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.
Maui - One Man Against The Gods
Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington
18/04/2007 - 13/05/2007
"A wonderfully engaging and creative spectacle..
"An epic story of here, made here..
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The Hunting of the Snark
Wellington
08/05/2007 - 04/08/2007
"Entertaining trip to nonsense land..
"Filled with promise and a few surprises..
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Theatresports - the 2007 Season
Wellington
06/05/2007 - 27/05/2007
"A failsafe good night out..
Uncle Vanya
Wellington
28/04/2007 - 02/06/2007
"Social satire moves and endures..
"More philosophic than active..
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Friends Forever
Wellington
28/04/2007 - 30/06/2007
"An entertaining and polished show..
"Highly recommended..
Stand Up Love
Palmerston North, Wellington
27/04/2007 - 09/06/2007
"Formidable double act fascinates..
"Pain in the proverbial..
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A Bright Room Called Day
Wellington
26/04/2007 - 05/05/2007
"Would you have killed Hitler?..
"A stimulating mix..
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Fiddler on the Roof
Auckland, Wellington
16/04/2007 - 20/05/2007
"Magnificent show with universal appeal..
"The milkman still delivers..
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Corner 4am and Cuba
Wellington
12/04/2007 - 21/04/2007
"Refreshing, relevant theatre..
"Sensitive but shocking..
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Doing It Yourself
Wellington
10/04/2007 - 14/04/2007
"Misconceptions and resolutions..
Songs of the Sea
Wellington
07/04/2007 - 30/04/2011
"Gorgeous puppets bedazzle and mesmerise..
"Vibrant and entertaining but children kept at bay..
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Jack and the Beanstalk
Wellington
07/04/2007 - 21/04/2007
"Full of humour for young and old..
"Village theatre at its best..
The Graduate
Wellington
31/03/2007 - 28/04/2007
"Filling in the blanks..
"Nostalgic curiosities..
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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..
