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Looking to venture out of the Coast, then check out the Auckland Arts Festival this March.
Aucklanders are starting to feel the buzz of the annual Auckland Arts Festival, which runs from March 5 to 22. The programme of theatre, dance, music, circus, art exhibitions and much more, across different venues in Auckland city, starts with The Royal NZ Ballet’s Macbeth, choreographed by Alice Topp and accompanied by a full orchestra and heavy metal band with live string octet. Shakespeare’s play gets a new transformation to a powerful political dance of manipulation and intrigue, with a contemporary flavour of murder, madness and desire.
A different kind of dance will get you on the dance floor, (with drinks from the two bars that will be open) while three hardcore party people bring an electrifying non-stop dance performance in The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave.
Theatre lovers can enjoy Hone Kouka’s Waiora Te Ūkaipō – The Homeland from Auckland Theatre Company, a birthday hāngī celebration set in 1965 that brings together whānau from the East Cape, who were brought to the South Island for a better life. The play explores family hardships, questions of belonging, and impacts of colonisation.
Werewolf is a horror/comedy experience portraying three ill-equipped wardens watching over the community, i.e. the audience, at night. WET is a witty and funny play from Tūī Matelau about Aroha, a māmā, divorcee, loyal friend and successful author of erotic fiction. While her creative freedom is admired by passionate fans, she has to face huge attacks from her family. The Visitors presents the painful moment in Australian history on January 1788 in Sydney harbour, when seven clan leaders welcomed the mysterious fleet of nawi (giant boats), while A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry), will display a fusion of theatre and good food.
A wide spectrum of music performances includes Julia Bullock with Auckland Philharmonia. The Grammy Award-winning American soprano is renowned for her emotional honesty and powerful singing influenced by Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra with an ensemble of more than 100 musicians, perform a collaboration of East and West as part of their Asia-Pacific tour, and the NZ Opera presents Bluebeard’s Castle, a moving story of a domestic couple struggling with dementia.
Throughout the festival, the famous Spiegeltent will host the Australian saucy cabaret La Ronde, while two more mind blowing Australian circus shows will feature in theatres: Circa’s Duck Pond that takes Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake to a wild chaotic ride of elegant thrill, and Ten Thousand Hours, (referring to the time required to master a skill) which brings a spectacle of talents, changing each night by the audience’s guidance. Info: www.aaf.co.nz
by Edna Haled, writer for the arts
