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.
MERELY TO BE NORMAL… Season One
Wellington
17/07/2013 - 20/07/2013
"A fools’ errand or a survival necessity?..
THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF!
Wellington
16/07/2013 - 27/07/2013
"Children's show works on several levels..
"A delightful way to learn life lessons!..
KIDS Comic Heroes
Wellington
15/07/2013 - 27/07/2013
"Fun with audience help..
"All good..
RED
Wellington
13/07/2013 - 10/08/2013
"Seeing Red at its most vibrant..
"Embrace it..
THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF
Wellington
13/07/2013 - 27/07/2013
"Saving the environment..
"Marvellous mix of reality, myth and satire..
Jane Austen Is Dead
Wellington
24/02/2008 - 13/07/2013
"Obsessions that can bedevil us #2..
"Piercing accuracy and finesse..
More reviews
SYDNEY BRIDGE UPSIDE DOWN
New Plymouth, Wellington, Auckland, Gisborne
07/06/2013 - 11/08/2013
"Intriguing adaptation visually lush but adrift..
"Stylised, Sinister and Sexy: innovative theatre not to be missed..
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YES, PRIME MINISTER
Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington
02/07/2013 - 20/07/2013
"Satirising spheres of political influence..
"Adaptation’s satirical edge could be sharper..
More reviews
A PLAY ABOUT SPACE
Wellington, Palmerston North
16/02/2013 - 19/02/2016
"Insanely clever..
"A romp..
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COALTOWN BLUES
Wellington, Palmerston North
28/05/2013 - 26/04/2015
"Creates a whole and engrossing world..
"Entertainingly insightful and timely revival..
AFTER JULIET
Wellington
25/05/2013 - 08/06/2013
"Perpetuating the cycles – or not..
MY KITCHEN KILLS
Wellington
21/05/2013 - 21/05/2013
"Script needs a little more cooking time..
"Undercooked and lacking in complexity..
SHE’LL BE WRITE (2013)
Wellington, New Zealand wide
12/05/2013 - 12/07/2013
"Engaging performance with inspiring acting..
"Vivid showcase of lively characters..
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BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS
Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland
17/02/2013 - 19/02/2014
"Delights, surprises and delivers the goods..
"Clever and engaging bastards..
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MIDNIGHT in MOSCOW
Wellington
11/05/2013 - 08/06/2013
"A witty and perceptive conflation of fact and fiction..
"A Kiwi play to really sink your teeth into..
TOM BINNS as IAN D MONTFORT
Wellington, Auckland
08/05/2013 - 18/05/2013
"Pseudo-spiritual double bluff?..
"Mysterious comedy ideally pitched..
BRAD ZIMMERMAN in SKYDIVING WITH MY MUM
Wellington
08/05/2013 - 11/05/2013
"Living the dream..
VAUGHAN KING & ALAN MCELROY in ONE BUCKET, TWO COMEDIANS
Auckland, Wellington
07/05/2013 - 18/05/2013
"Unpolished, unfocused, sloppy..
"A hodgepodge of ‘hey, this’ll be funny’ ideas..
THRILLS & SWOON: IMPROVISED ROMANCE
Wellington
07/05/2013 - 11/05/2013
"A happy blend of celebration and satire..
THE BACCHAE
Wellington
04/05/2013 - 10/05/2013
"Audience robbed of chance to fully engage..
JOSEPH HARPER in THINK: TREE (Omoutautahi)
Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington
03/05/2013 - 12/10/2013
"Witty, literary, metaphysical and thrumming with nervous energy..
"Endearing, quirky, spontaneous, touching..
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BARNIE DUNCAN in CALYPSO NIGHTS
Nelson, Wellington, Hamilton, Edinburgh, Scotland, Auckland, Dunedin
01/05/2013 - 07/10/2016
"From bewilderment to dancing via calypso..
"Sexy, mysterious and political..
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THE IMPROVISORS in COMIC HEROES
Wellington
30/04/2013 - 04/05/2013
"If you like lycra …..
