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.
MISS JEAN BATTEN
Nelson, Auckland, Wellington, Invercargill, New Plymouth, Dunedin
29/03/2016 - 24/09/2018
"Soaringly majestic flight through a storm of memories and emotion..
"Many clever moments..
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COLOUR ME, NOSTALGIA!
Wellington
28/02/2017 - 04/03/2017
"Intriguing revisiting of growing up..
BELLE ON A BIKE
Wellington
25/02/2017 - 26/02/2017
"An epic ride..
DEEP SPACE NAENAE
Wellington
25/02/2017 - 25/02/2017
"The audience is happily won over..
"Impressively epic improv off to a good start..
THE BUBBLE SHOW
Wellington
23/02/2017 - 03/03/2019
"Now you see them, now you c..
TWO GIRLS ONE SHOP
Wellington, Dunedin
23/02/2017 - 15/03/2017
"High energy rendering of a toxic female friendship..
"Good enough to go to the next level..
WAHINE MAWHERO: Pink Māori Woman
Wellington
22/02/2017 - 24/02/2017
"Revealing family secrets in the quest for a turangawaewae..
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Wellington
17/02/2017 - 03/03/2017
"High-energy ensemble performance..
"Up to all challenges..
GENDER SPANNER
Wellington
20/02/2017 - 22/02/2017
"EVERYONE is the target audience..
WHO?
Wellington
20/02/2017 - 24/02/2017
"Strong offers and subtle skill..
THE LOLA SHOW
Palmerston North, Wellington
11/09/2015 - 19/02/2017
"Light, clever entertainment..
"A Good Time..
Marjolein Robertson RELATIONS
Wellington
14/02/2017 - 15/02/2017
"From familial, geopolitical and sexual to paradoxical political paradigms..
RAGGEDY-ANNE AND MR PITHS
Wellington
01/02/2017 - 04/02/2017
"An absorbing and intriguing show..
"Much to appreciate and more could be explored..
PUBLIC WORKS and THE LANDEATERS
Wellington
18/01/2017 - 29/01/2017
"The epitome of performance art..
"Inspired works tug at our collective conscience..
THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE SINGS
Wellington
14/12/2016 - 17/12/2016
"Unpretentious charm and high quality..
SMELLS LIKE XMAS
Wellington
13/12/2016 - 17/12/2016
"Offers whiffs of Christmas’s various, sometimes nefarious, aromas..
TALOFA PAPA
Porirua, Wellington, Hamilton, New Plymouth
03/12/2016 - 17/11/2024
"Papa’s strict but mischievous ways create powerful drama..
"Connection made despite separation and absence..
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WINE LIPS
Wellington, Global
30/11/2016 - 31/05/2020
"Edgy, funny, insightful, fascinating and ultimately touching..
"Cheeky start, complex potency, satisfying aftertaste..
STAND UP LOVE
Wellington
30/11/2016 - 10/12/2016
"The abiding questions of ‘love’ explored..
SCARLET & GOLD
Wellington
25/11/2016 - 22/12/2016
"An intimate epic..
"Timely, relevant, engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking..
MAGICIANS OF WELLINGTON
Wellington
24/11/2016 - 26/11/2016
"Top drawer lo-fi trickery..
HUDSON & HALLS LIVE!
Auckland, Wellington, Kerikeri, Wanaka, New Plymouth, Christchurch, Dunedin
05/11/2015 - 16/12/2017
"Comedy great Christmas fare..
"Utterly captivating..
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THE RIME OF THE MODERN MARINER
Wellington
10/11/2016 - 26/11/2016
"Clever craft elements diluted by structural flaws..
