Arj Barker: Get In My Head – review
Near the end of his show, US comic Arj Barker shares a joke many in the audience seem to relate to. It’s about smoking weed and how it’s so much stronger today than it was in the 70s, when the late Bob...
View ArticleIsmo Leikola: Observing the Obvious – review
He’s bewildered, is Ismo Leikola. He’s bemused by the subtleties of the English language and confused by the cultural differences between his homeland and countries he’s been. And such is the...
View ArticleJames Malcolm: Marry Me Chris Warner – review
“It’s 2016, you can no longer give a bad review to a man in a dress!” is James Malcolm’s parting shot as he flounces offstage in a nasty froufrou bridal gown at the end of Marry Me Chris Warner. It’s a...
View ArticleA New York photojournalist on what it’s like to live in a war zone
Above: The Forgotten Mountains of Sudan, by Adriane Ohanesian, 2015. Adriane Ohanesian was in the mountains of central Darfur when she heard about a boy in the nearby village of Burgu who had suffered...
View ArticleThe female gaze: 5 films by women to see at this year’s NZIFF
This year’s NZIFF programming defies its shameful global context to celebrate the emergence of international female voices telling the stories of women’s lives. Above: Kristen Stewart stars in Certain...
View ArticleThe walls between us
Above: A photo taken from Verity Johnson’s story on Cash King, a South Auckland pawnshop. Photo by Alex Burton. As Aucklanders, we share the same city but live in increasingly disparate worlds. Is the...
View ArticlePeople to watch: Vincent Ward, painter and film-maker
Photo by Adrian Malloch. “It’s crazy here,” says Vincent Ward, glancing around his St Lukes office, a scribbly whiteboard (“Script. Sam Neill.”) propped against one wall, paper everywhere. Ward was...
View ArticlePlaying with razors: Stuart Maunder on New Zealand Opera’s Sweeney Todd
If he’s at all fazed by directing New Zealand Opera’s Sweeney Todd while also steering the ship as the company’s general director, Stuart Maunder isn’t showing it. “I wasn’t employed to direct,” he...
View ArticleBoots and all: Madeleine Sami steps behind the camera on Funny Girls
Long known for her versatility in front of the camera, Madeleine Sami is stepping up to a new role behind it. For a hint of Madeleine Sami’s approach to her first gig as a television director, just...
View ArticleAuckland property special 2016: On the benefit of hindsight
Illustration by Angela Keoghan. You bought a house! Of course you did. Back then — not so long ago, when you think about it — it’s what most of us did. You bought a house because you needed one,...
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