Isolation, Consumer Desire and the Human Spirit: A Review of "The Chair and the Cello" by David O'Donnell

By a fortuitous coincidence, a new theatre-work The Chair and The Cello " which features an armchair manufactured by a Swedish homewares corporation " premiered two days before that same cor…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 6:21am on March 2, 2026[SHARE]

Kia Mau Festival brings Hana Keaka (Hawaiian language theatre) to Aotearoa: A Review of "Puana" written and directed by Tammy Haili'ōpua Baker by David O'Donnell

In the opening scene of Puana, a musical play written and directed by Professor Tammy Haili'ōpua Baker, a curious young man sifts through a trunk of memorabilia in his family home. As he …

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 9:53am on January 29, 2026[SHARE]

Electrifying Ensemble Performance and Political Satire in New Māori Play: "Unreel" by Helen Pearse-Otene by David O'Donnell

The stage explodes with ihi (essential force) and aroha (love, empathy) in Unreel, the new work by Māori theatre company Te Rākau Hua O Te Wao Tapu (which translates as The Blossoming …

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 1:07pm on October 15, 2024[SHARE]

Retro-futurist Green Theatre: Trick of the Light's "Suitcase Show" by David O'Donnell

A new show from Trick of the Light theatre company is always something special, and Suitcase Show"presented as part of this year's New Zealand Fringe Festival"is no exception. The core of…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 12:05pm on May 2, 2024[SHARE]

"That Perfect Dark": Samuel Beckett's "Company" in Dunedin by David O'Donnell

The southern city of ÅŒtepoti/Dunedin has played an important role in the history of Samuel Beckett production in Aotearoa. In 1959, one of the earliest New Zealand productions of Waiting …

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 4:02am on April 19, 2024[SHARE]

Re-imagining the City through Performance: "The Drifting Room", Created and Performed by Stephen Bain by David O'Donnell

The Drifting Room, created and performed by Stephen Bain. The Performance Arcade 2024, Te-Whanganui-A-Tara Wellington waterfront, 22-25 February 2024. What if the theatre"that fixed architec…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 6:32pm on March 21, 2024[SHARE]

Theatre Against Ageism: "The Secret Lives of Extremely Old People" by Rachel McAlpine by David O'Donnell

In a year in which 77-year-old Dolly Parton recorded her first rock record, the octogenarian Rolling Stones released their first original album in years and 81-year old Harrison Ford starred…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 11:14am on February 5, 2024[SHARE]

New Zealand's Oldest University Theatre Programme Under Threat by David O'Donnell

Due to the current financial crisis in the tertiary education sector in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the university where I teach Theatre is proposing to cut 230 jobs. The cuts are far-reaching and…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 9:08pm on June 27, 2023[SHARE]

"We Wish We'd Had This Show When We Were Kids": Interview With "The Glitter Garden" Playwrights George Fowler and Lori Leigh by David O'Donnell

The Glitter Garden by George Fowler and Lori Leigh. Directed by Lori Leigh. Circa Theatre, Wellington, 30 September " 10 October 2020. Interview with playwrights George Fowler and Lori Leigh…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 11:17pm on May 13, 2021[SHARE]

New Zealand Covid Response Dramatized in Moving Verbatim Play: "Transmission" by Stuart McKenzie. by David O'Donnell

Transmission written by Stuart McKenzie. Directed by Miranda Harcourt and Stuart McKenzie. 20 April " 2 May 2021. BATS Theatre, Wellington In The Theatre and Its Double, Antonin Artaud write…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 10:05am on May 6, 2021[SHARE]

Satiric re-staging of colonial battleground : "Company Kamupene" Written and performed by Jamie McCaskill. by David O'Donnell

Company Kamupene Written and performed by Jamie McCaskill. Presented by Tikapa Productions and The Māori Sidesteps Collective. Directed by Simon Ferry and Craig Geenty. BATS Theatre, Well…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 11:19am on February 25, 2021[SHARE]

Dame Kate Harcourt And the Art of the Senior Actor by David O'Donnell

In June 2017 the eminent New Zealand actor Dame Kate Harcourt celebrated her 90th birthday at Circa Theatre in Wellington, where she was in rehearsals for a new play Destination Beehive. Two…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 10:49am on October 9, 2020[SHARE]

"Fission": Entangling Science, Theatre and Mātauranga Māori. by Hilary Halba and David O'Donnell With David Hutchinson, Rua McCallum and Martyn Roberts

In the era of Covid 19, when our theatres have been forced to close throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand, we find ourselves unable to rehearse or to present our work to a live audience. This has …

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 3:10pm on September 18, 2020[SHARE]

Flawless Live Stream of Award-winning New Zealand Solo Show Celebrates Transgender Tdentity by David O'Donnell

Princess Boy Wonder, performed by George Fowler (aka Hugo Grrrl), Directed by Lori Leigh, BATS Theatre online live stream event, 20 March 2020. In a sad and desperate week in which shows wer…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 12:57am on March 29, 2020[SHARE]

Re-visiting Sartre with a Pacific twist: "Uma Lava" by Victor Rodger by David O'Donnell

Uma Lava by Victor Rodger, Circa Theatre, Wellington. 23 November " 7 December 2019. Directed by Vela Manusaute. Produced by F.C.C. Playwright Victor Rodger writes from a Polynesian persp…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 4:12am on January 3, 2020[SHARE]

Together As One: New Zealand's First Festival of Solo Performance by David O'Donnell

TAHI Fess's: New Zealand Festival of Solo Performance, Artistic Director: Sally Richards. Produced by Sally Richards and Beth Taylor, BATS Theatre, Wellington, 20-24 August 2019 Actor Nic…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 12:55am on November 22, 2019[SHARE]