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.
Sensational
Wellington
13/02/2007 - 17/02/2007
"Compelling anguish, heart-warming comedy..
Doubt - a parable
Wellington
10/02/2007 - 10/03/2007
"Tight, enthralling drama..
"Terrific play..
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The Pecking Order
Wellington
12/02/2007 - 15/02/2007
"Physical better than verbal..
"Clichéd attributes of human existence..
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Scratch 'n Fly
Wellington
12/02/2007 - 16/02/2007
"Wordless eloquence..
"Captivating..
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Flagons & Foxtrots
Wellington
10/02/2007 - 17/03/2007
"Predictable yet enchanting..
"Sure-footed direction and dance..
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Hotel
Invercargill, Christchurch, Wanaka, Tauranga, Taupo, Wellington
09/02/2007 - 30/05/2014
"Secret lives in common..
"Hotel Secrets..
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Generations
Wellington
09/02/2007 - 11/02/2007
"Work in progress..
"Well dug over ground..
Up The Duff
Wellington
09/02/2007 - 13/02/2007
"Premature birth..
The Story of Nohome Neville and Unwholesome Clare who Worked in the Kitchens and Smelt like a Dish
Wellington
09/02/2007 - 13/02/2007
"Classy poetic writing..
"Objectification subjectively realised in exceptional work..
A Darling Bud of Maybe
Wellington
07/02/2007 - 10/02/2007
"Theatre of eggs-aggeration..
The Bowler Hat
Wellington
07/02/2007 - 11/02/2007
"Bogged down Bowler Hat..
"Satisfyingly artistic surreal amusement..
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Escape
Wellington
07/02/2007 - 10/02/2007
"Medea trapped..
"Enigmatic and haunting..
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Lovers of Central Park
Wellington
07/02/2007 - 24/02/2007
"Strongly recommended..
"A unique and special experience..
As You Like It
Wellington
02/02/2007 - 17/02/2007
"Nice light Shakers..
"Clear summer’s day in The Dell..
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Backwards in High Heels
Wellington
03/02/2007 - 03/03/2007
"Passion reignited with tango..
"Taut and erudite with compelling chemistry..
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Menopause the Musical
Auckland, Wellington
11/08/2006 - 18/02/2007
"Slickly presented fun..
"Celebrating the unmentionable..
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Murder by Chocolate
Auckland, Wellington
26/01/2007 - 29/09/2007
"Totally mad-cap murder caper..
"Black Comedy Gâteaux..
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His Mother's Son
Auckland, Wellington
24/01/2007 - 17/06/2007
"What happens in a drinking house..
"Humorous, intelligent and moving..
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The Case of Katherine Mansfield
Auckland, Wellington
22/08/2006 - 03/02/2007
"KM from an AK standpoint?..
"'False" life rings true..
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Iris
Wellington
11/01/2007 - 20/01/2007
"I don’t get it..
"Does obscurity make it Art?..
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The Viagra Monologues
Wellington
09/01/2007 - 20/01/2007
"Better than The Vagina Monologues..
"A liberating experience..
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Turbine
Palmerston North, Wellington
30/11/2006 - 11/04/2009
"A splendidly explored dilemma..
"Winds of change..
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Roger Hall's Aladdin - the pantomime
Wellington
18/11/2006 - 23/12/2006
"It's all about the experience..
"Capital twist on ancient tale..
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