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.
JOYFUL AND TRIUMPHANT
Wellington
02/04/2016 - 07/05/2016
"Comedy from stresses and strains..
"Rich in insight, humour and pathos..
JEKYLL & HYDE
Wellington, Invercargill, Auckland, Dunedin
19/03/2016 - 11/07/2018
"Fun and pacy with underlying threads of political and social issue commentary..
"A slick, steely production moving mercilessly under the guise of madcap antics..
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WOLF
Wellington
15/03/2016 - 24/03/2016
"Credibility a major casualty..
CINEASTAS
Wellington
10/03/2016 - 16/03/2016
"Unusual, intriguing glimpse into filmmaking, live on stage..
"Skilfully crafted study of a cross-section of humanity resonates well beyond itself..
THE DEVIL'S HALF-ACRE
Dunedin, Wellington
09/03/2016 - 04/10/2016
"Con-artists’ tale magical performance..
"Consistently tense and engaging..
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WAVES
Wellington, Auckland
05/03/2016 - 13/03/2016
"Playfully blurs margins between fact and fiction..
"Lady in the Water..
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TE PŌ
Auckland, Wellington
01/03/2016 - 04/11/2017
"An eloquent, enjoyable mind bend about the imagination, art, belief, the darkness and the light..
"Being and Nothingness..
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CHALK ABOUT
Wellington
01/03/2016 - 06/03/2016
"Charming, creative – but rather self-indulgent and just a bit smug..
THE ACB WITH HONORA LEE
Wellington
27/02/2016 - 26/03/2016
"A feel-good adaption about the young and old..
"A special theatrical gift..
DEAD DOG IN A SUITCASE (and other love songs) A New Beggar's Opera
Wellington
26/02/2016 - 02/03/2016
"One 'out of the box'..
"Potent Festival fare with flair..
SWEET CHILD OF MINE
Wellington
25/02/2016 - 29/02/2016
"What’s in it for us?..
THE BIDDYS
Wellington
25/02/2016 - 27/02/2016
"Retro humour v sublime singing..
CONVERSATIONS WITH MY COUNSELLOR
Wellington
23/02/2016 - 26/02/2016
"More ‘outside eyes’ might help..
HART
Wellington, Auckland
02/02/2016 - 24/02/2016
"Reveals the pain felt by the stolen generation and those that followed them..
"An impressionistic representation..
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SAMOA 101
Wellington
18/02/2016 - 20/02/2016
"All the ingredients are here..
AD MEN
Wellington
16/02/2016 - 20/02/2016
"Comfort and cohesion within dramatic conflict..
"Sophisticated improv skills..
LOVE’S LABOURS LOST
Wairarapa, Wellington
04/02/2016 - 27/02/2016
"A pleasant evening to be had with a picnic..
AWKWARD THREESOME
Wellington
11/02/2016 - 14/02/2016
"The bar is set high..
ALL PEARLS WANT TO RETURN TO THE SEA
Wellington
11/02/2016 - 14/02/2016
"Misses the boat..
R.U.R – ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS
Wellington
10/02/2016 - 20/02/2016
"Plenty to attract all interest groups..
DIARY OF AN ASPIRING MAGICIAN
Wellington
10/02/2016 - 13/02/2016
"Delightfully baffling..
LAST MEALS: A nine course buffet
Wellington
09/02/2016 - 02/03/2016
"Top rate performances..
"Like all good tragedies it erupts with comedy..
DISCHARGE GOES BACK TO SCHOOL
Wellington
02/02/2016 - 13/02/2016
"Humour, trauma and angst..
"Light comedy with a twinge of pathos..
