May 30, 2017

RCRD Double Header: All Stars vs VRA and Convicts vs River City Rollers

Walking into the roller derby double-header last weekend (20th May), the first home games of the season for Richter City, I had a feeling both bouts were heading for a whitewash. Opening the handout, that feeling took further root in my brain once I saw the team lists. I shook my head and thought of how much the lesser experienced skaters were to get out of the night and sat hoping they took it all on board. As usual it was cold in Kilbirnie Centre but the gloom was soon brightened away by all the new Convicts hoodies (in vibrant orange) being worn by those running about helping keep the night on task. It did seem however that every volunteer dropped what they were doing when Grumpy Wendy Doughnuts turned up, but who blames them really!

First bout of the night saw the Richter City All Stars up against Vagine Regime Aotearoa (VRA). It was very much a Lower North island VRA team, with players pulled from the likes of Hutt Valley Vanguard, Whenua Fatales and Bay City Rollers, so a different dynamic than when the team gets to pull on the strong RCRD and ARDL skaters. They still brought enough to the track to not completely write the team off immediately, helped along by veterans E Venger (BCR), Missbhaven (Pirates) and Meat Train (HVV). The HVV skaters have worked hard since I last saw them skate, kudos to them and their coaching team as well. Richter didn’t pull back on the reigns at all, determined to give their opponents a run for their money, taking lead jammer most jams, forcing VRA to carry out a lot of star passing. Renegade Rita had some stunning jams as pivot and or jammer, but it was Meat Train who scored the first VRA points towards the end of the first half. Half time score was 239 All Stars to 16 VRA. The second half went much like the first, though with some extra loud cheering for Volcanic Ash in response to the news this is her last bout for a while. The final score showed both teams continued to rack up the points at almost the same ratio, ending the bout at 448 to 29 with All Stars the victors.

Game two was River City Rollers (RCR) from Wanganui facing up against Richter City Convicts, who I don’t believe I’d ever seen River City as a team of skaters in Wellington before. I recall fondly the first time I ever saw them skate, and I recognised at least one name from way back then along with a fair few of the ring ins from other teams so was still excited to see how this team would fare against the Vix. The home B team was largely unchanged from last year, with a couple out on injury or otherwise, a transfer from Pirates (Boo Hu) and a new addition from the ranks of Redrum. Tu High was the only skater to skate for both the All Stars and the Convicts, and she didn’t get much of a rest. It was soon clear that the home team again had the large advantage, but that didn’t stop the visitors fighting; unfortunately one skater (who, perhaps tellingly, goes by the name of Short Temper) was expelled from the game shortly into the first half for shoving. We saw a couple of invalid star passes from RCR, where the jammer tried passing after a penalty call, and quite a few jammer penalties were served. Half time score was 236 to 8 in the favour of Convicts, and after a locker room pep talk, RCR came out to score on a better ratio than the first, but just could not keep up with the Vix scoring rate. The full time result was 427 to 41.

With three injuries over the two games, we hope those effected are well on the way to mending what ails them.

May 29, 2017

Three Days in the Country

Full of familiar faces Three Days in the Country teems with talented actors. The strong acting of lead Bronwyn Turei dominates the piece as much as her character dominates the household. If you've ever seen her in Go Girls you'll have trouble believing she's the same woman. Natalya is a complex character, easy to get wrong. But from her tiniest facial expression to her screaming collapse Bronwyn is exquisite.

The set design is a little weird but the costuming is to die for. The structure must make them uncomfortable but the actors move as though they were modern clothing, the layers would be very inconvenient in the scripted summer.

The storyline is hilarious and tragic. Everyone is in love but all of it is unrequited. Everyone is chasing each other across the property. Everyone is walking in on everyone else and getting the wrong idea.

It has a great life lesson that I wish I'd known when I was younger:

"Never love or be loved and you'll be fine."

Performances: 27 May - 24 June (times vary)
Tickets: $52

May 23, 2017

Olive Copperbottom

Dickens can be a little dreary but despite the source material Penny Ashton has created an excellent comedy with Olive Copperbottom. It's more polished and professional than you tend to expect with a one person show; it's, well, just what you'd expect from a professional show. If this were Vegas Penny could have her own running show, she's that good (she's wasted in New Zealand).

Not only did she write the thing, she plays more characters than I could count, each easily distinguishable from the next and she sings. Oh, does she sing. It's worth seeing just for the singing. The music is all recognisable tunes, but none I could name. There are several things I'd say it's worth seeing it for; the jokes (see below), the singing (as mentioned), her breasts (I spent the first half hour worrying they were going to fall out of her dress, which I believe was the intention), her motorboating a member of the audience (or is it being motorboated?) and then her giving another audience member what amounted to a very brief lap dance. All in a hideous, yet still somehow fabulous, three floral print dress with corset.

Top to bottom (and there is a little talk about bottoms...front bottoms...penises, there I said it, there are penis jokes) it's a great show and though I didn't find it offensive it might not be one to take your grandmother to. No prior knowledge of Dickens is necessary to truly enjoy...shame she didn't make a dick joke about him. I mean, it's right there.

It's on till the 27th of May so get your ticket now.

May 18, 2017

Daughters of Heaven

The Parker-Hulme murder is something every New Zealander is familiar with. My mother remembers when it happened and those that weren't born then learnt from Heavenly Creatures. The horror, the fascination comes from it being achingly familiar. The intense friendships of adolescence we all had, though I imagine most didn't include sex, plots of murder or a new religion.

I read Daughters of Heaven many years ago and, although the subject matter struck me, the play itself didn't. But then plays are meant to be performed. A good performance can elevate a bad script or vice versa.

As always Stagecraft does not disappoint. They subtly played up the humour in the script so the audience laughed even in the midst of such a serious play. I know I wasn't the only one that cried, which I did, more than once. The accents were on point, the costumes effective, and the acting excellent. This could have been disturbing but it was made enjoyable, a great experience.

Performances: 17-27 May (days and times vary)
Tickets: $15-25

May 17, 2017

Sokhom Syndrome

Molly Sokhom seems like she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with, funny on an individual level. Unfortunately her show was only mildly amusing and could have worked better as a one-woman-non-comedy-show. Her story is interesting but the way she tries to tell it takes away from the story itself. It's almost too personal, too real, to be funny and too important to be made part of a joke cultural beauty pageant. But who am I to tell someone how to express their story? It is after all Molly's story, not mine.


Performances: 16-20 May 8:30pm
Tickets: $15-18