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.
A Man Walks Into a Bar
Wellington
20/11/2006 - 29/11/2006
"Sharp, slick precision..
"Needs work?..
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Golden Boys
Wellington
26/01/2006 - 11/02/2006
"Facing murder..
"Entertaining, wrenching and convoluted..
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Dracula
Wellington
11/11/2006 - 16/12/2006
"There is only one Dracula..
"Suck it and see..
arcane
Wellington
10/11/2006 - 25/11/2006
"What's Up?..
"Oracle leaves it to us..
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Top Girls
Wellington
01/11/2006 - 04/11/2006
"Themes shine through..
"Well worth revisiting..
Fishnet
Wellington
03/11/2006 - 05/11/2006
"Rage against the aging of the bod..
The Underarm
Palmerston North, Wellington
14/09/2006 - 25/11/2006
"Actors keep their eyes on the ball..
"Brothers at the crease..
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Peer Gynt
Wellington
21/10/2006 - 28/10/2006
"Graduation triumph..
"Brilliant if flawed play done ingeniously..
Nga Tangata Toa - the warrior people
Wellington
18/10/2006 - 04/11/2006
"Screaming out for atmosphere and menace..
"Fiery forces..
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I Ain't Nothing But / A Glimmer In The Dark, She Said
Wellington
17/10/2006 - 26/10/2006
"You'll be puzzled..
"Go with the flow..
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Master Class
Wellington
14/10/2006 - 11/11/2006
"For music lovers and historians..
"Tired old bear’s growl just as menacing as ever..
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Here's Hilda!
Dunedin, Wellington
09/10/2006 - 18/02/2007
"Otago character brought to life..
"A grandmother’s remarkable story..
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The Glass Menagerie
Wellington
05/10/2006 - 16/12/2006
"Fresh, knowing, moving..
"Steel behind disguise of illusion..
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WOW World of WearableArt Awards Show 2006
Wellington
01/09/2006 - 21/09/2006
"Audience denied access to design detail and craft excellence..
Yours Truly
Wellington
28/09/2006 - 14/10/2006
"What a Ripper..
"Ripping tale of love and murder..
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Monkey's Uncle
Wellington
07/09/2006 - 27/09/2006
"Farce Imitates Life..
"Seriously funny deconstruction..
I'm just sorting my shit out
Wellington
27/09/2006 - 30/09/2006
"Girly angst and mathematics..
The Blonde, The Brunette and The Vengeful Redhead
Auckland, Wellington
24/08/2006 - 07/10/2006
"Transforming performance not to be missed..
"Fox excels with fatal flaws..
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ink
Auckland, Wellington
21/09/2006 - 14/12/2006
"Hypnotic Existential Absurdism..
"Quickening senses..
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The Princess & the Pea
Wellington
07/09/2006 - 23/09/2006
"Short and sweet 'pea'..
"Prince in garden crisis!..
lucid
Dunedin, Wellington
23/06/2006 - 07/10/2006
"Desperate conclusions..
"Singular duality..
Watch This Space
Wellington
14/09/2006 - 16/09/2006
"More please!..
"Well worth watching..
SNAPSHOTS – A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Wellington
12/09/2006 - 16/09/2006
"Foot-tapping nostalgia + improv..
"Dancing the decades..
