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.
The Comedy Cure: Word on the Street
Wellington
06/05/2009 - 09/05/2009
"Potential hijacked by technology..
Jason John Whitehead: Emotional Whitemale
Wellington, Auckland
06/05/2009 - 23/05/2009
"Satire based or simply silly..
"From true places..
Witches over Wanaka
Hawea, Wanaka
28/04/2009 - 03/05/2009
"Every festival should have one..
Le Sud
Hamilton, Christchurch, Clyde, Central Otago, Wellington, Wanaka, Dunedin
29/04/2009 - 11/10/2010
"A comedy of manners, not politics..
"Kiwis with a taste of French..
More reviews
Ship Songs
Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Arrowtown, Paraparaumu, Wanaka
06/08/2008 - 07/04/2012
"Ship Songs Sparkles..
"Poignant, rollicking, tragic, lyrical, cheering and stirring..
More reviews
Lantern
Wellington, Auckland
21/04/2009 - 13/06/2009
"Lantern sheds light on Chinese-Kiwi cultural experiences..
"Depth and warmth..
More reviews
Year of the Rat
Wellington
18/04/2009 - 16/05/2009
"The charming rat..
"Verve, humour, allure and superb acting..
More reviews
Hedda Gabler
Wellington
15/04/2009 - 02/05/2009
"Gets you thinking..
"Ibsen adaptation a minor miracle..
More reviews
God of Carnage
Wellington
04/04/2009 - 09/05/2009
"Ghastly people behaving badly..
"Revelatory farce..
More reviews
BUD
Wellington
01/04/2009 - 09/04/2009
"Baffled at Bats..
"Doesn’t quite outstay its welcome..
Dolores
Wellington
31/03/2009 - 09/04/2009
"Violent comedy..
"Comedy to melodrama..
More reviews
My Brilliant Divorce
Wellington
31/05/2008 - 11/04/2009
"A better version than the rest of the world has seen?..
"Conveniently packaged for mass consumption..
More reviews
Serendipity
Wellington
17/03/2009 - 28/03/2009
"Uncomfortable viewing..
"Nugget of a good play but short on serendipity..
More reviews
Strange Resting Places
Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, (not a specified venue), Nelson, Edinburgh, Scotland
18/03/2007 - 25/08/2014
"Beautifully constructed, creative and engaging..
"Humour, pain and profound insight shared..
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A Brief History of Helen of Troy
Wellington
11/03/2009 - 28/03/2009
"Banks on the money..
"Anguish and pain in collision of fantasies..
More reviews
Hatch - or The Plight of the Penguins
Auckland, Hawea, Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington
15/03/2007 - 21/03/2009
"Divine Devenie..
"A brilliant insight into Victorian times..
More reviews
Rock ’n’ Roll
Wellington
28/02/2009 - 28/03/2009
"Stoppard rocks..
"Not to be missed..
More reviews
2009 – a space oddity
Wellington
27/02/2009 - 01/03/2009
"Way short of its potential..
Wolf’s Lair
Wellington, Auckland
26/02/2009 - 12/12/2009
"You have to see it..
"Guilt-driven portrait..
More reviews
Adam Page Solo
Wellington
18/02/2009 - 01/03/2009
"Coming the raw kumara..
"Very real talent in improvised show..
Post Gay
Auckland, Wellington
25/02/2009 - 13/03/2009
"Good subject matter not well handled..
"Limited abilities..
More reviews
The Navigators
Wellington, Christchurch,
23/01/2009 - 09/03/2010
"Brawn, brass and sassiness..
"High drama and low comedy enriches splendid spectacle..
More reviews
Instructions to a Double
Wellington
25/02/2009 - 28/02/2009
"Total failure to engage..
