With music by Gabriel Faure, Igor Stravinsky and Piotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky and choreography by George Balanchine, Jewels – by name and nature – is a gem. The world’s first full-length abstract ballet, it is actually three short ballets in one and is beautiful to look at and to savour. Sandra Jennings is responsible for the staging….
Disney on Ice is always wonderful family entertainment, but 100 Years of Wonder is the best yet. What a fabulous, engaging show it is – so warm, friendly and inviting. There were seven in my party on opening night, with the youngest being four. The look on her face throughout said it all. She was like the…
The small, feel-good movie, Red, White & Brass was inspired by events surrounding Tongan locals in New Zealand at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Like most Tongans in New Zealand, Maka (John-Paul Foliaki) is mighty excited that the Rugby World Cup is about to arrive on his doorstep. Ticket sales are soon to open for…
Revenge is the cornerstone of Is God Is, an incendiary play that explodes onto the MTC stage. What a hard life twins Anaia (Henrietta Enyonam Amevor) and Racine (Masego Pitso) have had in America’s south. It is a legacy of an ugly incident sparked by their father (Kevin Copeland) who tried to burn to death their mother…
Cinderella, like you have never seen her before. She’s an activist who refuses to be pushed around. She has strong views about the crown and its lack of action in addressing the needs of the people who are struggling to make ends meet. She is out to change that narrative. While all this seems to be driven by the…
Dinner is served, or at least about to be served. That is what we are led to believe in the latest, decidedly adventurous play at Theatre Works’ Explosives Factory, Social Dance. Talk about creating a favourable first impression. Walk up the steep stairs to the theatre, turn left and you cast your eyes over a huge dinner table…
It takes a while to understand just what is going down here, but – make no mistake – Underneath Ms Archer is a stunning, original work. Behind it are the two outstanding actors. Louise Siversen plays veteran flight attendant Kelly Archer, while Peter Houghton is cast as medieval knight Willliam Marshall. The pair wrote the piece, with dramaturgy…
Nicole Holofcener’s comedic drama You Hurt My Feelings asks whether it’s okay to lie if you’re trying to protect a loved one. Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Don (Tobias Menzies) are a ridiculously loved-up middle-aged couple. Beth is the author of a moderately successful memoir, struggling to find a publisher for her first novel. She also…
An eclectic comedian and singer with a working-class style and a potty mouth, MJ Wilson sets us up for a show about love … and horses. With a pleasant, mellifluous voice, he proceeds to warble Elton John’s Your Song. Changing tone, he makes light of what he calls his “dribbling” and speech impediment (which I couldn’t hear)….
Following its success last winter, a new, gorgeous exhibition of colour and creativity returns to the Royal Botanic Gardens this year. The after dark experience that is Lightscape features a stunning array of large-scale, colour-changing, illuminated sculptures. All but two are fresh designs. Back to captivate anew is last year’s piece de resistance, Winter Cathedral, and the…
