One hundred Aucklanders sing about their generations

Award-winning theatre-maker Jo Randerson (Barbarian Productions) and musical maestro Julian Raphael (Community Music Junction) direct a 100-strong cast of everyday Aucklanders for a one-of-a-kind event at the Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall from 17– 20 October.

Volunteer local singers from all over Auckland will come together to participate in this unique community performance. Split into three generational groups – under 30s, 30-60s and over 60s – the participants will express what they really think of each other – in song.

“We found this performance incredibly moving, a privilege to witness.” - Audience member, Festival of Colour (Wanaka)

Sing it to my Face premiered at Wellington’s St Pauls Cathedral in 2014 as part of its centennial celebrations and has had immensely successful seasons at the Kokomai Creative Festival in the Wairarapa (2015), Nelson Arts Festival (2016) and the Wanaka Festival of Colour (2017).

As part of the creation of Sing it to my Face, Barbarian Productions crowd-sourced answers from all the participants with questions like:

‘What are people over 60 like?’
‘What would you like to thank them for?’
‘What is your generation like?’

The responses have been worked into the songs that each group will sing on the night. Staged like a fashion show runway, with audiences on two sides, the groups literally face off and sing to each in a frank, funny and poignant musical conversation about who we are, the world we live in and where we want to end up.

The Auckland premiere of this work marks the third production from Barbarian Production to visit Auckland this year. Grand Opening at The Civic in June was part of the Auckland Live Cabaret Festival, while Soft ‘n’ Hard played at Q Theatre to rave reviews last month.

“There are many stand-out memories for me but seeing people (of different ages) in the audience being moved to tears is one of the most vivid.” – previous participant

Led by Jo Randerson, award-winning Barbarian Productions is a Wellington-based theatre company with an eighteen-year history of making innovative, original, high-quality theatre. Barbarian writes, performs and collaborates to create live experiences of radical, fun togetherness.

Sing it to my Face plays:
Thursday 17 Oct – Sunday 20 October.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 7pm. Sunday at 2pm.
For more information or to book tickets visit: aucklandlive.co.nz/show/sing-it-to-my-face

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