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.
SUCCESS
Wellington, Auckland
04/06/2015 - 07/08/2015
"Study in failure proves success..
"High Achiever..
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THE WIDOW
Wellington
02/06/2015 - 06/06/2015
"Comedy compromised but commitment strong..
HAMLET Globe to Globe
Wellington, Auckland
01/06/2015 - 05/06/2015
"Slick show feeds hunger for bard..
"Fast and furious..
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SECOND AFTERLIFE
Wellington
18/07/2014 - 13/06/2015
"A play that will meme something to young people..
"Truly dynamic must-see production..
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WINGS
Wellington
26/05/2015 - 30/05/2015
"Packs a hefty punch..
"Absorbingly dark..
EAMONN MARRA Respite - A Monologue
Wellington
14/05/2015 - 16/05/2015
"Unfamiliar yet strangely familiar..
TERRIBLE IDEAS Hosted by Jarrod Baker & Jonny Potts
Wellington
13/05/2015 - 16/05/2015
"A Good Idea to go..
FORCE NORMAN - Nick Gibb & Rhys Mathewson
Wellington
12/05/2015 - 16/05/2015
"To be reckoned with and welcomed..
Public Service Announcements: WHO DUNNE IT?
Wellington
12/05/2015 - 16/05/2015
"The stage of representatives..
"All parties lampooned on an equal opportunity basis..
JEROME CHANDRAHASEN - The Third Pint
Wellington
12/05/2015 - 16/05/2015
"Laid back chat always engaging..
JON BENNETT - Pretending Things Are A Cock
Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch
25/04/2015 - 11/04/2017
"Exuberant ‘art odyssey’..
"Solid, sustained, satisfying …..
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SLEEPING AROUND
Lower Hutt
06/05/2015 - 14/05/2015
"An ideal premise for comedy..
"Unusual and stimulating comedy..
GABRIEL PAGE & LUCY EDWARDS - Turning Another Page
Wellington
05/05/2015 - 09/05/2015
"Does them and us good..
HAMISH PARKINSON - Fly or Die
Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch
05/05/2015 - 23/01/2016
"Extraordinarily funny and absolutely original..
"Delightfully absurdist..
COLIN HAY - WAITING FOR MY REAL LIFE ...
Wellington, Auckland
01/05/2015 - 05/05/2015
"Don’t wait. This life is worth tuning into...
"Real life entertainment..
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THE IMPROVISORS Theatresports - The Silver Jubilee Season
Wellington
03/05/2015 - 14/06/2015
"Small miracles abound..
A SERVANT TO TWO MASTERS
Wellington
02/05/2015 - 30/05/2015
"A colourful two hours of knockabout farce..
"Highly entertaining with just enough character complexity and social commentary bite..
ELI MATTHEWSON - Faith
Wellington
29/04/2015 - 02/05/2015
"Effacing, insightful, affirming and fun..
KADE AND JEREMY - You, Me & O.C.D
Wellington
02/04/2015 - 29/04/2015
"Relaxed and fluid yet exemplifies OCD..
TWO DAY PLAYS 2015
Wellington
29/03/2015 - 26/04/2015
"An energising celebration of the collective creative spirit..
DON JUAN
Wellington, Havelock North, Nelson, Auckland
25/04/2015 - 12/11/2016
"Juan Direction..
"Feel the love - young dogs give it heaps..
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LETTERS FROM THE FRONT
Wellington
21/04/2015 - 25/04/2015
"Strangely safe and benign..
IMPROV for Kids 2015
Wellington
07/04/2015 - 18/04/2015
"Entertaining ingenuity..
