Theatreview Turns 20!

On 2 April 2026, www.theatreview.org.nz went live to air.*

What began as a Wellington theatre review site quickly grew to become a nationwide platform for performing arts reviews. It has become a vital and highly valued living taonga.

“You have created a virtual performing arts community,” said a Creative New Zealand adviser when Theatreview turned five.

As the 20th anniversary approaches, the freely accessible Theatreview archive of performing arts practice in Aotearoa New Zealand holds nearly 15,000 reviews, complete with Production Details and Images, Headlines, Deadlines, Views & Qs.

“Congratulations Theatreview!” says its patron, Dawn Sanders ONZM, QSM. “Having been associated in various capacities with Theatreview since its inception 20 years ago, I have hugely admired the tenacity and altruistic attitude of its Founder/Managing Editor, John Smythe. Through the selflessness of John, and all the other Reviewers, this invaluable resource and documentation of the richness of the performing arts in New Zealand continues to be amassed. Special thanks to all the Trustees, Donors and Supporters over the years, and, of course, at our core, the performers.”

Theatreview’s mission is to review the richly diverse array of professional performing arts throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, as constructive contributions to:

• the public for whom the work is made and on whose behalf the critics write
• the practitioners who need to see their work reflected, respected and critiqued
• the ongoing conversation about the state of the artform, and
• historical record of performing arts practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.

THEATREVIEW the Origin Story 
Theatreview was created by John Smythe with web designer Emily Walker-Wright.

On 2 April 2006 www.theatreview.org.nz went live. When it turns 20 on 2 April 2026, Theatreview will have created an archive of nearly 15,000 performing arts reviews, complete with Production Details and images, Headlines, Deadlines, Views & Qs.

How John became a theatre critic
As an actor, John’s professional theatre career began in 1966 (2 plays at Downstage) and 1977 (New Zealand Players Drama Quartet). He then realised he needed full-time training. There being none available in NZ, he auditioned successfully for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (1968-69). Having written a play while on tour with the Quartet, he got the opportunity to direct it with NIDA students. This led to his becoming the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Playwright in Residence in 1970, as well as an actor and youth theatre director.

Freelance acting work followed, in various TV drama, feature film and TV commercial roles. As a Collective member of the Australian Performing Group at The Pram Factory, John worked in all fields, mostly as an actor and director. He also directed student productions at Melbourne University and with Kaleidoscope Mobile Theatre (1971-73).

It was when he scored a scriptwriting contract with Crawford Productions for a TV serial (The Box), that a friend suggested he take over from her as theatre critic for The Melbourne Times, a free weekly suburban newspaper. John saw this as a way of staying in touch with live theatre and soon discovered his reviews were valued because they were written by an experienced practitioner who understood how theatre got made. He went on to become the Melbourne theatre critic for The Australian newspaper, then for Theatre Australia Magazine – until he took off overseas for an expanded OE (1976).

Having travelled from Nairobi to London overland, John saw 50 theatre productions in five months, then 48 more over three weeks at The Edinburgh Festival and Fringe – all on comps because he was the international correspondent for Theatre Australia Magazine.

(If he’d said he was a theatre practitioner from the antipodes who’d spend most of his savings getting to the UK, he would not have scored those comps.)

Back in Sydney, freelancing as an actor and TV writer, John enrolled in the Australian Film and Television School’s screenwriting course and went on to develop two screenplays that almost got made, but didn’t. His pitch to TVNZ for a four-part miniseries (dramatising the summer of Opo the dolphin) resulted in the contract that brought John back home to Wellington (1985). It got to second draft before a funding fight between TVNZ and the government saw it cancelled, along with five other high-end projects to be shot on film. John turned it into a novel (The Peace Monster, Vintage, 1991) that was very well reviewed.

Freelancing in NZ requires side hustles. John was working for a PR company when the National Business Review dropped on his desk every Friday. He noticed it had an Arts page but all the content was for Auckland shows, so he contacted the editor, pointed out they were a national publication and was invited to submit 500 words on Wellington theatre. That kicked off seven years where John wrote 1,000 words a week for the NBR at a very good rate (1999-2005). They also flew him to Christchurch and Dunedin to review the opening nights of productions at The Court Theatre and Fortune Theatre. Then a new managing editor decreed they only had room for Auckland productions – although they did agree to publish his already arranged reviews for the NZ Fringe and NZ Festival of the Arts on their rudimentary website.

The birth of Theatreview 
Feeling he had rediscovered a vocation that was valued, John decided a Wellington theatre review website was the way to go. A friend of his partner mentioned her daughter was dabbling in designing websites and so it transpired that John met with Emily Walker-Wright one sunny afternoon on the Paramount Cinema balcony to answer her extremely astute question on what he wanted the website to achieve.

John's objective was simply to create a platform for his Wellington theatre reviews and, where possible, those of other Wellington critics who were part of the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards panel – given their print media publications did not include websites.

Emily’s comprehensive site design anchored the reviews to production details with images, and allowed for news items (headlines and deadlines). Free membership would also allow readers to comment on reviews, or initiate or participate in online forums about whatever they felt was important. John’s designer brother, Michael, created the masthead logo.

Theatreview launched on 2 April 2006 with content dating back to January. Soon after, a niece of John’s suggested Auckland theatre should be included and Auckland dance critic Raewyn Whyte came on board as Dance Editor.

Realising the internet has no boarders, they sought out reviewers wherever in Aotearoa NZ professional performing arts productions were being staged. As Theatreview grew, it was credited with creating a virtual performing arts community that was more aware of each other’s work than ever before.

The search for funding
The plan was to start paying people as soon as funding could be secured. John sought sponsorship interest from sectors that also ran nationwide networks – Telecom, NZ Post, Transpower, etc – but Theatreview was never going to be running around on prime time television with their logos on display. Besides, the amount they were asking for was such ‘small bikkies’, it did not compute with their marketing/sponsorship budgets.

Believing that artists themselves were the biggest ‘sponsors’ of the arts in Aotearoa NZ, there was no desire to put Theatreview behind a paywall. Emily created a structure for professional membership: for a small monthly fee, whenever the member’s name appeared in production credits or a review, it would be hyperlinked to their contact details, their agent or their own website. But there was very little uptake of that opportunity.

John (who was earning his living as a technical writer) sought advice from Dawn Sanders, founder and CEO of Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ, resulting in Theatreview becoming a registered charity in January 2011, with Dawn as the first chair of the Board of Trustees. That was also the year that Creative New Zealand lifted its blanket ban on funding websites, given they were regular users of Theatreview’s steadily growing archive.

Since then, CNZ funding has been erratic and countless applications to other potential sources, variously prepared by the voluntary Trustees, have only sometimes borne fruit. 
Currently, scores of well-qualified reviewers across Aotearoa New Zealand generously volunteer their time and skills in return for two complimentary tickets. Financial payment to reviewers is an aspirational aim that requires a sustainable source of funding.

Current funding situation:
Wellington City Council has placed Theatreview on a sustainable funding plan for the Wellington Theatre Editor.

Aotearoa Gaming Trust funding has allowed the Dance Editor Nationwide to be reinstated for 6 months.

The outcome of an application to Auckland Council for the Auckland Theatre Editor is due this month (March), meanwhile Lexie Matheson volunteers her services.

Christchurch and Dunedin City Councils have insufficient funds, so our Theatre Editors, Julie McCloy and Lisa Warrington, are also volunteering.

Likewise, John keeps working as the Managing Editor and Theatre Editor for the smaller regions, including their arts festivals, on a voluntary basis.

Theatreview’s next application to Creative New Zealand, if successful, will only kick in at the start of 2027.

A ‘Donate $20 for 20 years’ campaign is planned to mark Theatreview’s 20th anniversary.

For further information about Theatreview, go to https://www.theatreview.org.nz/about-us/ and navigate around the site at will.

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