Hakan Hardenberger
September 21 | Reviewed by Mark Dryburgh

WITH A change in order to the programme there was little rest for trumpet soloist Hakan Hardenberger who appeared in two of the four works. Two eighteenth century, a nineteenth century and modern pieces by H K Gruber constituted the night’s music.

By Laurence Fearnley
Penguin, NZ$28 | Reviewed by Jennifer Van Beynen

BILLED as ‘an unlikely love story,’ Edwin + Matilda traces the relationship between twenty-two-year-old Matilda and sixty-two-year-old Edwin which is indeed unlikely – but not least because of their significant age difference. The two meet as Edwin is photographing Matilda as a bride-to-be with her fiancé. Photographing Matilda in her wedding gown, Edwin is intrigued by her indifference to the rest of the wedding party, demonstrated by her wandering off with a video camera and filming piles of leaves, lost in her own world. As the rest of the wedding party continues around them, Edwin is the only person who notices this world.

Capital E!
Sept 22-Oct 6 | Reviewed by Melody Nixon

Songs of the Sea is a captivating 40 minutes of high energy storytelling, focusing on the myths and legends of the creation of te moana. Drawing heavily on Maori lore and illustrating its tales with puppets, bouncy foam circles (think rock pools, the ocean surface, even waves) and glittery props, this beautifully produced piece of children’s theatre is well-suited to its target audience of 2-7 year olds.

Circa Theatre
Sept 8-Oct 13 | Reviewed by Helen Sims

Shining City is a beautiful, haunting play, skilfully evocative of guilt and loneliness. Whilst the play is driven by the spoken words of the characters, seldom do they connect properly, creating a sense of being fundamentally alone despite the noise and action. In his earlier plays, McPherson favoured the monologue (in This Lime Tree Bower and The Weir). In Shining City McPherson breaks the characters out of their soliloquies and forces them to talk to each other. However, the dialogue is far from perfect in establishing connections, with many sentences ending with the hopeful, searching question “You know?”

San Francisco Bathhouse
September 22 | Reviewed by Brannavan Gnanalingam

“PEOPLE won’t be people when they hear this sound”. Most people probably wouldn’t recognise this as the opening line of Battles’ criminally catchy hit ‘Atlas’, but those who were there at the sold-out gig in Wellington probably lost their sense of being while being pummeled by the aural overload dished up. This was loud – a controlled cacophony made by four highly talented musicians, who had the audience by the eardrums as they continually built and released the tension. It was exhausting stuff, a classic gig, by a band who is justifying all the hype.

Herald Theatre
September 21-29 | Reviewed by Imogen Neale

HOW TO concoct the perfect, chocolate-laced, murder:

Take one disillusioned romance writer with a Willy Wonka-worthy chocolate addiction. Add an editor cum ‘Elementary my dear Watson’ sidekick called Dorian, a dastardly mother with novel intentions, a transsexual psychic who channels all manner of dead people, a policeman with a nom-de-plume, a Darth Vader ‘Luke I am your father’ moment, a two tiered disappearing chocolate stand and, the most unlikely of murder weapons, a chocolate fish.

Circa Theatre
September 1-October 6 | Reviewed by Kate Blackhurst

DIRECTORS often run the risk of ruining a play by trying too hard to stamp their mark upon it with unsubstantiated interpretations. Ross Jolly should be commended for avoiding this temptation and allowing the superbly well crafted The Winslow Boy to speak for itself. This production is well acted; set; costumed and lit to permit the audience to concentrate on the brilliance of the play itself.

By Bruce Connew
VUP, NZ$40 | Reviewed by Andy Palmer

BRUCE CONNEW is arguably New Zealand’s leading photojournalist. After seemingly taking most of the nineties off, this decade has seen him emerge anew. 1999 saw the publication of his superb, autobiographical On The Way To An Ambush. Since then we’ve seen his work published in Sport, New Zealand abroad: the story of VSA, My Place, People of the Eye: Stories from the deaf world and the exhibition and book Muttonbirds: part of a story. This year Connew has released I Saw You... and Stopover, both books accompanying exhibitions of the same name.

BATS Theatre
September 19-22 | Reviewed by Shruti Navathe

First Flight does for contemporary dance what Young and Hungry does for theatre: it allows young dancers and choreographers to stretch their wings. The opening night consisted of five short dance pieces choreographed and performed by students of high schools and universities around New Zealand.

Gryphon Theatre
September 12-22 | Reviewed by Helen Sims

Titus is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s goriest plays and the Stagecraft production of it at the Gryphon promised to live up to this – the audience was provided with sick-bags. We were assured that although our minds would love the fare on offer, our stomachs might revolt in true Roman style.

BATS Theatre
September 18-22 | Reviewed by Shruti Navathe

AS I SETTLED down to watch the latest work from the Java Dance Company I was prepared to be entertained and provoked. And Itchy Feet did not let me down.

The stage was set for the opening night as Anna (Emma Johnston) and Greg (Jade Daniels) went through the familiar motions of cooking dinner in their cramped kitchen while Lauren (Rosanne Christie) did her smooth-talking real estate spiel. Within the first few minutes the familiarity of the sweet, romantic playful relationship between the couple as well as that of the straight, powerful, single, working woman had been firmly established.

Old Saint Paul’s Church
September 13-16 | Reviewed by Helen Sims

Son et Lumière (Sound and Light) is a celebration of one of Wellington’s most beloved buildings, the Old Saint Paul’s Church. Approaching the church it looked gorgeous bathed in golden light with the trees lit up also. Entering the church, the beautiful and evocative lighting continued: the vaulted wooden ceiling was highlighted by patterns emphasising light and shade. The audience was seated in the pews (surprisingly comfortable) and then the performance began with the procession in of the choir as a Maori karakia sounded.

Circa Theatre
Sept 8-Oct 13 | Reviewed by Melody Nixon

DENSE monologues and threads of the supernatural interweave with psycho-analysis in this examination of the real and metaphorical ghosts that haunt us. Shining City pulls at the heart of what is Real in our everyday relationships, and characters who could be the Willy Lomans of the 2000s show us delicately yet effusively that ‘attention must be paid’.

David Kilgour, in the shadow of the Clean, discusses with BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM his solo breakaway, the Dunedin Sound, and being world famous except in New Zealand.

MARY AMERY explores Primary Products, a new Adam Art Gallery exhibition dealing in New Zealand’s forests, timber product, and its trade.

Ahead of the Bananas NZ Going Global International Conference in August, RENEE LIANG spoke to guest speaker Alison Wong about writing, her Montana shortlisted poetry collection Cup, and growing up Chinese in New Zealand.

BATS Theatre
September 11-15 | Reviewed by Kate Blackhurst

THE SMELL of beer and sweat gave an authentic backdrop to the opening night of Footballistic at Bats, as the cast threw themselves around with energy and timing that would be the envy of many a sports team. The basic premise is that it is a riot during a football match. Other than the very funny – and far more explicit than the BBC would ever permit – commentators, and a strange giant football outfit, the show had very little to do with the beautiful game itself, but was simply an hour of expertly choreographed and frequently humorous fight scenes.

BATS Theatre
September 7-8 | Reviewed by Shruti Navathe

I ATTENDED the opening night of An Alternative Version of Your Own Life at BATS armed with the knowledge the performance I was about to see was the product of the imaginations of two women: a mathematician and a fitness instructor. A random collaboration? I have done enough mathematics to be familiar with the concept of entropy and was expecting that underneath the disorder and seeming randomness there would be order; such is the nature of chaos. What I was left with was a sense that the show set out bravely and creatively to explore complicated concepts for dance; but did not entirely succeed in exploring those concepts in depth.

By Miranda July
Text Publishing, NZ$28 | Reviewed by Amy Brown

PROLIFIC and distinctive Miranda July, writer, director and star of American indie success Me and You and Everyone We Know, has now released her debut collection of short stories, every bit as uncomfortably whimsical and oddly real as her other work.

By Christopher Hope
Atlantic Books, NZ$28 | Reviewed by Jennifer Van Beynen

JOHANNESBURG-born writer Christopher Hope continues in a similar vein to his previous novels with his latest book, My Mother’s Lovers. A sprawling narrative set against the background of South Africa, and a savage attack on his birth country that criticises its history and political leadership from apartheid to the ‘new South Africa’, it could be easy to feel lost in My Mother’s Lovers if one has little prior knowledge of the vast continent. Hope not only covers South African history, delving into the origins of Johannesburg (described as being built upon the business of gold and whores), but dips into many surrounding countries, all the while maintaining an overarching criticism of colonialism and the white concept of ‘Africa’.

ALEXANDER BISLEY talks to artist Kelcy Taratoa, whose paintings are charged with an awareness of encroaching urban and popular culture.

Circa Theatre
September 1-October 6 | Reviewed by Melody Nixon

CONTINUING in its traditional vein of staunch realism Circa’s current play on offer is a formal, compactly structured period piece by Terence Rattigan. Unexpectedly for The Winslow Boy’s pre-World War 1 setting and storyline, it provides a relevant exploration of many aspects of human nature. Issues of popularism, injustice (both intuitive and systematic), the tyranny of the established order, and romantic love are especially well examined. And unexpectedly for a realist piece The Winslow Boy does not end in murder or suicide. On the contrary it is uplifting, humorous and encouraging, and though not especially challenging or emotionally penetrating for a liberal audience, this Circa production is thoroughly worth a view by those who enjoy competently performed, well-crafted realism.

Steve Braunias has been on New Zealand’s back page for almost a decade. TOM FITZSIMONS talks to him about birds, books and asking the tough questions.

BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM trawls the music calendar to bring us the month’s best gigs. This September: The Cook Strait Social Club, NZSO plays Wagner, Phony Bone w/ The Wicks, Peneloping and Tommy Ill, Holy Knit Batman, David Kilgour, Battles, Blam Blam Blam.

ANDY PALMER and BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM review three New Zealand albums in brief: Pine, Twelve Hour Collision; Hollie Smith, Long Player; Brian Platt, Eleven Steps.

Reviewed by Brannavan Gnanalingam

IT WAS 2004’s Southern Lights that helped establish Sean James Donnelly’s reputation, following on the release of his excellent debut 3, and the following Lost Soul Album. Southern Lights was an introspective wee gem of an album – feelings of loneliness and confusion trapped beneath layers of electronic mastery and fragile melodies. Songs from a Dictaphone is SJD’s follow-up, and on the surface appears a brighter affair, more acoustic in its feel, with hummable (but slightly off-kilter) melodies to the fore. The album is lyrically dark, as Donnelly tries to grasp his position in the universe, and sees him grappling with faith, life and love. If anything, this album should be purchased by any self-respecting music fan, and helps confirm Donnelly’s status as national treasure.

Mighty Mighty
August 30 | Reviewed by Brannavan Gnanalingam

MIGHTY MIGHTY was suitably full for the album release party of Good Laika. Composed of members formerly of Bleakhouse, The Stereobus, Odessa and The Accelerants, the band have a nice, easy charm to their music. Their new album Heads I Win, Tails You Lose is probably going to get a lot of comparisons to early Phoenix Foundation, so I might as well be the first person to make the comparison. They sound a bit like early Phoenix Foundation.