Latest FromTheatre
![<i>Review</i>: <i>Purapurawhetu</i> at Hawkins Theatre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
<i>Review</i>: <i>Purapurawhetu</i> at Hawkins Theatre
The inaugural Maori Playwright's Festival has made an inspired choice by opening with a beautifully crafted revival of Briar Grace Smith's Purapurawhetu.
![Curtain call for those honoured with Tonys](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Curtain call for those honoured with Tonys
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Douglas Hodge and Sir Alan Ayckbourn were among the winners at Sunday night's Tony Awards.
![Carving path for Maori theatre's rising stars](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Carving path for Maori theatre's rising stars
The Maori New Year festival Matariki gets bigger every year. This year Taonga Whakaari: The Inaugural Maori Playwrights Festival has been added to the calendar of events in Auckland and Papakura.
![A tiki tour into the past](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
A tiki tour into the past
Shifting from his hard rock group to a play about the good old days of the Maori showband wasn't that much of a leap for Francis Kora.
![Review: <i>Sweeney Todd</i> at Maidment Theatre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Review: <i>Sweeney Todd</i> at Maidment Theatre
Seizing the dark heart of the show Ross Girven captures the haunted nature of Sweeney Todd's psychosis.
![Review: <i>Marriage of Figaro</i> at the Aotea Centre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Review: <i>Marriage of Figaro</i> at the Aotea Centre
NBR New Zealand Opera's The Marriage of Figaro is as engrossing a night of theatre as one could wish for.
![A mother of a year](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
A mother of a year
Michele Hine is revelling in a trio of rich maternal roles _ from Go Girls' downtrodden parent, to fading theatrical star, to hell-bent control freak in the Auckland production of The House Of Bernada Alba.
![Tributes flood in for pioneering actress](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Tributes flood in for pioneering actress
Dame Pat Evison, a much-loved stalwart of New Zealand radio, television and theatre who died at the weekend, will long be remembered for her colourful contribution, colleagues say.
![Dame Pat Evison dies](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Dame Pat Evison dies
One of New Zealand's best known actresses, Dame Pat Evison, has died at the age of 85 after a long illness.
![There will be blood](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
There will be blood
The razor gang behind a new stage production of Sweeney Todd talk to Dionne Christian about bringing the mythical murderer to musical life.
![Taika Waititi backs Opotiki theatre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Taika Waititi backs Opotiki theatre
The director has agreed to become the first patron of Opotiki's De Luxe Theatre, in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
![Review: <i>Avenue Q</i> at The Civic](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Review: <i>Avenue Q</i> at The Civic
Opening with the eternal question - 'what do you do with a BA in English?' - Avenue Q dispenses a bright and breezy antidote to the pressures of life in the big city.
![Review: <i>Horseplay</i> at the Maidment Theatre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Review: <i>Horseplay</i> at the Maidment Theatre
There are Baxter self-quotations and talk of cut-throats and fowlhouses for literary experts to spot, but you don't have to know a line of the great men's work to enjoy the play.
![Review: <I>The Suburban Murder</i> at Galatos Theatre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Review: <I>The Suburban Murder</i> at Galatos Theatre
The devised work is clearly actor-driven and the huge cast of 17 all get a chance to get their teeth into well-rounded characters.
![<i>Michele Hewitson Interview</i>: John Leigh](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
<i>Michele Hewitson Interview</i>: John Leigh
John Leigh talks about acting as though it still isn't really his idea, as if he has no idea how he ended up being an actor and that it has, just this minute, occurred to him that he is one.
![Thoroughbreds go head to head](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Thoroughbreds go head to head
Given actor/writer Tim Balme's workload, it's amazing he answers interview questions so coherently and affably.
![<i>Review:</i> <i>Rent</i> at the Civic Theatre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
<i>Review:</i> <i>Rent</i> at the Civic Theatre
It was when the drag queen in the Santa coat started banging her drumsticks on the scaffolding, singing about sending a barking annoyance to "doggie hell" that Rent came to life.
![Rent rehearsals in full swing](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Rent rehearsals in full swing
The cast of stage production Rent are put through their paces during a dress rehearsal at Auckland's Civic Theatre.
![Famous names join fight to restore historic theatre](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Famous names join fight to restore historic theatre
English theatre luminaries Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench are on a heavyweight list of artists and historians calling for the reopening of Auckland's St James Theatre.