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.
Heroes
Wellington
31/03/2007 - 05/05/2007
"Très charmant..
"Fantastic Production of an excellent play..
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Kissing Bone
Wellington
22/03/2007 - 31/03/2007
"Mad, provocative, silly .....
"Bland to the bone..
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Sunset Cafe
Wellington
20/03/2007 - 31/03/2007
"Relationships and hormones..
"Songs in the way second time round..
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Two Brothers
Wellington
17/03/2007 - 21/04/2007
"A gripping political thriller..
"Indictment on a nation..
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Bent Not Broken
Christchurch, Wellington
13/03/2007 - 27/04/2007
"Inspirational novel fails to translate..
"Fizzles where it should flare..
Skeleton Woman
Wellington
02/03/2007 - 04/03/2007
"Centred, sustained and desperately serious..
Fight or Flight
Wellington
02/03/2007 - 10/03/2007
"Highly interesting; could go deeper..
"Only briefly airborne..
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The Orderly
Auckland, Wellington
06/09/2006 - 18/05/2008
"Consummate skill in finely balanced production..
"Comedy lacks emotional punch..
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My Complicated Relationship with Laurie Anderson
Wellington
02/03/2007 - 04/03/2007
"Disappointing..
"Deconstructed reconstruction..
Life's A Drag
Wellington
03/02/2007 - 28/02/2007
"Unsatisfying except for the ending..
"A drag all right..
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Wellington
27/02/2007 - 03/03/2007
"Sheer delight..
"The old make it new again..
Deliver Us
Wellington
03/02/2007 - 27/02/2007
"Critiquing the middle class and/or sympathetic towards women?..
"A fine presentation of the lives of girls and women..
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Porcelain Grin
Wellington
26/02/2007 - 01/03/2007
"Quirky impressionistic performance..
"Visual surprises and delight..
Lost Girls
Wellington
24/02/2007 - 01/03/2007
"Worthy play..
"Hard to get hooked..
An Elephant Never Forgets
Wellington
22/01/2007 - 04/03/2007
"Note to play: listen to yourself …..
Chet Baker: Like Someone In Love
NYC, USA, Wellington, Dunedin, Auckland
21/02/2007 - 29/03/2015
"A most enjoyable occasion..
"Mood-catching musical yarn..
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Fleet
Wellington
23/02/2007 - 26/02/2007
"Synergy and cohesion..
"Theatre as church..
This is Not a Medical Satire
Wellington
22/02/2007 - 03/03/2007
"Less than satisfying..
"Radical surgery required..
Antigone's Death
Wellington
21/02/2007 - 23/02/2007
"Dancing on the skin of a classic..
Brain Power
Wellington
21/02/2007 - 16/03/2007
"Much needed humour amid the fragments..
"A clever play..
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Mystery Soup
Wellington
21/02/2007 - 24/02/2007
"Embarrassing..
Bloody Heroes!
Wellington
19/02/2007 - 23/02/2007
"Psycho-emotional enema, anyone?..
Dude ... I'm a Unicorn & Other Short Stories
Wellington
19/02/2007 - 24/02/2007
"Bizarre, darkening, intriguing..
