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.

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.

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.

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.

Given actor/writer Tim Balme's workload, it's amazing he answers interview questions so coherently and affably.

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.

Chelsie Preston Crayford plays two desperate housewives, including her own grandmother.

Dionne Christian meets a theatre group with a conscience and discusses the risks facing the new generations.

Annie Crummer is ready to 'bring it' for the upcoming production of a hard-edged rock opera.

Flight of the Conchords seem to be doing okay when it comes to "business time" (that's not a euphemism).

Frisky and Mannish are musically adroit, vocally gifted and brilliant mimics teaching Pop Philosophy 101 at fast forward and delivered on high rotate.

The risk is part of the itching in the oyster shell that makes the pearl. It's an essential part of what makes the performing arts so exciting.

Auckland's Nightsong Productions and Theatre Stampede have premiered in Wellington a joyous, theatrical tour de force.

Mark Amery reviews 11 and 12 at the New Zealand Arts Festival.

Comedy co-stars Jaquie Brown and Madeleine Sami are dancing to another tune.