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.
AN HOUR WITH ACKBAR
Auckland, Wellington
23/04/2016 - 07/05/2016
"Less than the sum of its parts..
BRINESTORM Alice Brine
Wellington, Auckland
26/04/2016 - 14/05/2016
"CASUAL MOTOR-MOUTH ONE TO WATCH..
"Indelible images..
DISNEY PRINCE Eli Matthewson
Wellington
26/04/2016 - 30/04/2016
"A welcome change in format..
NIC SAMPSON HAS FALLEN DOWN A WELL
Wellington
26/04/2016 - 30/04/2016
"Fall-down elevates stand-up..
THE MOA SHOW Jamie McCaskill
Wellington
26/04/2016 - 30/04/2016
"More than the sum of its hugely entertaining parts..
Shakespeare’s Will
Wellington, Auckland
26/02/2011 - 23/04/2016
"An absorbing and timely tale..
"Quietly compelling..
A TRIAL
Wellington
19/04/2016 - 23/04/2016
"The outcome of this civil case has implications for civilisation itself..
KIWIMAN AND ROBIN
Wellington
19/04/2016 - 30/04/2016
"A lively show to stimulate play..
SHU'S SONG
Paraparaumu, Wellington
16/04/2016 - 18/03/2017
"Entertaining exploration..
"A clever, poignant theatre experience for any developing imagination..
More reviews
THE (KIWI) GINGERBREAD MAN
Wellington
16/04/2016 - 30/04/2016
"Splendidly engaging..
RANGITAHUA... The Stopping Off Place
Wellington, Whangarei
27/08/2015 - 19/04/2016
"An effortless absorbing of history through artistic symbiosis..
"Fascinating and quite disturbing..
IF THERE’S NOT DANCING AT THE REVOLUTION, I’M NOT COMING…
Auckland, Wellington, Edinburgh, Scotland, Nelson, Invercargill
02/09/2015 - 10/05/2018
"A riot – in every sense..
"Uplifting despite harsh message..
More reviews
TITLED
Wellington
12/04/2016 - 16/04/2016
"This work is absolutely necessary for new growth and originality to emerge..
"Self-defeating or worth your risk?..
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..
More reviews
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..
More reviews
WAVES
Wellington, Auckland
05/03/2016 - 13/03/2016
"Playfully blurs margins between fact and fiction..
"Lady in the Water..
More reviews
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..
More reviews
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..
