The History Boys
The Pumphouse, Takapuna
12 - 21 March 2015

The History Boys is an award-winning play by prolific British playwright, screenwriter and author Alan Bennett. Written in 2004 but set in the 1980s, the story follows the lives of seven high school history students as they prepare for their Oxford and Cambridge entrance exams. 

When a teacher is caught getting up close and personal with the boys on his motorbike the history classes are plunged into turmoil.

Read the full review on the Theatreview website.

Finns at the Zoo
Auckland Zoo
Friday 27 February 2015

What do you call seven Finns in a rotunda – a flock, a festoon, a filth or a frolic? This is the question posed by New Zealand’s first family of pop as they wrap up a set of magical songs at Auckland Zoo.

Read the full review on The 13th Floor. 

Perfume Genius 
The Kings Arms 
February 20, 2015
 
Who looks like Doogie Howser, sings like Patti Smith, croons like Chris Martin and tore up the stage like an avant-garde hurricane at the Kings Arms last night? Seattle musician Mike Hadreas, AKA Perfume Genius, that’s who – and next time he comes to Auckland he’s sure to be playing on a bigger stage.

Read the full review on The 13th Floor. 

My Celebrity Husbands and Maybe Some Wives
Auckland Fringe 2015
Old Folks Association Hall, 8 Gundry St, Newton, Auckland
Until 26 Feb 2015 

Toy submarines. Guns. Figurines of Buzz Lightyear. All of these things have been found up bottoms. But My Celebrity Husbands and Maybe Some Wives may be the strangest and most wonderful thing yet found inside an Ass.

For the price of $12 you will experience at least eighteen dollars' worth of originality, hilarity and downright weirdness. On top of that, you will also acquire around five dollars' worth of knowledge about celebrities and evolutionary theory.

Read the full review on Theatreview. 

Steve Abel and special guests
The Golden Dawn
15 February 2015
(Fringe Festival)

Tonight, stepping inside The Golden Dawn is like walking across the threshold of a fairground and into a fortune teller's tent. Outside, coloured lights blaze against the darkening sky as DJ English Jake plays a bewitching selection of soul tunes that get the punters toe-tapping. Inside, the sultry summer evening is made steamier by the heat rising from the perfumed bodies of the Sunday night crowd, and by the enchanting music of Steve Abel and his carousel of celebrity guests.


Read the full review on Theatreview.

Rising Voices Summer Series
Auckland Fringe & Auckland Pride 2015
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre
12 - 14 Feb 2015 

Rising Voices is a literary speed dating night with some of the most exciting new story tellers in Auckland. Each of the three nights features a different line-up of performers to take you on a virtual tour of their hearts and minds – and the world. 

Thursday's show opens in Samoa – or does it? Grace Taylor gives an insightful glimpse into the world of a white afakasi woman – a woman with one Samoan parent, one Palagi parent and an identity that hangs in the balance. Taylor evokes the struggle of belonging with lines like: “The white afakasi woman knows her place. The white afakasi woman tries too damn hard. The white afakasi woman is the only Pacific representative on your committee.”

Read the full review on Theatreview. 

Live Orgy
Written and performed by Freya Desmarais
The Basement Theatre
From 9 -  11 Feb 2015 

The danger of creating a show that relies heavily on audience participation is that you might end up inviting your reviewer onstage to dress up like a giant clitoris. 

With a set that is a metaphor for… er… (well it's made up of two large pink shells with a pink disco ball hanging between them, you work it out), a props cupboard that seems entirely comprised of weapons, and lollies and condoms to be given away, Live Orgy is no ordinary orgy. 

In fact, it's not an orgy at all. It's a trick. A terrible feminist trick designed to lure men down to The Basement for the sex education they never got at school. As performer Freya Desmarais says, “It's an orgy of ideas.” 

Read the full review on Theatreview.