Review Archive
John C Ross is a retired senior lecturer in English literature ex-Massey University, Palmerston North, and remains an honorary research fellow, writing stuff. Born in Wellington, he caught the theatre-going and amateur acting bug there, mainly while a student at Victoria University.
In 1965 he took a ship to England for one year’s OE, and came back eight years later to the Massey job. In the years in between he acquired a Ph D in English from Birkbeck College, University of London, studying Restoration comedy, and spent about four-and-a-half years as a literature tutor at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, Sidcup, Kent, plus plenty of travelling-around, tramping, and theatre-going.
Since 1974, John has directed or acted in quite a few plays with Massey Drama Society and Manawatu Theatre Society, and helped front-of-house during Centrepoint Theatre’s earlier years. He has written regular theatre reviews for Act Bulletin, the Sunday Times, the Dominion, the Dominion Post, and, now, Theatreview.
Welcome to the review archive.
Theatre and dance reviews since 2006.
DARK DEEDS
Palmerston North
30/01/2014 - 01/02/2014
"Entertaining, offbeat intrigue..
"Unreal alternatives..
STOCKCARS: The Musical
Palmerston North
02/11/2013 - 14/12/2013
"A bit rough, rude, crude and raw but with plenty of roar..
"Corruption in sport and local body politics..
REWENA
Palmerston North, Tauranga
07/09/2013 - 30/10/2013
"Inspired theatre..
"Vitality, personality, expressiveness, spot-on timing..
PENINSULA
Palmerston North
20/07/2013 - 24/08/2013
"Fluent, funny, intelligent, evocative, multi-layered story-telling..
"A smooth assurance and a richness of interactions..
TWO FISH ‘N’ A SCOOP
Palmerston North
08/06/2013 - 06/07/2013
"Heroic effort in interesting, lively production..
Shop ‘Til You Drop
Palmerston North
13/04/2013 - 25/05/2013
"Murphy’s Law meets Cock-up Theory..
MANAWA
Auckland, Wellington, Palmerston North
15/09/2012 - 14/03/2013
"Vital, intelligent, fluent, funny, gutsy, hard-hitting and impressively realised..
"Striking contrasts..
More reviews
The Tempest
Palmerston North
01/03/2013 - 09/03/2013
"Attractive and captivating..
"Playful use of Steampunk..
THE MOTOR CAMP
Palmerston North
03/11/2012 - 15/12/2012
"More to these archetypical characters than first meets the eye..
"Clever psychology within high entertainment..
VIOLENT GENERATION?
Palmerston North
11/10/2012 - 13/10/2012
"Horrifyingly plausible, credible and distressing..
WELL HUNG
Palmerston North
08/09/2012 - 13/10/2012
"Still edible if a little gamey..
"Retro cop caper a joyfully reconstructed jaunt..
AT THE WAKE
Palmerston North
28/07/2012 - 25/08/2012
"A fine new play..
"Insightful, compelling and humorous piece about life, love and loss..
ENLIGHTENMENT
Palmerston North
09/06/2012 - 14/07/2012
"Damned good, skilful storytelling..
"Fluctuating emotional dynamics in high quality production of a seriously good play..
YOU CAN ALWAYS HAND THEM BACK
Palmerston North
14/04/2012 - 26/05/2012
"Left wishing for something a little more profound..
"Good value..
MICHAEL JAMES MANAIA
Wellington, Palmerston North, Auckland, Dunedin
25/02/2012 - 16/02/2013
"Play’s power unchanged..
"Takes no prisoners..
More reviews
Hits of 83
Palmerston North
05/11/2011 - 17/12/2011
"Clever concept needs more work..
"Ingenious production of thin plotlines..
The Thirty Nine Steps
Palmerston North
10/09/2011 - 08/10/2011
"Clever Dicks in melodramatic derring-do..
"Thriller comedy balance enjoyably achieved..
Le Sud
Palmerston North
16/07/2011 - 27/08/2011
"‘Sud’ missile on target as an irrepressible comic fantasy..
"Often very funny romp nearly always entertaining..
Flipside
Palmerston North
28/05/2011 - 02/07/2011
"A wealth of understanding of human nature..
"Raw and rugged, dramatic, compassionate and uplifting love song of the sea..
Conjugal Rites
Palmerston North
02/04/2011 - 14/05/2011
"An easily enjoyable production of a fine play..
Four Women
Palmerston North
26/02/2011 - 12/03/2011
"A lovely, heart-warming show..
Penalties, Pints and Pirouettes
Palmerston North
06/11/2010 - 18/12/2010
"Rough-textured play deftly produced..
The Cape
Palmerston North
28/08/2010 - 25/09/2010
"Always-live..
