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Latest FromJanet McAllister

After visiting 55 Auckland libraries in the last 18 months, Devonport Library is Janet McAllister's top pick.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland: the final chapter

7 Apr, 2018 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Janet McAllister casts her verdict after touring Auckland's 55 libraries.

Phil Ormsby and Alex Ellis share family stories in Conversations with Dead Relatives

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Two Basement shows offer the edgy and the cosy

4 Apr, 2018 12:00pm
2 minutes to read

Two plays at the Basement show the variety of work on offer at dynamic Auckland theatre.

Julia Croft and Karin McCracken pull apart our beliefs about sex and desire in Body Double. Photo / Andrew Malmo

ENTERTAINMENT

Body Double is a wild ride

23 Mar, 2018 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Silo Theatre's Body Double gives a feminist take on sex and desire, says Janet McAllister.

In Jack Charles Vs The Crown, Charles puts his case as to why his criminal record should be expunged.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Jack Charles Vs The Crown

16 Mar, 2018 12:00pm
2 minutes to read

Jack Charles, a drug addict for 40 years and a prisoner for 20 of those, argues his case.

1984 uses all aspects of theatrical story-tellling: lighting, sound, stage effects and a compelling narrative. Picture / supplied.

ENTERTAINMENT

Grim slide into Big Brother's arms

12 Mar, 2018 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Putting George Orwell's dystopia onstage is a way to skewer our era of alternative facts.

Botany Library, in Botany Town Centre, is one of the Auckland region's most modern libraries.

ENTERTAINMENT

Great ambiance in Botany, Otara libraries

10 Mar, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister continues her literary odyssey in the woman who read Auckland.

Ranui Library - for a young, low-income suburb, it's vital: free computers, free Wi-Fi and a place to meet.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland visits Ranui

24 Feb, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

The woman who read Auckland visits Ranui where locals love their library.

Head-shaven and bearded, Stephen Lovatt is a good, swaggering Macbeth.

ENTERTAINMENT

Highs, lows in the Scottish play

10 Feb, 2018 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Pop-up Globe's Macbeth is enjoyable but it lacks the wow factor, says Janet McAllister.

Jessie Lawrence (Mark Antony), Sheena Irving (Brutus), Alison Bruce (Cassius), Donogh Rees (Caesar), Andrew Laing (Calpurnia) and Sebastian Holland-Dudding (Portia) in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

ENTERTAINMENT

Pop-Up Globe's Julius Caesar smart and fun

15 Jan, 2018 6:00pm
2 minutes to read

Spin doctors, skulduggery and main character killed early: Recommended.

Blockhouse Bay has an impressively torrid library history, writes Janet McAllister. Photo: Jay Farnworth

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland hears a torrid library history

25 Nov, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister visits Blockhouse Bay and Avondale and finds a torrid library history.

Archoffice won a New Zealand Architecture award for the Birkenhead Library.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland goes shoreside

11 Nov, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister visits Birkenhead and Northcote for the next chapter of her book safari.

Dave Fane plays US civil rights leader Martin Luther King in The Mountaintop.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: The Mountaintop

2 Nov, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Play about Martin Luther King's final hours sees big themes dealt with warmth and humour.

Manurewa Library is one of Auckland's brightest.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland visits Manurewa Library

28 Oct, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister, who's reading Auckland, steps inside warm and welcoming Manurewa library

TeKohe Tuhaka, Nicola Kawana and Erina Daniels (sitting on the ground) feature in tragi-comedy The Vultures. Photo / Matt Grace

ENTERTAINMENT

Review: Picking over the bones of family ties

20 Oct, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Sweet and sour siblings served with a liberal helping of messages about morals.

Playwright Uther Dean delivers two shows at the Basement Theatre.

ENTERTAINMENT

Life lessons delivered for the young and worried

13 Oct, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Assured storytelling from Wellington playwright explores identity, writes Janet McAllister

ENTERTAINMENT

Pleasuredome is a sublime hot mess

29 Sep, 2017 11:00am
2 minutes to read

Pleasuredome - the musical is pure spectacle, writes Janet McAllister.

Tupu Youth Library in Clover Park, south of Otara, is more than a strait-laced information-only library.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland finds a youthful library

23 Sep, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister visits Tupu Youth and Manukau libraries on her library quest in Auckland

Spencer Papali'i is a young theatre practitioner with great potential.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: O A'u

21 Sep, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

A lower key offering in the Auckland Live Cabaret Season shines, says Janet McAllister.

Other (Chinese) see members of the Chinese community of stage telling their stories.

ENTERTAINMENT

'The Chinese' are no homogeneous group

11 Sep, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

OTHER [chinese] is educational, gentle and filled with off-the-cuff humour.

Devonport Library is one of Auckland's best, says Janet McAllister, who's part way through a quest to visit each library in the region.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland visits two libraries by the sea

9 Sep, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Devonport Library should be a major tourist attraction, writes Janet McAllister.

Claire Chitham stars in Nell Gwynn, bringing just the right mix of stamina, presence and cheekiness. Photo / Michael Smith

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Nell Gwynn

21 Aug, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Nell Gwynn is a highly recommended night at the theatre, writes Janet McAllister.

Jessie Lawrence ably evokes the anxiety and desire of a pleasant but untrusted flirtation. Photo / Andi Crown

ENTERTAINMENT

Laboratory love storymore than skin deep

4 Aug, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Emotion-as-drug tale off-theme toward end but more than enough here to satisfy.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: The Effect

4 Aug, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Believable portrayal of deeply felt connection satisfies, writes Janet McAllister.

Regan Gentry's Learning Your Stripes mural outside of Papatoetoe War Memorial Library.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland visits Papatoetoe

22 Jul, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

On a quest to visit every library in Auckland, Janet McAllister visits Papatoetoe.

Massey's library is just 16 but soon to be replaced by a new one to cater for rapid growth of its surrounding suburbs.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland goes west

10 Jul, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister continues her quest to visit every one of Auckland Council's libraries.

Written by Mara TK and Tola Newberry, Poropiti is a meditation on pre-European Aotearoa.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Double delight for Matariki

22 Jun, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Two surprising Matariki shows use music to express new ideas, writes Janet McAllister.

Victoria Abbott and Awhina Ashby star in Kororareka, a hidden-from-history tale of NZ women. Photo: John McDermott.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Kororareka is a rollicking yarn

14 Jun, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Maggie Flynn is a charismatic heroine in NZ history tale Shakespearean in its telling.

Leys Institute is hailed as Auckland's oldest suburban library.

Library safari takes in inner-city suburbs

10 Jun, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

The woman who read Auckland visits Leys Institute in Ponsonby and Parnell Library.

Jessie Lawrence as Wella in the musical Jingles is fittingly bright and bubbly.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Jingles

8 Jun, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Musical based on our favourite TV ad jingles is nostalgic fun, writes Janet McAllister.

Theatre director Chye-Ling Huang hopes Like Sex will start important conversations.

ENTERTAINMENT

Teen sex is grist to gossip mill

29 May, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

A play about sex education is assured and innovative theatre, writes Janet McAllister.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland

27 May, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister, the woman who's reading Auckland, visits Panmure and Glen Innes.

Glen Eden Library is a light, airy and soothingly unobtrusive $2.8 million building.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland goes west

29 Apr, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister, the woman who's reading her way around Auckland, heads west.

NEW ZEALAND

Struggle behind the bookcases

24 Apr, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Janet McAllister explores the next chapter in the future of Auckland libraries.

Bronwyn Ensor is one of the young stars of Boys.

ENTERTAINMENT

Boys tells us we haven't come so far

24 Apr, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Boys is loud and angry, which is all to the good.

Kate McGill tells tales of New Zealanders in Weaves.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Weaves - yarns with New Zealanders

6 Apr, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Frustrated by small talk? Then Weaves is theatre for you, writes Janet McAllister.

Kate McGill does a respectable job of fleshing out the characters whose lives we glimpse through their anecdotes. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Review: Listen in Kiwis - hear us raw

6 Apr, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Interview-derived show offers surprisingly eloquent take on shared sense of identity.

Sonya Kelly's whirlwind romance is recounted in How to Keep an Alien.

ENTERTAINMENT

Loving the alien play is a keeper

23 Mar, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Sonya Kelly presents a romantic comedy with modern love in a shrinking world at its heart.

ENTERTAINMENT

The woman who read Auckland

18 Mar, 2017 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister, who's reading her way around Auckland, visits Waitakere Library.

The Auckland Theatre Company's production of Peer Gynt is an odyssey of self-discovery for a raunchy Don Juan- type. Photo/Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Peer Gynt

13 Mar, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Trolls, dancing and cake make Peer Gynt absurd, smart and funny, says Janet McAllister.

Mark Ruka and Miriama McDowell are compelling in the two-person comedy drama Cellfish. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Cellfish

10 Mar, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

A play about Shakespeare in prison avoids clichés, writes Janet McAllister.

Julia Croft in Power Ballad. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Fringe review: two out of three ain't bad

9 Mar, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Theatre reviewer Janet McAllister has a mixed night out at the fringe festival.

ENTERTAINMENT

Show boat creates enchantment

3 Mar, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

A night on the Floating Theatre makes for an enchanted evening, writes Janet McAllister.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Enter the New World

23 Feb, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Theatre reviewer Janet McAllister takes a theatrical trip to the supermarket.

Benjamin Henson has directed many plays in Auckland. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Summer Shakespeare, As You Like It

17 Feb, 2017 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Summer Shakespeare As You Like It is a good time, but a long one.

The stylish nightclub musical feels like a long, dreamy music video.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Beautiful Ones offers addition to modern Maori art

21 Nov, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

This successful, uber-stylish nightclub musical from Wellington's Tawata Productions feels like a dreamy album-length live music video.

The exterior of the New Lynn Library. Photo: Luke Harvey.

The woman who read Auckland: Janet McAllister visits New Lynn Library

19 Nov, 2016 5:00am
3 minutes to read

The woman who read Auckland checks out New Lynn War Memorial Library.

Albany's tiny, beautiful 1922 Memorial Library. Picture / Luke Harvey

The woman who read Auckland: Janet McAllister continues her library tour

5 Nov, 2016 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister continues her tour of Auckland libraries, visiting the Albany and Glenfield branches.

Don Juan cast get ready to party and perform.

ENTERTAINMENT

Feel the love - young dogs give it heaps

31 Oct, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Don Juan is an energetic, irrepressibly gleeful and good-natured evening out.

Actor Rob Mokaraka, with director Erina Daniels, explores the desperate place he was in when he attempted to get killed by police. Photo / Northern Advocate

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre reviews: Shot, Bro and Brown: It's complicated

26 Oct, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Real-life experiences depicted with humour, intensity and relevance.

The exterior of Highland Park Library. Photo: Jay Farnworth

The woman who read Auckland: Janet McAllister visits the Highland Park and Howick libraries

22 Oct, 2016 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Janet McAllister continues her mission to visit each and every one of Auckland's 55 libraries.

Jo Randerson as barbarian in Banging Cymbal, Clanging Gong.

ENTERTAINMENT

An odd portrait of a contrary barbarian

22 Sep, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Show is loosely-woven without any particular punchline, a look inside the mind of a curious character.

Hayley Sproull in her one-woman show, Vanilla Marika.

ENTERTAINMENT

Vanilla Miraka a masterly theatre balancing act

21 Sep, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

The Basement Theatre's spring season is blossoming with funny and poignant new Kiwi plays.

Gruesome Playground Injuries is produced by emerging theatre company Navi Collective.

ENTERTAINMENT

Review: Gruesome Playground Injuries, Lot 23

12 Sep, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Gruesome Playground Injuries is a slightly perplexing, but absorbing play.

Amelia Reynolds and Milo Cawthorne star in Thomus.

ENTERTAINMENT

Shakespeare homage clever, ridiculous and enjoyable

2 Sep, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

This surprising show - by new writer/director Ash Jones - is bonkers in the most wonderful way.

Alex Ellis, Anthea Hill and Donogh Rees star in Sister Anzac.

ENTERTAINMENT

Hospital drama gets historic treatment

30 Aug, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Geoff Allen's snippets-of-life drama is prettily presented by director Amanda Rees and holds attention with some lovely moving moments

Mating in Captivity stars (from left) Jack Buchanan, Frith Horan and Milo Cawthorne give top-notch performances.

ENTERTAINMENT

Mating in Captivity a 'fun, naturalistic farce'

18 Aug, 2016 5:30am
2 minutes to read

There are some similarities in these two provocative tales of sexual tension by talented young New Zealand playwrights.

Wearing masks allows actors in Leilani to entirely vanish into the characters. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Giggles a work in progress

8 Aug, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Melodrama falls a little flat on debut but theatre company shows potential.

(From left) Awhimai Fraser, Tainui Kuru, Leanne Howell and Jonathan Martin in Edges. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Quartet's vocal talents a fine start for new venture

12 Jul, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

This beautifully sung song cycle follows the same unusual format as Brel: two guys and two gals singing songs without an overarching

Massive Company's young actors are strutting their stuff in Scotland

ENTERTAINMENT

Warm-hearted show will travel well

6 Jul, 2016 4:31pm
2 minutes to read

This warm-hearted hour is a signature Massive Company ensemble piece: real-life snippets cleverly performed with spark and verve by

ENTERTAINMENT

Review: Fun, warm play has broad appeal

27 Jun, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Vanessa Kumar, Nisha Madhan and Jonathon Price star in Indian Ink's latest production The Elephant Thief. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Ramshackle tale full of colour and charm

17 Jun, 2016 5:00am
2 minutes to read

This entertaining production - Indian Ink's seventh - offers buffoonery, clever theatrics and yards of ramshackle plot.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre review: Sham, Basement Theatre

2 Jun, 2016 5:30am
2 minutes to read

Lord, but it's good to see Annie Whittle ham the hell out of a bombastic role.