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.
Up Down Boy
Wellington
21/03/2011 - 26/03/2011
"A quietly powerful performance..
Vinnie Septic and the Princesses
Wellington
21/03/2011 - 26/03/2011
"A cleverly conceived blend of grossness and innocence..
Hear to See
Wellington
19/03/2011 - 26/03/2011
"The old-fashioned brilliance of magical tricks..
"Amazing puppeteering in a story that could work better..
More reviews
Tomboi: Laugh Your Bits Off
Wellington
16/03/2011 - 19/03/2011
"The efficacy of self-pleasuring comedy..
"Good in parts..
Boats
Wellington
14/03/2011 - 26/03/2011
"Ordinary objects ingeniously used..
The Whale’s Tale
Wellington
14/03/2011 - 19/03/2011
"Madness with a purpose..
Grimace
Wellington
14/03/2011 - 26/03/2011
"Well-paced fun fit for the purpose..
Fairy Stories
Wellington
12/03/2011 - 09/04/2011
"A sheer torrent of unstoppable talent..
"Yes camp and naughtiness, expect ’em | Plus all the rest of love’s rich spectrum..
More reviews
Crossing Lines
Wellington
09/03/2011 - 20/03/2011
"Being ‘Kiwi’..
"When two cultures collide..
More reviews
Mates & Lovers
Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Hamilton
17/11/2010 - 30/06/2012
"Universal resonance..
"Entertaining, informative and moving..
More reviews
The Idea of America
Auckland, Waiheke Island, Wellington
23/03/2010 - 19/03/2011
"American dream on-stage..
"Messed up family’s powerful portrayal painful to watch..
More reviews
Party Girls
Wellington
06/03/2011 - 06/03/2011
"A good election year stir-up..
(N)one Down
Wellington
02/03/2011 - 05/03/2011
"None down, everywhere to go..
Heroic Faun Number One
Auckland, Wellington
19/03/2009 - 05/03/2011
"Clash of ego, ambition, fear and vulnerability..
"One-man faun tale goes the extra mile..
More reviews
Don’t Eat the Bed ...
Wellington
28/02/2011 - 04/03/2011
"Physically strong, vocally weak..
"Po-faced rom-com gem..
The Aliens Of Poverty Bay
Wellington
27/02/2011 - 02/03/2011
"Left unengaged and irritated..
Our Man in Havana
Wellington
26/02/2011 - 26/03/2011
"Missing the point?..
This Rugged Beauty
Wellington
25/02/2011 - 05/03/2011
"The nature of being Kiwi..
"Stands proud on the slopes of a metaphorical Mount Aspiring..
The Hooligan and the Lady
Wellington
24/02/2011 - 27/02/2011
"Taking the hard knocks to tell our rough and tumble stories..
"Strong social message embedded within a rollicking good entertainment..
There's So Much to Live For
Wellington
22/02/2011 - 26/02/2011
"Fresh and original concept..
"Elusive allusion makes for a riveting hour..
Drowning in Veronica Lake
Hamilton, Wellington, New Plymouth, Tauranga, Auckland, Dunedin
22/02/2011 - 23/02/2016
"This is what magnificent theatre looks like..
"The Fame Monster..
More reviews
Motherlock
Auckland, Wellington
17/09/2010 - 24/02/2011
"One-sided, undramatic and witless story not ready to be told..
"Bemoaning the outcomes of thoughtlessness..
Seven Jewish Children: a play for Gaza
Wellington
21/02/2011 - 25/02/2011
"Where truth lies in simply powerful performances..
