Review Archive
Dione Joseph is a writer, director and dramaturge. She has an academic and practical background in live performance and her work has an emphasis on culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Over the past ten years she has directed a range of productions including new dramas by contemporary writers, classics and their adaptations, experimental works, musicals, comedies and community-based theatre productions in the USA, New Zealand and Australia. She has also been active as a stage critic for both dance and theatre and has engaged with a variety of topical issues as an arts journalist.
Dione has also held various residencies and fellowships in the UK, China, Mexico, Canada and the USA and is the recipient of numerous awards for theatre including the Lorna Stirling Theatre Award (2012), a Creative Young Stars Australian government grant (2013), the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Award (2013) and has been invited twice as a guest scholar and Artist in Residence to the University of Saskatchewan (2014/15).
She is the first New Zealander to have been awarded a place at the prestigious Lincoln Centre directors’ lab in New York (2014) and was the only New Zealand critic to have been shortlisted for the Allen Wright media award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2014). In the past Dione has been a senior theatre critic at Australian Stage, arts editor at Melbourne City Newspaper and features writer at Aussie Theatre.
Currently based in Aotearoa New Zealand, Dione writes for Theatreview, The Big Idea, DANZ (Dance Aotearoa NZ) and her reviews can also be found on Radio NZ.
Welcome to the review archive.
Theatre and dance reviews since 2006.
ITHACA
Palmerston North, Auckland
26/11/2015 - 05/12/2020
"Jaw-dropping, spellbinding stadium spectacular..
"Fantasy and escapism..
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LE FREAK
Auckland
17/11/2015 - 19/11/2015
"An international act in the making..
2063
Auckland
12/11/2015 - 20/11/2015
"Present Future-gazing..
"A solid work..
ALL OUR SONS
Wellington
06/11/2015 - 14/11/2015
"Recognising our fundamental humanity..
"Many moments to savour..
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TWISTED – The Musical
Auckland
10/11/2015 - 14/11/2015
"A Whole New Story..
"Saved by passion and potent talent..
SIVA
Auckland
06/11/2015 - 07/11/2015
"All that glitters is not gold..
"Mythology, tradition, ritual, inspiration and the pacific..
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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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TANGO FLING WITH SWING
Auckland
15/10/2015 - 15/10/2015
"Tango and Swing come together..
MITIMITI
Auckland
30/09/2015 - 03/10/2015
"Connections, reciprocities, responsibilities, reverberations..
"Medicine making in the story circle..
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THE BLACK
Auckland
08/09/2015 - 12/09/2015
"The National Bank horse is back. And she's pissed...
"The start of a powerful and creative courageous conversation..
BUBBLELANDS
Wellington, Auckland
25/08/2015 - 17/10/2015
"Adrift on the outside looking in..
"Theatrical titbit yet to satisfy..
LOVING KURT VONNEGUT
Auckland
19/08/2015 - 29/08/2015
"The Bourgeois and The Beautiful..
"Twists and turns in literary work with pathos..
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SWEET PHOEBE
Auckland
18/08/2015 - 22/08/2015
"Sour Aftertaste..
"Lacking in wit, charm and humour..
BETWEEN TWO WAVES
Auckland
05/08/2015 - 15/08/2015
"Dramatic Collapse..
"A well-executed, smart production..
URZILA CARLSON - MAN UP
Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch
05/05/2015 - 23/01/2016
"Irresistible conviction..
"Loud, proud and irresistible..
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LE COMIQUE 2015 - Hosted by Carl Donnelly
Auckland
10/05/2015 - 10/05/2015
"A high-energy, jam-packed night..
SAM SMITH - Laughing Gas
Auckland
05/05/2015 - 09/05/2015
"Funny, warm and engaging..
The Secret Policeman's Ball NZ 2015
Auckland
03/05/2015 - 03/05/2015
"Catering to a homogenous middle class..
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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DES BISHOP - Made in China
Wellington, Auckland
28/04/2015 - 09/05/2015
"Infectious enthusiasm drives fish-out-of-water spin-off..
"From China, with love..
WILSON DIXON - FOR THE FIRST TIME AGAIN
Auckland
25/04/2015 - 16/05/2015
"Brilliant parody..
THE KISS INSIDE
Auckland, Wanaka, Dunedin, Nelson, Wellington
16/04/2015 - 05/03/2016
"Transcendant, meditative..
"Simmering vignettes of the search for ecstasy..
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STRIKE Between Zero and One
Auckland, Dunedin
17/10/2014 - 12/04/2015
"High energy ride through a multi-layered explosion of sound, visuals and harmony..
"Winning combination of dynamic visuals and sympathetic beats meets a perfect storm of obstacles..