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 KEYS ARE IN THE MARGARINE: a verbatim play about dementia
Dunedin, Auckland, Wellington
19/06/2014 - 14/11/2015
"Touching look at life with dementia..
"Deeply absorbing..
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CALL ME BUKOWSKI
Wellington
10/11/2015 - 14/11/2015
"Captures the zeitgeist with flair..
ALL OUR SONS
Wellington
06/11/2015 - 14/11/2015
"Recognising our fundamental humanity..
"Many moments to savour..
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SHORT+SWEET Festival Wellington
Wellington
04/11/2015 - 07/11/2015
"Should become an annual highlight in Wellington..
A COLLECTION OF NOISES
Wellington
03/11/2015 - 07/11/2015
"Compelling and somewhat unnerving..
DEAD MEN’S WARS
Wellington
22/10/2015 - 31/10/2015
"Ensemble makes Wars a tale worth watching..
"Elusive theme undermines it..
THE THINGS WE DO
Wellington, Hamilton, Auckland, Palmerston North, Waiheke Island
24/02/2015 - 01/11/2015
"Capable and promising..
"Fluid segues from common to surreal..
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BUBBLELANDS
Wellington, Auckland
25/08/2015 - 17/10/2015
"Adrift on the outside looking in..
"Theatrical titbit yet to satisfy..
BOOYA: Blow it Out Your Ahem
Wellington
08/10/2015 - 08/10/2015
"Flotsam and jetsam in a tide of movement..
THE ROYAL EQUINOX ADVENTURE CRUISE
Wellington
06/10/2015 - 06/10/2015
"Lost in complexity..
National Shakespeare Schools Production 2015
Wellington
03/10/2015 - 04/10/2015
"A formative and valuable experience..
ANIMAL FARM
Wellington
30/09/2015 - 10/10/2015
"Could be worth a visit..
HIRAETH
Nelson, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Auckland, Wellington, Wairarapa, Christchurch, Wanaka
19/09/2015 - 07/11/2015
"Feel-good theatre..
"We are the river..
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THE GENIE, THE LAMP AND ALADDIN
Wellington
29/09/2015 - 10/10/2015
"Engages and involves the young..
"A live and lively antidote to electronic media..
THE QUIET ROOM
Wellington
24/09/2015 - 03/10/2015
"Emotional rollercoaster sensitively captured..
"An enriching experience..
ME/YOU/US/THEM
Wellington
22/09/2015 - 26/09/2015
"Enticing ingredients..
DOWNTON AdLib
Wellington, Palmerston North
02/08/2015 - 28/02/2016
"Cracking pace, quick wits, broad skill set..
"A farcical evening bedecked in bathos and caricature..
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DAFFODILS [inspired by true events]
Auckland, Hamilton, Wanaka, Kerikeri, Christchurch, Nelson, Tauranga, Edinburgh, Scotland
14/03/2014 - 28/08/2016
"Slick, honest and truly beautiful..
"A profound change-inviting play and musical masterpiece..
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SCENE
Wellington
15/09/2015 - 19/09/2015
"Objective observation still enlightens..
ALL EARS
Wellington
10/09/2015 - 12/09/2015
"Fascinating on a number of levels..
KNIFED
Wellington
08/09/2015 - 19/09/2015
"Yet to reveal its true self..
THE TRAVELLING SQUIRREL
Wellington
05/09/2015 - 02/10/2015
"Robert Lord’s The Travelling Squirrel gets a much-needed resurrection at Circa..
"Reality revealed through fantasy with delectable flair..
THE WHITE GUITAR
Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, Rotorua, Napier, Tauranga, Nelson
01/09/2015 - 21/10/2016
"The truth of the Luafutu family also sets us free..
"Incredible story earns respectful ovation..
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