Review Archive
John Smythe has trained and worked professionally in New Zealand, Australia then back in New Zealand as a playwright, director, screenwriter (& screenwriting teacher), actor, theatre critic and book writer.
His formal qualifications include a Bachelor of Dramatic Art from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (Sydney) and a Certificate in Screenwriting from the Australian Film Television and Radio School. He has also completed honours papers and a range of script writing courses.
Theatre directing credits in Australia include plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Gorki, and world premieres of plays by himself, Len Radic, David Williamson, Louis Esson, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Jack Hibberd and David O’Brien. Back in NZ he directed his own trilogy of short plays – ENTRANCING EXITS: Ms Conception; Nothing Twisted; Used Heads, at Bats Theatre, Wellington International Festival of the Arts; Faulty (sic) Towers & Blackadder’s Banquet at the Museum Hotel.
Playwright credits include Entrancing Exits (BATS Theatre), Conundra (Ensemble Productions), Swaggy Mack and his Magic Back Track (Arena Theatre), The Seven Stages of Hugh Mann (Melbourne University Theatre), Party Games (Jane St Theatre; La Mama) and Making A Play (Melbourne Theatre Company; Central Theatre), Where There’s a Will (BATS Theatre). Unproduced plays include Thelma, Weather and The Virtues of Reality.
John has also written The Peace Monster (Vintage, 1991); Downstage Upfront: the first 40 years of New Zealand’s longest-running professional theatre (Victoria University Press, November 2004) and The Plays of Bruce Mason – a survey (VUP & Playmarket, November 2015).
Amid a wide range of acting roles on stage, television and film, John has played Polonius and the Gravedigger in Hamlet twice (2006 and 2011). In 2012 and with Arts On Tour NZ in 2013 he played James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Carl Jung in Jan Bolwell’s Dancing in the Wake. In 2015 he played Barry Scanlan in his own play, Where There’s a Will, at BATS Theatre. (Since 2000 he has also played Birdboot in an annual VUW English Dept reading of Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound.)
Before becoming the founding Managing Editor of Theatreview.org.nz in 2006, John was a theatre critic for The Melbourne Times, The Australian, Theatre Australia Magazine, The National Business Review.
Welcome to the review archive.
Theatre and dance reviews since 2006.
THE DREAM
Wellington
05/02/2019 - 09/02/2019
"A credible insight into the truths of unreality..
THE ATTITUDES – REFUSING PERFORMANCE
Wellington
29/01/2019 - 02/02/2019
"An innovatively classical way of “speaking unspeakable things” and “being the unspeakable”..
RANTS IN THE DARK
Christchurch, Wellington
19/01/2019 - 03/10/2020
"Energetic, relatable and mostly well-paced..
"A hero’s journey indeed..
LIFE IN THE WHALE
Wellington
11/12/2018 - 15/12/2018
"Dream (non)logic generates a reality-riddled metaphor..
STORY STUDIO LIVE
Wellington
09/12/2018 - 09/12/2018
"Inventive performance abetted by fun-to-watch live SFX-creation..
SANTA CLAUS
Wellington, Auckland
01/12/2017 - 15/12/2018
"The retrospective backwash dilutes the entertainment value..
"Ho Ho No..
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THE CATHERINE TATE SHOW – LIVE
Wellington
30/11/2018 - 07/12/2018
"No face looks bovvered..
PETER PAN GOES WRONG
Christchurch, Wellington
21/11/2018 - 02/12/2018
"A side-splitting romp for the whole family!..
"Oh so right when it goes wrong..
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THE TURKISH DOGS ARE RACIST
Wellington
20/11/2018 - 01/12/2018
"Ingeniously replicates the way such experiences resonate in our memories..
PUSS IN BOOTS
Wellington
17/11/2018 - 12/01/2019
"A great night of fun and laughs for all ages..
"Ideal family fare..
ACTUAL FACT
Wellington
16/11/2018 - 01/12/2018
"Brilliantly conceived and executed..
"An elusive and allusive delight..
Alexander Sparrow in BECOMING TRUMP
Wellington, Palmerston North
10/10/2018 - 15/11/2018
"Undoubted skills could better serve a bigger purpose..
"Impressive energy, humour, invention, vocal and body-language versatility..
COMMITTED
Wellington
06/11/2018 - 10/11/2018
"A gentle journey through peaks and troughs..
JANE DOE
Auckland, Dunedin, Nelson, Napier, Wellington, Invercargill
06/06/2017 - 02/05/2019
"Important conversations incredibly thoughtfully crafted..
"Extremely engaging and constructive..
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IN IT TOGETHER
Wellington
16/10/2018 - 20/10/2018
"Pays off with a riveting climax..
BLONDE POISON
Wellington, Auckland
22/08/2017 - 06/10/2018
"Exquisitely calibrated and modulated; totally compelling..
"Nazi era play poses moral dilemma..
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ROBYN HOOD and her Merry Gals!
Wellington
01/10/2018 - 13/10/2018
"Confidently engaging with plenty of talking points..
MRS KRISHNAN’S PARTY
Auckland, Whangarei, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington, Tauranga
06/12/2017 - 25/08/2019
"Astute, contagious, charming, delicious..
"Festival of renewal happily honoured with depth and levity..
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SHE DANCED ON A FRIDAY
Hamilton, Wellington
06/09/2017 - 15/09/2018
"A grim tale told with love and hope..
"An exquisitely crafted honouring of a life..
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WONDERFUL
Wellington
04/09/2018 - 07/03/2020
"A gestalt of three exceptional talents..
"What’s Good Wellington? #1..
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KORORĀREKA: THE BALLAD OF MAGGIE FLYNN
Auckland, Bay of Islands, Kerikeri, Whangarei, Napier, Wellington, Tauranga
09/06/2017 - 12/09/2018
"A smooth, masterful, playful, dangerous ride..
"A romp through ‘herstory’ with potent moments..
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THE LAZARUS LOTTERY
Wellington
23/08/2018 - 01/09/2018
"Existential and metaphysical quandaries explored through very human experiences..
MY NAME IS GARY COOPER
Wellington
21/08/2018 - 25/08/2018
"Superbly crafted play and production..
