and
Scoop coverage, reviews, photos and press releases from Wellington's arts festivals, February to March 2010.
This page will be updated regularly once the festivals begin. Hit 'reload' to confirm you're seeing the latest version.
International Arts Festival coverage follows, Fringe coverage is below.
More info at nzfestival.nzpost.co.nz and fringe.co.nz
********
New Zealand International Arts Festival 2010nzfestival.nzpost.co.nz for news and full event listings
26 Feb to 21 Mar
Latest:Dominic Groom - Simon O'Neill: Wagner Gala
Ship Songs tells three tales of the sea, the stories of three characters separated by hundreds of years and thousands
of miles, but all yearning for . . . something more. It has a very large cast... all written and performed by New
Zealand actor Ian Hughes. More>>
ALSO:Lorraine Ward - 13 Most Beautiful
Synthesizing the musical traditions of three continents and countless centuries, the players of Djan Djan weave exotic
melody and loping rhythm into a palette of sound and texture which binds the humid air of India with that of the
Mississippi Delta, while conjuring visions of African savannah tickled by the first seasonal rains. More>>
Inside Out from Cirkus Cirkor was an enthralling performance from the moment the audience entered the theatre... The show started
with a bang and so it was all the way to the finale. More>>
ALSO:Nick van Dijk - YellowjacketsLyndon Hood - Echoa
Scoop Images: Mimetic Brotherhood by Peter Trevelyan, Outside Te Papa
Friedrich Schiller's reputation as one of the great European playwrights is, on the basis of this adaptation by David
Harrower, well deserved. More>>
ALSO:Lyndon Hood - Apollo 13: Mission Control
In Dancing on Your Grave a small band of unhappily dead vaudeville performers are trapped in purgatory, which for this
troupe is a starkly lit three metre square stage. The show is a stylish mix of cheerfully morbid toe-tapping music and
deliciously precise dancing. More>>
A stocky woman dressed in a scarf, blue frock, brown socks and sturdy shoes pulls off the top of a large glass jar and
out comes . . . Simon and Garfunkel: Here's to you, Mrs Robinson. This is Latvia, circa 1968. More>>
ALSO:Tyler Hersey - Mahler Symphony No 8Lyndon Hood - SutraTV3 Video - Reach enlightenment with the kung fu monksNZ Herald Out-Link - NZ Arts Festival: MTYland reviewMTYland preview - Fringe Review: Footnote Perforum
A sunny evening brought out a large crowd for the first free event of the Festival of the Arts – an outdoor dance duet
between a man and a digger; a mixture of dance, danger, technology and moments of rather improbable emotion. More >>
ALSO:NZ International Arts Festival - Free Events Galore at the NZIAF 2010NZ International Arts Festival - Programme AnnouncementTV3 Video - International Arts Festival opens in Wellington - Reach enlightenment with the kung fu monks - Arts Festival opensMahler Video Simulcast Radio NZ - Mahler’s Eighth Symphony to kick-off NZ Arts Fest
Senses will again be challenged and perspectives shifted at Banks Shoes shapeshifter, one of New Zealand’s premier
sculpture exhibitions. More>>
ALSO:Hutt City Council - Little Bushman and friends set for sonic journey
More tickets will go on sale tomorrow for a talk by controversial evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’ at this
year’s New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week, part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival. Tickets sold out
within weeks of going on sale in November.More>>
Scoop Review Of Books: Searching The Shelves With Laura Kroetsch - Laura Kroetsch picks out the best books to read in preparation for the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week in March. One of the odd preoccupations of my life has been an overwhelming desire to have those around me read what I’m reading. More>>ALSO:Creative NZ - Overseas Interest in NZ Lit Continues to GrowWhales, Time Travel in Writers and Readers Week
It is with deep regret that Chugg Entertainment and Gaynor Crawford Presents today announced that Rufus Wainwright’s
upcoming tour will be cancelled due to an illness in the family, but the artist has confirmed that he will return to
tour Australia and New Zealand before the end of the year. More>>
The New Zealand International Arts Festival has announced two new acts for its 2010 line up at the Pacific Blue
Festival Club - the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra from Brooklyn, New York and award winning indie singer-songwriter St.
Vincent. Tickets ... More>>
Arts Festival Press Releases:Shapeshifter outdoor sculpture exhibitionWhales, Time Travel in Writers and Readers WeekSchoolFest offers access to international artistsPress Kit: 2010 NZ International Arts FestivalDance Work for Young and OldOrchestra Breaks Baroque Music Out of the Box13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Warhol’s Screen TestFour Superstar Jazz Women Salute Nina SimoneNew Zealand at Last for Baroque Pop StarShaun Tan’s Book Arrives On Stage at NZIAFA Play Without Words Set Behind The Iron CurtainGalloping Irish Comedy Heading To The NZIAFPowerhouse Play from Theatre Company TR WarszawaIconoclastic Director Debuts His Latest Play In NZHigh flying Swedish CircusA Journey through Faith and Imaginationthe World with the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’New Dance Programme Defies BordersStudents Get Unparalleled Access to NZIAFSpecial Programme for Kids at the NZIAFClassical Music Premieres at the NZIAFExtensive Visual Arts Programme in NZIAFRESTAGE to Support New Zealand PerformanceFree Events Galore at the NZIAF 2010The Festival within the FestivalNew NZIAF Nightclub on the Wellington WaterfrontNZIAF 2010 Programme to the Wellington RegionWorld Premieres for New Zealand Music and TheatreNZ International Arts Festival Announces Programme2010 New Zealand International Arts Festival
********
12 Feb to 6 Mar
This show tickled my funny bone bigtime and joyfully delivered on its simple promise - 3 men presenting Ben Hur on a
tiny stage in just 70min. More>>
ALSO:The Fringe Bar - Raw meat mondays-heat 1
“Take me down to Paekakariki, where the grass is green and the boys are pretty!” Three women in red velvet dresses,
playing an accordion, a violin, and a cello, and rocking out to Guns 'n' Roses – that was the encore number of Crimson
Club’s Muritai School performance. More>>
ALSO:Kerry Tankard - Fringe Review (II): Crimson Club
The premise of the play is: what happens when the CEO of a pineapple company makes a mistake in peddling mysteriously
addictive red pineapple? Confusingly, the play doesn’t really deliver on the answer to this question. More>>
Coming at LAST WEEK OF THE FRINGE:Ben Hur - Circus Festival - Pink Lighter - Sunday Roast - Garry Trotter & The Philosopher’s Whatchamacallit - Alfonsina - Crimson Club - Haimona - Ruby Tuesday - Angel - Sun Dance - Departure LoungeScoop Full Coverage - Arts Festival 2010
L is for Love, Love is for Losers is a delightful, hour-long addition to the Fringe Festival’s comedy programme. The
music is great. The jokes are funny. Plus Gabriel Page is a pleasure to watch and has a great voice to boot! More>>
At the Fringe 26 Feb – 1 Mar:A Love Tail Alter + Ego And Nothing Stirred Bogan Bingo Chit Chat Lounge Home How to be a Domestic Goddess Inside Out L is for Love... Laugh Experiences Medea Songs Memoirs Of Pinafores And Panty Hose Nag Paul Forrest Runtime Salon Sometimes I Don’t Like Yellow Symphonic Sights 2010: A Sexual Odyssey The Immortals Thricely? Precisely. A Pocket Full Of Pips. Twenty Three Pieces Vincents Art Workshop Wannabe Who’s Neat? You! Bazaar Intentions Galaxia Mt Victoria Festival No Idea Runtime The Crimson Club Urban Holiday Micetro Hutt City Music in Parks Comedy Unplugged De Inst da Data Pink Lighter Storytime for the Hungry Sunday Roast
Over the next week Wellington's Waitangi Park will be taken over by acrobats, clowns and daredevil horse riders. The
Wellington Festival of Circus will run from the 3rd to the 9th of March with shows designed to thrill and awe audiences
of all ages – showcasing the best of kiwi and international talent. More>>
On 26th and 27th of February show will happen!!! At 5pm, The Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba and Vivian Street. Discover the
strangely twisted tales that lurk behind the gossip magazine headlines as topics familiar and curvy evolve onstage with
an improv take. More>>
ALSO:Also coming up at the Fringe:
The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) presented a show based on a great concept at BATS Theatre on Sunday night. It
had flashes of brilliance, and some less watchable moments, too. More>>
ALSO:Anna Sutherland - Fringe Review: MicetroAlison Little - Fringe Review: Comedy Unplugged
They have chairs strapped to their backs. Why do they have chairs strapped to their backs? One answer might be that, if
they had been dressed only in the overalls and t-shirts that were the rest of their costume, their appearance would have
been out of kilter with the rest of this arrestingly strange production. More>>
ALSO:Lyndon Hood - Fringe Review: Buffoon's Birthday
Comedians Sarah Harpur and Jim Stanton gild their well-paced two-woman standup show with the trappings of crazed 1950s
housewives, complete with cheerful aprons and diazepam-bright smiles ... More>>
ALSO:Brenton Hodgson - Joker's Guide to ArmageddonRory MacKinnon - Fringe Review: Footnote Perforum
No Idea's venue, the Band Rotunda, has been closed by the Council for urgent flood-related renovations. Sadly this
happened too late in the day for another venue to be arranged, so the scheduled shows are cancelled. Darn it. More>>
ALSO:Opening This Weekend:
Thricely? Precisely. A Pocket Full Of Pips.Out-Link - Gods and Heroes: Gods BlogAnd More Shows Still On Scoop Full Coverage - Arts Festival 2010
Revolving around the sexual exploits of its characters, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure is unquestionably a bawdy
play. The Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe seemed to relish this as they entertained the full house at Muritai School in
Eastbourne. More>>
The show begins with creator and director Vanja Draganic addressing the audience, explaining her reasons for wanting to
recreate the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. More>> ALSO:Melissa McDonald - Review: Tango and Salsa Masquerade Ball Also on Friday - Monday:Improvathon - Pirates vs Ninjas - What’s In A Man?
The Wellington Fringe Festival’s anarchic opening ceremony saw Cuba Street teeming with silver statues, cows on
bicycles, superheroes and what appeared to be an intergalactic KISS covers band. Scoop was there for the photo finish. More>>
ALSO:Fringe Festival - 'Running of the Fringe' to fire up FringeFringe Festival - All fired up for the Fringe Fest 2010
What’s in a Man is NOT “The Penis Monologues”, but it is a fringe-tastic comedic, character-based romp through the real
‘man’ experience in all its nut-punching, swearing, macho, confused, silly glory! More>>
ALSO:The Fringe Bar - NZ Fringe Festival begins prematurely!Pirates Vs Ninjas: Which One Would You Choose?Raybon Kan: Vegetable Of The ArtsThe Immortals Typifies The “Fringe Spirit”Goldilocks And The Three Queers
Fringe Events & Novelties:'Running of the Fringe' to fire up FringeFringe on Fire: festival launches 20th programmeFringe Festival Presents Chit Chat LoungeCraft2.0 - TheNewDowseMount Victoria Inner City FestivalStorytime for the HungryTwenty Three PiecesWild West Electric Rodeo and Grand Ol’ OpryIn Reverse
ComedyBen Hur: "Romans And Chariots And Lepers!'The Comediettes' Present Better Living!Bogan Bingo: Bingo With BallsMicetroRaybon Kan: Vegetable Of The ArtsWhat’s In A Man?Garry Trotter & The Philosopher’s WhatchamacallitImprovathon Improv Till You Drop...Joker's Guide To ArmageddonLove Lost: Page Cannot Be DisplayedLaugh Experiences: The Experience Of A Laugh TimeGods & Heroes Relocated To Mt Victoria By The UN!No IdeaWho’s Neat? You!:Theatre In A Ten-Tonne Truck
DanceFootnote Dance Presents: PerforumHow to be a Domestic Goddess – La Revue de CuisineTango Masquerade Ball & CarnivalThricely? Precisely. A Pocket Full Of Pips.
MusicAphelion: Nervous Doll Dancing To Dance In NZDeparture Lounge Hits The FringeGalaxiaHome: One Thread In The Story Of A NationRappin' on the FringeCookie Baker's 'Tealight Parade'The Crimson Club's Whirlwind Worldwide Wellington TourThe One Night Stands: In the Mood
TheatreAlfonsinaA Love TailAngel turns suicide bomber!Back/WordsBrewing: Do you know what your children are up to?‘For Real’: A Teen’s Mind Is Chaotic And Powerful.FRACturPremiere Season Of Buffoon's BirthdayHaimonaInside OutIrrepressible UrgeJangle: “Buddha On A Bender”Measure for MeasureMedea SongsMemoirs Of Pinafores And Panty HosePink LighterRuby TuesdaySALONSometimes I Don’t Like YellowGrimy Teen Romance: Sun DanceSunday RoastThe Black Hole Menagerie “2010: A Sexual Odyssey”Kristin Herman & Peter Willis present UndergrowthWannbe: Boy Bands Are Back…Alright!The Immortals Typifies The “Fringe Spirit”Pirates Vs Ninjas: Which One Would You Choose?Goldilocks And The Three QueersGrimy teen romance swims from Manila to Wellington
Visual ArtsThe Princess and the Many QuiltsAlter + Ego: a Mobile Visual Arts ExhibitionAnd Nothing StirredBazaar IntentionsAfterburner presents: NagPaul Forrest – Artist Residency and ExhibitionRuntimeSymphonic SightsVincents Art Workshop celebrates Silver Jubilee
********