (Ian Harman) that leans strongly into the mosaic motif that threads through the dialogue and anchors the hope within it. Marcus McShane’s lighting adds to the visual feast, with subtle practicals and shades that clearly pinpoint the time of day. The accompanying piano-based soundtrack (composer Briar Prastiti, sound engineer and designer Chris Ward) weaves beautifully around the action.

A call to action in a disintegrating world, Hope celebrates the deeper things that bring us together and make us live, love, and laugh.

The Man Whose Mother Was A Pirate – The Musical | Regional News

The Man Whose Mother Was A Pirate – The Musical

Written by: Nino Raphael

Directed by: Sara Brodie

two/fifty-seven, 22nd Jan 2025

Reviewed by: Zac Fitzgibbon

Sailing from the Welsh Dragon Bar to two/fifty-seven with a fresh new crew of scallywag actors is the updated The Man Whose Mother Was A Pirate – The Musical. Inspired by Margaret Mahy’s beloved children’s book and made with the consent and approval of her estate, this production features new songs with music and lyrics by Nino Raphael and even more audience engagement, including dancing in the playing area.

Each actor plays within the theatre-in-the-round so well, both vocally (musical direction by Hayden Taylor) and physically. Finlay Morris as Sam the Man stuns with his vocal prowess and smooth movement. Jo Hodgson (The Pirate Mother) fully embodies what it means to be both a mother and a pirate, delivering beautiful vocals. Aimée Sullivan keeps the audience in stitches with her many roles as The Rugged Pirate, while Stuart Coats’ expanded portrayal of Mr Fat delights with its depth and humour. Mike McKeon as the Rosy Pirate Captain is a superb narrator and commands the audience with his stage presence. Isobel Lee shines as Jenny, a new addition to the crew of characters, stealing every scene she is in. Every performer adds their own unique energy, and I almost choked with laughter at several moments.

The new songs add so much to the show’s charm, combining sea shanty vibes with Raphael’s distinctive style. The technical elements, like the simple yet effective lighting (Scott Maxim), enhance the setting without distracting from the action. The addition of retractable cutlasses and other props (Becka Tiongson) elevates the theatrical experience.

This version of The Man Whose Mother Was A Pirate – The Musical retains the magic of its Welsh Dragon Bar original, but blows it out of the water with its energy, humour, and creativity. It feels sharper, bigger, better, and is even more of a standout. It’s a fantastic story for all generations about setting sail from the ordinary to explore uncharted waters. I have no doubt that with the creative team behind it, future productions will raise the (rum) bar even higher. For now, I would fight off crews of pirates to watch it again.

Nosferatu | Regional News

Nosferatu

(R16)

132 minutes

(2 ½ out of 5)

Reviewed by: Reviewed by Alessia Belsito-Riera

Through plenty of eeks, amid lots of squeals, and with more time than I’d like to admit spent hiding under my sweatshirt, I made it through Nosferatu. Though I’m not a horror fan, I wasn’t going in completely unbiased to this new release of the classic vampire tale. I own a beautiful copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula – a groundbreaking piece of literature that’s very dear to me. That being said… though this new treatment is aesthetically appetising and suitably scary, for me, it didn’t come close to the original.

Arthouse filmmaker Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is the plot of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), which is the plot of F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) – itself Stoker’s novel with some name changes and minor tweaks to skirt copyright law. Herzog’s is an undeniable classic. Murnau’s is the pinnacle of German expressionist cinema. Eggers’ doesn’t really re-invent the wheel or make a particularly thought-provoking statement.

As a self-professed history buff and a former production designer, Eggers does deserve to be lauded for Nosferatu from the perspective of a period piece. Craig Lathrop’s design is suitably gothic, oppressive, and finely detailed – his vision something straight from a storybook. Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke is a wizard with his craft, bringing to life an eerie and desaturated world that slowly closes in on you. His lighting, colour, and framing choices are nothing short of award worthy. Louise Ford’s editing style, however, is not my cup of tea, with what I consider lazy transitions, though other critics disagree. Robin Carolan’s delightfully terrifying score though is what truly makes Nosferatu ooze with agony and dread.

Starring Lily-Rose Depp as lead Ellen Hutter alongside Nicholas Hoult as her hapless husband Thomas, the acting in Nosferatu is not something I’d deem particularly praiseworthy. With the exception of Willem Dafoe’s zany Professor von Franz (the equivalent of Van Helsing), Simon McBurney’s perfectly deranged Herr Knock (our Renfield), and, of course, Bill Skarsgård at his best in the disgustingly horrifying role of Count Orlok… though his incessant heavy breathing was more comical than frightening.

Inspired by the 1922 rendition at the age of nine, Eggers has been working towards Nosferatu his whole life. And you can tell! It is beautiful and clever and undeniably good. It’s just not great.

Messiah | Regional News

Messiah

Presented by: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by: Thomas Blunt

Michael Fowler Centre, 14th Dec 2024

Reviewed by: Tamsin Evans

Some things in life are reassuringly predictable. Every year seems to pass more quickly than the last, Christmas arrives before we are ready, and summer is later than we hope. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Messiah comes round every year too but, as this performance showed, familiar does not always mean as predictable as we might expect. The story, the music, solo voices, choir, and orchestra combine in a glorious whole. It’s magnificent, with so much scope for musical interpretation that this year’s concert was only predictable in its scheduling.

The Tudor Consort specialises in performing early music and their enduring reputation for excellence and meticulous attention to period detail were surely behind the very high bar Thomas Blunt set for his musicians. In what is generally thought of as a choral work, Blunt was not afraid to use his small orchestra of only 32 performers and lift them from liturgical accompaniment to equals in the storytelling. Surges in dynamics, unexpected accents, lyrical phrasing, shifting tone and tempo, and specific placement of performers on the stage gave this Messiah a refreshing and enjoyably different sound.

The four distinct styles of the soloists contrasted well with each other. Filipe Manu’s rich tenor soared operatically through Comfort Ye in a way that perhaps shouldn’t have worked but did. Anna Pierard’s He Was Despised was heavy with grief and sorrow without overly dramatic emotion. Madison Nonoa’s soprano voice has a surprising, delicate purity that lent more variety to this extraordinary performance. Hero of the hour, bass-baritone Samuel McKeever, did a remarkable job coming into this production at short notice to cover for the unwell Benson Wilson.

The NZSO was absolutely excellent and the star of the show was The Tudor Consort. Their precision, clarity, perfect diction (an essential part of the storytelling), and a flawlessly balanced and controlled sound produced too many perfect moments to name but many to remember. A glorious end to the year.

A Modern Hero | Regional News

A Modern Hero

Presented by: Orchestra Wellington

Conducted by: Marc Taddei

Michael Fowler Centre, 7th Dec 2024

Reviewed by: Dawn Brook

Orchestra Wellington crowned its year with Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, a towering work of the 20th century, deeply felt by the pacifist Britten and full of emotional impact for contemporary audiences in the current global conflicts. It is an inspired, spine-tingling, heart-wrenching work and the assembled musicians did it proud.

The work uses massive resources. A large choir, soprano soloist, and orchestra perform the Latin mass for the dead. A smaller orchestra accompanies two further soloists – baritone and tenor – who thread through the mass the disillusioned and bitter words of the First World War poet and soldier Wilfred Owen. The contrast between the sentiments of each component could hardly be more stark. And adding to this dramatic contrast is a smaller choir of children’s voices suggesting the innocence so harmed by war.

The music was variously reverential, mournful, beseeching, and consoling. But the dramatic and terrifying sense of war and disillusionment were omnipresent. The opening Requiem Aeternam, for example, started with a soft choir joined by ghostly children’s voices. But then, suddenly, an angry tenor voice was injected asking “What passing bells for these that die as cattle?” That dramatic juxtaposition continued throughout the work.

The soloists were soprano Morag Atchison, tenor Daniel Szesiong Todd, and baritone Benson Wilson. Atchison’s voice was dramatic and soaring, while Todd’s and Wilson’s were more intimate and restrained. The Orpheus Choir, marvellously prepared as usual by their director Brent Stewart, sang infinitely softly when needed and elsewhere thundered angrily.

Orchestra Wellington’s current composer-in-residence, Eve de Castro-Robinson’s impressive Hour of Lead preceded the requiem. She said that she thought of the piece as a prelude to Britten’s work. It reflected Britten very well, contrasting warlike instrumentation (including the orchestra’s tramping feet) with two exquisitely sweet well-known hymns.

Thank you Orchestra Wellington and Orpheus Choir for a very memorable concert.

Wicked | Regional News

Wicked

(PG)

160 minutes

(3 ½ out of 5)

Reviewed by: Alessia Belsito-Riera

The long-awaited screen adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical Wicked trades the Yellow Brick Road for a trip down memory lane, whizzing through the story of how the green-skinned woman Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Ozian it-girl Glinda (Ariana Grande) came to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the North. An adventurous tale that celebrates female friendship and champions standing up for what’s right, this magical musical is as whimsical as it is wondrous, as outrageous as it is off-kilter.

Like its Broadway predecessor, the film version is also presented in two acts, with Defying Gravity serving as a show-stopping ending to part one. In many ways, the screen adaptation remains faithful to the stage play, which in turn was based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel that reimagines the characters from The Wizard of Oz books. Like the stage musical, Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics, while Winnie Holzman wrote the book, but the director’s seat is occupied by Jon M. Chu, who crafts a multicoloured, maximalist dreamscape alongside production designer Nathan Crowley and costume designer Paul Tazewell. Arm in arm with these wonderful world-building wizards, cinematographer Alice Brooks adds the icing on the emerald cake with her bold colour choices and sweeping shots. I just wish Myron Kerstein’s editing had featured slower cuts so we could take it all in better.

The story is an archetypal myth where good is pitted against evil, the comfort of the status quo juxtaposing the freedom of changing the world. Wicked does not reinvent the wheel in its saga of misunderstanding and alienation – even with its subplot of animal persecution. But the wheel isn’t broken, and with Erivo and Grande behind the reins it trots along nicely. Their excellent chemistry is made all the more enjoyable by their opposite vibes, while appearances from Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible and Jeff Goldblum as Oz add an extra layer of grandiosity. What begins as loathing between Elphaba and Glinda blossoms into love and mutual respect, and there is always room for more interactions that pass the Bechdel Test in Hollywood.

Fun and fantastical with more than a few Easter eggs for fans, Wicked is wickedociously, whimsifyingly wonderful.

Pip: The Musical | Regional News

Pip: The Musical

Book and lyrics by John Golder with Tanya Piejus, Talia Carlisle, and Katie Morton

Directed by: Tanya Piejus

Gryphon Theatre, 27th Nov 2024

Reviewed by: Stanford Reynolds

A new, locally written adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, this musical is a massive feat and obviously a labour of love. It features original music composed by Katie Morton, an 11-person strong orchestra (musical direction by Saar Cohen-Ronen), and over 20 committed performers.

Gryphon Theatre has been rotated so that the audience sits lengthways down the auditorium, allowing for a wide stage space. The band is visible behind the action on one side, while the other has been built up for a raised acting area. This orientation creates some challenges, as the acting space becomes thin, limiting the depth for the blocking of action and making it difficult to hear the dialogue over the lively large band when the performers are in one corner of the stage.

Dickens’ Great Expectations has a complex, drawn-out plot, which poses another challenge in adapting it to the stage. The show is close to three hours long, with much of the dialogue and lyrics leaning more into exposition than character development. Many technical elements are employed to tell the story, including sound effects (sound design by director Tanya Piejus), projections (AV design by Emma Maguire), smoke, and even a puppet. As the lighting (design by Jamie Byas and Brian Byas) uses colour creatively to set location and mood, the projections – which are tricky to see – feel superfluous to me. Wardrobe design by Wendy Howard assisted by Hayley Knight excellently captures the characters and time period. I would love to see more focus on the emotion in the acting and blocking over the use of technology, which I feel would help to lift the story (and music) off the page.

While an adaptation of this scale faces many challenges, when the full ensemble sings in harmony there is a fantastic sound and vibrancy. I hope to see future productions of Pip and commend Wellington Repertory Theatre for going all out on this ambitious project, dedicated to the memory of John Golder and his wife Alison.