Reviews

The ‘four flat whites’ in the title are two retired couples, recently acquainted, who are, inadvertently, travelling through Italy together. Written by prolific New Zealand playwright Roger Hall, the journey begins with a game of bridge in New Zealand and ends in a balmy night in Tuscany. What happens in between – disagreements, compromises, lost credit cards, finances and fun – is cleverly manipulated by Hall and the very identifiable characters he has created.

Davine Productions’ A New Brain by William Finn and James Lapine is a sheer delight from beginning to end. Once again, director David Gaucci has successfully led an ensemble of actors, musicians, designers, and more, to create a work that is detailed, nuanced, and thoroughly engaging. To create such unity is no small task at the best of times, and to achieve this kind of harmony with such a challenging piece such as A New Brain is a terrific achievement.

If you are missing the footy and yearning for a good heartfelt chant and being caught up in the emotional ups and downs of a close game, this is for you. As a bonus, this group of professional wrestlers take Norse myths and bring the gods, or at least people who want to be gods, to life and show how their ambitions, loves, strengths and weaknesses drive them to their various downfalls.

On an excellent pink/purple rendition of the Catholic front room of a 1960’s London home, by David Marshall-Martin, amazing events occur. Mrs McLeavy (Alison Davies) has died. She lies in an open coffin and, because it’s the New Theatre and there’s no curtain opening to reveal the scene, for 15 minutes prior to the first words, and then for at least 40 minutes afterwards, she is shown lying in state, spot lit, centre stage. Brilliantly, she does not move a muscle.