Review Archive
Lexie has been active in the professional performing arts since 1970, joining the Theatre Corporate company under Raymond Hawthorne in 1976 where she remained as a member of the company until April 1979. Following seasons at The Fortune and at Centrepoint she formed her own company based at Whanganui’s Four Seasons Theatre specialising in performances of New Zealand works in schools for young people as well as main bill productions.
Moving then to Kirikiriroa Hamilton and later to Ōtautahi Christchurch, Lexie formed Troupers Live Theatrix based at The Arts Centre of Christchurch and, while continuing to tour schools, she created many main bill productions and, until 1998, ran a small theatre school.
Lexie was a member of the Christchurch Theatre Trust Board for eight years, acted in numerous productions at the Court Theatre, completed four terms on the NZ Theatre Federation National Executive and eight years as Deputy Chair of the Christchurch Community Arts Council.
Following funded travel to the UK, EU, US, and Canada to study Shakespeare production, she settled in Auckland and took up the role of Business Manager at Auckland University’s Maidment Theatre. After eight years in this role Lexie was appointed Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology leading the Event Management academic programmes until 2016 when she added the role of Academic Equity Leader to her portfolio.
Lexie began her reviewing work with the Whanganui Chronicle in 1980 and has since reviewed for The Listener, The Christchurch Star, The Christchurch Press (five years) and for www.gaynz.com. She has reviewed for Theatreview since 2009 and has been Associate Editor (Auckland) since 2022.
Welcome to the review archive.
Theatre and dance reviews since 2006.
How To Art
Auckland, Wellington
12/11/2024 - 01/03/2025
"Relentlessly funny and splendidly performed by the best bananas in the art business...
Raru e Maruakaītā
Auckland
01/11/2024 - 02/11/2024
"Powerful imagery and great performances in this traditional Kūki Airani fable...
SLIP - Rebecca Jensen
Auckland
19/10/2024 - 20/10/2024
"Jensen is outstanding, her performance magical and her choreography rich and subtly nuanced..
THE IDENTITY PROJEKT
Auckland
19/10/2024 - 20/10/2024
"Audience on their feet for the whole 60-minute show – it was actually 90 but no-one was counting...
RUA - The New Zealand Dance Company
Auckland
17/10/2024 - 18/10/2024
"New Zealand Dance Company presents a powerful double bill by two of Aotearoa’s best..
IN/TENSE - Alexa Wilson
Auckland
18/09/2024 - 17/10/2024
"Fear and vulnerability, not as weaknesses, but as powerful, generative forces that connect us..
REALM of TEARS - Rewa Fowles and Renee Wiki
Auckland
13/10/2024 - 13/10/2024
"Evocative, delicate at times, angry at others, with exciting idiosyncratic dance structures..
PŪHEKE - Louise Pōtiki Bryant
Auckland
12/10/2024 - 12/10/2024
"Prolonged applause and gratitude for profoundly rich fare..
PĪATA - Tūrongo Collective & Anne Plamondon
Auckland
10/10/2024 - 13/10/2024
"Conceived with purity, performed with power and elegance, deeply satisfying...
Rutene Spooner's Be Like Billy?
Christchurch, Rotorua, Gisborne, Auckland, Nelson
25/03/2023 - 25/10/2024
"A Question for the Times..
"An outstanding show, a fine performer, so proud of how far we’ve come...
More reviews
Ngā Rorirori
Auckland, Wellington
12/09/2024 - 22/09/2024
"Great dance, awesome music, mistaken identities, wacky hijinks, cutting satire, and a happy ending..
"Fills the room with mauri and juicy ahua..
Essence Unfolding
Auckland
19/09/2024 - 21/09/2024
"A testament to the power of art in helping people work and walk through the dark..
"Green’s outstanding physical journey drenched in the imagery of hope, of optimism, of promise...
Tōiri
Auckland
16/09/2024 - 16/09/2024
"We’ve come too far not to go further, we’ve done too much not to do more...
MĀORI KRISHNA + ALTARNATIVE / CULT CHUR
Auckland, Whangarei
11/09/2024 - 06/10/2024
"An immersive, hilarious and unsettling glimpse into the world of cult healing..
"Heartwarming shows that explain the meaning of everything...
NEKE
Wellington, Auckland
09/06/2021 - 14/09/2024
"Gathers confidently and respectfully from a wakahuia of ngā Toi..
"A brilliant show that invites us to reflect on what truly matters...
More reviews
Our Own Little Mess
Wellington, Auckland
22/02/2024 - 03/08/2024
"Beautiful work, the performances exquisite, balanced and nuanced..
"Sets a very high bar for NZ Festival shows worth going to; deserves a long life and to travel far…..
Te Ao Hou
Auckland
23/07/2024 - 27/07/2024
"Cohesive, clearly collaborative, rich in content and swamped in manaaki..
Recovery Street - Mai I Te Po Ki Te Ao Marama
Auckland
02/07/2024 - 06/07/2024
"The stories are riveting, exquisitely shared, redolent with hope, and have components that are seriously funny...
Prima Facie
Auckland
18/06/2024 - 22/06/2024
"Sublime storytelling shaped for us by a theatre genius. A gift without ego...
The Sun and The Wind
Tauranga, Auckland
28/07/2023 - 24/03/2024
"Perfect performances enable audiences to consider the effects of intergenerational trauma..
"Inspired writing, great performances, and totally committed storytelling..
More reviews
O Le Pepelo, Le Gaoi Ma Le Pala'ai | The Liar, the Thief and the Coward
Wellington, Auckland
14/06/2023 - 23/03/2024
"Complex, rich, funny, and (at times) disturbing, 'O Le Pepelo, Le Gaoi, Ma Le Pala’ai ~ The Liar, The Thief,…..
"A rollercoaster from being shocked, to hysterically laughing to fighting back tears..
The Perfect Image
Auckland
20/02/2024 - 24/02/2024
"An excellent script and delightful performances show Sam Brooks at his very best..
REDUNDANT - JESS KARAMJEET
Auckland
16/02/2024 - 17/02/2024
"A fabulously queer evening, deliciously sexy, and outrageously hilarious..
