THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

She carries the weight of every woman past, every slur and slight endured, every filthy nugget mined from the dank mines of misogyny and ignited in her face. As Julia Gillard, MacGregor never slips into easy imitation—she stalks the role, then strikes, distilling her subject into something fierce, exact, and unforgettable; what follows is a blistering 90-minute monologue, delivered with surgical precision, total authority, and a charge of emotion that crackles through every line. This show speaks of the past and the current way we treat female leaders and demands we show them the respect they deserve. “My play,” writes Joanna Murray-Smith about her acclaimed political drama Julia , “is not a judgement on (former Australian Prime Minister) Julia Gillard’s term in office – but it is, like all plays, a judgement on the world.” It certainly is. In 90 minutes, Murray-Smith takes us at pace from Gillard’s childhood in Wales, and the sense of fairness instilled by her mining advocate father, ...

  Lōemis festival enters its eleventh year in 2026, presenting an incredible two week programme spanning music, food, immersive art, spoken word and film. Bringing together artists from the UK, USA, Palestine, Japan, Australia and Aotearoa for the midwinter multi-sensory arts festival, running for two weeks across Te Whanaganui-a-Tara from June 9 till 21. Lydia Lunch - Photo Supplied Adding to its already massive line up are two more appearances from Iconic no wave musician, writer and poet Lydia Lunch  (US), presenting a spoken word performance & documentary screening with accompanying Q&A. These two news shows sit alongside her already announced music show - performing the music of Suicide - for the first time in NZ and with all performances exclusive to Lōemis.  Revered Australian punk act, These New South Whales also join the lineup for a not to be missed night at Meow alongside Pōneke 4-piece Dropper.  To help close the festival the Midwinter Solsti...

Photo Credit Hagen Hopkins Is there life after Romeo? Damn straight, there is!   Ok, so everybody knows the plot. We’ve all seen Baz’s version with Leo and Claire, haven’t we? Two teenagers meet at a party, decide they’re soulmates after about five minutes, and immediately start making aggressively bad life choices. Everyone else dies too, largely because no one in Verona believes in clear communication. Yeah, tragic love and teenagers, eh? So sad, never mind.