Reviews

Melody Rachel has a story to tell, she is same-sex attracted and that is inconsistent with her fundamental evangelical Christian upbringing.

So she left New Zealand, left the church and started dating women. But in time, that left a God-shaped hole in her life.

In that hole however she continues to talk to God and comes to a number of important realisations including that God talks back, that being lesbian is not a sin, that using people is a sin, that sorrow is not the same as despair and that it wouldn’t be called faith if we were all certain. 

How to Art is a much-needed mockery of high art performed by three virtuosic physical theatre performers. The show is a playful satire inspired by the inconceivable BS surrounding Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork ‘Comedian’, in which he duct taped a banana to a wall and called it art. It sold to a cryptocurrency tech jock for $US6.2 million in 2024. Personally, I get so damn delighted to see fringe artists responding to real life events like this. This Maurizio Cattelan debacle was so grotesque, I am stoked that these New Zealand performers chose to push against it.

Do you ever wonder what your dog is trying to tell you? Or why your cat scratches at the sofa rather the scratching pole that cost a fortune? Or why some pet owners appear obsessive?

Mary Rachel Brown and Jamie Oxenbould have gone beyond wondering! In Chicken in a Biscuit they’ve imagined life through the eyes of an aging labrador, a haughty Burmese cat, a yappy protective terrier – and three quite fanatical animal lovers.

Though written 36 years ago for performance at Sydney’s Stables Theatre, this hour-length play shows exactly how a one-person production can carry the full weight of investigation. In this case, it’s into the masculinity and sheer brutal violence of prize fighting. The play, written by James Gaddas in tribute to his boxer father, is an extended boxing match.