Aro-Mind

Last night my wife Tania and I went to the Auckland Theatre Company's production of 'Long Day's Journey into Night' by Eugene O'Neill, the great American playwright. What a wonderful production ! If you love theatre I highly recommend this tragic tale of a family gripped in lost dreams, resentments and the tyranny of memory. O'Neill's writing is sublime as it quickly cracks the thin veneer of civility between the family members to dive into the emotional layers within. The cheapskate, land owning father who mourns for a lost dramatic career; a declining mother who once fought valiantly against her addiction only to succumb yet again; an embittered elder son who's seen it all before and rails against his parent's expectations of him when they themselves have fallen so far short; and an unwell younger son, weakened by the prospect of an early death through 'consumption' (tuberculosis) now curable if his father would only pony up with the money,...

Went to see ‘Helen Clark in Six Outfits’ last night, a play by Fiona Samuel produced by the Auckland Theatre Company at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Highly recommend it. This is a largely lighthearted yet heartfelt honouring of an enormously significant figure in New Zealand political life. From a protest about food at Epsom Girls Grammar School all the way through to her time as the third most powerful person at the United Nations, the play covers key moments and episodes in a rich and varied life — and does so with warmth, wit, and real affection. There are some truly memorable moments — the funny episodes with the Tizards, media training with Brian Edwards, and a fantastic speech towards the end of the play. In between there are moments with her parents, her first electoral victory and arrival into Parliament, attempts to roll her from the post of Labour leader, and much more. The central theme — communicated through the metaphor of mountain climbing, Clark’s favoured holiday pastime...

Last night I went to see Silo Theatre’s production of Arthur Miller’s play ‘A View from the Bridge’ (Q Theatre to 3 May), a tragic tale of one man’s descent into a kind of madness after falling in love with his wife’s niece. It's a fantastic play and this production by Silo Theatre was excellent. The story tells us about how protagonist Eddie becomes obsessed with the young Catherine - soon to turn 18 - and how he pursues increasingly desperate measures to stop her from marrying young illegal immigrant Rodolpho. He complains to his wife, Beatrice, that “he ain’t right”, suggesting that Rodolpho might be gay and that the only reason he is interested in Catherine is so that he may remain in America legally. Eddie consults lawyer Alfieri - also the narrator in the play - who explains that the young couple have done nothing wrong (the marriage will resolve Rodolpho’s illegality) and urges Eddie to let her go.  The play is largely set in Eddie and Beatrice’s home near the Brooklyn dockl...