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.
Death and the Dreamlife of Elephants
Wellington
10/11/2009 - 04/06/2011
"Magical Dreamscape..
"Quest poetic but just too elephantine..
More reviews
Dan is Dead/I Am a Yeti
Auckland, Wellington
30/04/2011 - 14/05/2011
"Method in delightful madness..
"Utterly ridiculous but they pull it off..
More reviews
Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) – CSI: Wainui
Wellington
10/05/2011 - 14/05/2011
"WIT delivers..
Uso
Wellington
05/05/2011 - 07/05/2011
"Glee misses..
"Poverty, drugs and the ties of brotherhood..
More reviews
Jamie Bowen in Munfred Bernstein’s Cabinet of Wonder
Auckland, Wellington
03/05/2011 - 14/05/2011
"Very engaging in its own strange way..
Did I Believe It?
Wellington, Auckland
09/04/2011 - 12/05/2011
"If this is the answer, what was the question?..
"Retro ridicule of scientific gobbledegook..
Visa First Laughs
Wellington
01/05/2011 - 01/05/2011
"Strangely non-topical..
The Irrefutable Truth About Petfood
Auckland, Wellington
27/07/2010 - 07/05/2011
"Random displays of acting..
"Triple distinctions in homage to ludicrous and wonderful conventions..
The Book of Everything
Wellington
26/04/2011 - 30/04/2011
"Plenty to ponder..
Welcome To The Woods
Wellington
19/04/2011 - 24/04/2011
"Couldn’t see the play for the Acting..
The MILD Wild West!
Wellington
18/04/2011 - 30/04/2011
"Could do better..
Badjelly The Witch
Wellington
16/04/2011 - 30/04/2011
"Yet another winner..
TIC TIC
Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga, , Dunedin
04/05/2010 - 06/10/2012
"Disparate components flow smoothly..
"Quite simply an inspiration..
More reviews
I Heart Camping
Auckland, Dunedin, Wellington
24/02/2010 - 21/04/2011
"Camp ground cringe gives laughs aplenty in under-the-canvas show..
"Romantic comedy hard to believe..
More reviews
Skoolnite
Wellington
06/04/2011 - 09/04/2011
"A good show that could be excellent..
Brain Damage
Wellington
05/04/2011 - 09/04/2011
"Gone too far is the question, or not..
"A pointless exercise?..
August: Osage County
Wellington
02/04/2011 - 07/05/2011
"Tour de force at Circa..
"Powerful drama deserves its standing ovation..
More reviews
The Spy Who Wouldn’t Die Again
Wellington
31/03/2011 - 23/04/2011
"Slick twist-and-turn spy tale entertaining theatre..
"Purposeful method in inspired madness..
The Mourning After
Wellington
30/03/2011 - 27/10/2012
"Charming and at points spell-binding..
"Solo play engaging, entertaining..
More reviews
Fuddy Meers
Wellington
29/03/2011 - 09/04/2011
"Twists, turns and amnesia in this little gem of a show..
"Holding distorting mirrors up to life..
The Chathams – we’re f#!king sick of the silence
Wellington, Auckland
07/03/2011 - 02/04/2011
"Random entertainment lacks purpose..
"Mixed bag of sketches, slides, narration and song..
2 Dimensional Life of Her
Wanaka, Tauranga, Wellington, Auckland
21/03/2011 - 22/02/2012
"New Performance, New Dimensions..
"A charming, fresh approach to mixed-media work..
More reviews
A Curious Game
Wellington
21/03/2011 - 26/03/2011
"Whacky musical squares..
