REVIEWS
2025
2024-25
2023
Phoebe rings music videos
“I feel more precious about this LP because it includes everyone’s gems. The broth is richer with more cooks in the kitchen, and the brewing of textures creates a distinct ‘Phoebe Rings’ sound,”
- Crystal Choi to Conor Lochrie (Rolling Stone)
“Experience a masterfully executed live clip for 'Drifting' directed by Nahyeon Lee below, revisit the audio-visual splendour of the title track (also directed by Nahyeon Lee)”
- Chris Cudby (undertheradar)
“There were [Korean] artists that are not in music like sculpture, costume design or graphic design that I hadn’t heard of […] 근데 생각보다 너무 많은거야, 너무 잘하고 재능있는 사람들이 많은거야 [But there’s so many more than I realised, they’re all super talented] […[ I wouldn't have properly known if it wasn't for this collaboration.”
- Crystal Choi in conversation with Nam Woon Kim (Ratworld)
A SHORT HISTORY OF ASIAN NEW ZEALAND THEATRE BY NATHAN JOE
“The work asks for us to be present, to experience, to breathe, sweat and spin together.”
- Sherry Zhang (Bad Apple)
“Across the screens it’s as if every Pan-Asian creative and their works are named – culminating in a beautiful, mycelium web of interconnectedness.”
- Lynda Chanwai-Earle (Theatreview)
“It’s funny to think that the same issues discussed among Māori creatives – How much of my personal history do I offer to this? […] But also, how do we still appeal to Pākehā? – are the same issues being discussed by Asian creatives.”
- Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (The Spinoff)
“This work is so important for us Asian artists to listen to and learn from, in the hopes that one day we won’t have to work as hard as we do now just for a seat at the table.”
- Elliott Lam (Wellyott.com)
ASEURAI BY PHOEBE RINGS
“Directed by Nahyeon Lee, the music video for ‘아스라이 (Aseurai)’ is a wonderland of creativity. From Hanna Shim’s giant mushroom sculptures to the delicate ruffles of frontwoman Crystal Choi’s 6×4 dress, we are transported into the magical dreamscape of Phoebe Rings”
- nzmusic
CHICK HABIT BY NUANZHI ZHENG
“Sorry, Chick Habit just reminded me how good it feels to scream about the complexity of being a Gen Z child of Asian immigrants.”
- Jake Tabata (Bad Apple)
“Chick Habit is an uplifting show about queer, Asian women in a punk band – and that alone in our current climate is pretty revolutionary.”
- Jess Karamjeet (Theatrescenes)
“We’re dealing with questions of what it means for pop feminism to have unravelled, to not have “made it”, and to understand feminism through an intersectional lens”
- Sherry Zhang in conversation with playwright Nuanzhi Zheng (Pantograph Punch)
LOSING FACE BY NATHAN JOE
“Sex, innuendos and references are packed to the brim to make you laugh and cringe simultaneously.”
- Jake Tabata (Bad Apple)
“Too often we see the disempowered of Asian characters as demure, sexualised objects serving the white male gaze... With Losing Face they get characters who are complicated and messy. They are agents in their own destruction who make mistakes, hurt each other, and choose to love painfully rather than painlessly.”
- Arela Jiang (Pantograph Punch)
“They are stories about how we struggle—more specifically, how we struggle to reconcile with our families and loved ones. It’s a simple premise, and while the form of the show is mind-melting”
- Flora Xie (Rat World)