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.
PENINSULA
Wellington
25/02/2012 - 31/03/2012
"Seismic rumblings..
"Actors carry off testing dual roles..
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THE REHEARSAL, PLAYING THE DANE
Wellington
24/02/2012 - 28/02/2012
"Rehearsal proves a tasty Ham(let) sandwich..
"More matter, less art please..
CONFESSIONS
Wellington
23/02/2012 - 29/02/2012
"Tragic tales of credible horror..
DIVAS AND THE BEAST
Wellington
23/02/2012 - 26/02/2012
"A good concept well executed..
PUPPET FICTION
Edinburgh, Scotland, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin
22/02/2012 - 28/08/2016
"An inventive, kitsch and heart-felt honouring..
"A knock-out..
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PART TIME PROSTITUTE: the secret life of a Wellington hooker
Wellington
22/02/2012 - 25/02/2012
"Much more than a voyeuristic peek..
BE GLAD YOU’RE NEUROTIC
Wellington, Dunedin
21/02/2012 - 17/03/2012
"Somewhat pointless?..
"Normal neuroses..
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TRANSIT OF VENUS vs. NOSFERATU
Wellington, Auckland
11/02/2012 - 23/02/2012
"Little to offer as theatre..
"All up, pretty cool..
Twelfth Night
Wairarapa, Wellington
09/02/2012 - 03/03/2012
"Classic Shakespeare fare..
"Flappers by the sea add to the laughs..
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THE 37TH SITUATION
Wellington
17/02/2012 - 22/02/2012
"Jam-packed hour of entertaining exploration..
HONEY
Wellington
16/02/2012 - 18/02/2012
"A sweet play with a bit of a crunch and a lingering after-taste..
MOVING STATIONERY
Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland
16/02/2012 - 11/05/2013
"Awe-inspiring dancer, mime artist, contortionist, gymnast, clown and artiste..
"Makes making doing easy things look hard look easy..
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Should We Stay Or Should We Go?
Wellington
14/02/2012 - 18/02/2012
"A fun show..
"Huge fun with a genuine purpose..
DARK STARS
Auckland, Wellington, Melbourne, Australia
10/02/2012 - 10/03/2013
"Unpolished but genuine..
"Dignity sacrificed in the quest for fame..
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YOU BE THE ANGEL I BE THE GHOST
Wellington
08/02/2012 - 12/02/2012
"A writer in search of a play..
TOM KEEPER PASSES
Wellington
03/02/2012 - 12/02/2012
"Dazzling melange funny, haunting..
"Highly recommended to non-passive theatre-goers..
CRIMS
Auckland, Wellington
05/10/2011 - 04/02/2012
"Tension with possibility..
"Delightful insightful comedy..
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THE LONG WEEKEND
Wellington
31/01/2012 - 04/02/2012
"Questions of trust..
MUNTED
Auckland, New Plymouth, Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton
24/01/2012 - 19/08/2014
"Charming openness and commitment..
"Honest and heart-warming..
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Lonely Heart - the musical
Wellington
17/01/2012 - 28/01/2012
"Shapeless..
"Musical revives old murder story..
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Toys
Wellington
07/12/2011 - 17/12/2011
"R rated hilarity..
"Well worth a second visit..
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Raybon Kan in Clear and Present Manger
Wellington
06/12/2011 - 11/12/2011
"Juicy stuff in the main course..
