Theatre guide

Adam Gardiner, Greg Johnson, Dean O'Gorman in The Ocean Star

The Ocean Star
Venue: Maidment Theatre
Season: Sep 28-Oct 21
"Putting the nuclear back into family" ... Shortland Street's Michael Galvin has been polishing this dark comedy for years and at last the Auckland Theatre Company is getting in behind one of the funniest New Zealand scripts we've read in ages. Directed by Roy Ward, and starring Greg Johnson as the agoraphobic father of Dean O'Gorman and Adam Gardiner, Galvin has pinned down what makes brother hate brother, and son hate father. Somewhere, there might be some love as well. A must-see.

Bad Jelly The Witch
Venue: The Wintergarden, Civic Theatre
Season ends:, Oct 8
Spike Milligan's classic children's story about the quest by Tim and Rose to find their missing cow. Before meeting the nastiest witch in the land, they get help from a host of characters, including a worm, a mouse, and a tree goblin.

Happy Hour For Miserable Children
Venue: Herald Theatre
Season ends: Sep 30
Set in an abandoned go-go bar, Toot and Collins are lumbering builders charged with the job of renovating the building and turning it into a church to cover up a murder. Based on the comedic style of silent movies from the 1920s.

Others and upcoming

Four Sides to a Story
Maidment Studio, 8 Alfred St, Sep 29-30, tickets from square.org.nz

Stepping Out
Torbay Community Hall, 35 Watea Rd, Torbay, to Sep 30, ph 479 1518

D'Arranged Marriage
Orewa Centrestage Theatre, 60 Centreway Rd, Orewa, Sep 30, ph (09) 426 7282

All The World's A Stage
Maidment Studio, 8 Alfred St, Oct 2, ph 308 2383

One Act Play Festival
Waitemata Theatre, Corban Estate, Henderson, Oct 4-14, ph 827 8561

Cymbeline
Silo Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Oct 5-21, tickets from ticketmaster.co.nz

Tiny Dynamite; Dr Faustus Light the Lights
Drama Studio, Level 3, Arts Building, 14 Symonds St, Auckland University, Oct 5-7, ph 373 7699 ext 84226

The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch
The PumpHouse, Killarney Park, Takapuna, to Oct 7, ph 489 8360

Titus Andronicus
Maidment Studio, 8 Alfred St, Oct 11-21, ph 308 2383

500 Letters
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Oct 12-13, tickets from ticketek.co.nz

Les Miserables
Glen Eden Playhouse Theatre, 15 Glendale Rd, Glen Eden, to Oct 14, tickets from iticket.co.nz

Dance Like A Man
SkyCity Theatre, Hobson St, Oct 13-14, tickets from ticketek.co.nz

A Madman Sings to the Moon
Dolphin Theatre, 12 Spring St, Onehunga, to Oct 14, ph 636 7322

The Fifteenth Minute
Maidment Studio, 8 Alfred St, Oct 24-26, ph 308 2383

Alex Ellis in Biscuit & Coffee
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Oct 31-Nov 11, tickets from ticketek.co.nz