The Fringe Fes­ti­val has offi­cial­ly start­ed (YAY) and here is some pub­lic­i­ty for shows that sent us their pub­lic­i­ty. (Also check out the fol­low­ing — u can heal my life, Big J stylez, FA’AAFA , Sound and Fury: Live Art par­ty. )

Par­don me Alan Tur­ing on at BATS The­atre to 4 March 2018

Thou­sands of gay men con­vict­ed of sex­u­al offences were posthu­mous­ly par­doned in July, but what has changed for these men? A new mile­stone for equal­i­ty in the gay com­mu­ni­ty and the key theme of Par­don Me Alan Tur­ing.

My best dead friend on at BATS The­atre 5–9 March 2018

A pow­er­ful, auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal cross between stand-up com­e­dy and the­atre, My Best Dead Friend writ­ten and per­formed by Welling­ton­ian Anya Tate-Man­ning, is hav­ing its Welling­ton pre­miere this Fes­ti­val. My Best Dead Friend dances between two moments in time; an attempt­ed rev­o­lu­tion on the streets of Dunedin in 1998 and a moment of great loss many years lat­er. Grow­ing up in Dunedin in the 90s Anya expe­ri­enced first-hand the highs and lows of teenagers who lay out­side the norm of the sto­ic, rug­by-proud cul­ture. It’s a true sto­ry about heart-break­ing grief and endur­ing friend­ship

Poet vs pageant on at BATS The­atre 6–9 March 2018

Aus­tralian writer and per­former Telia Nevile makes her New Zealand per­for­mance debut with Poet vs Pageant. Miss Con­ge­nial­i­ty meets Roald Dahl in  an award-win­ning sto­ry­telling show that res­ur­rects the epic poem for­mat, paints it in fake tan and drops it right in the deep end of a beau­ty pageant. Util­is­ing a stripped-back style and wear­ing its’ heart firm­ly on its sleeve, this per­for­mance is a call to arms for any­one who’s ever felt social­ly awk­ward.

Phone whore (a one act play with fre­quent inter­rup­tions) on at BATS The­atre 10–13 March 2018

Award-win­ning US play­wright (and sex activist and edu­ca­tor, side­walk pornog­ra­ph­er, and a for­mer phone sex oper­a­tor) Cameryn Moore brings her  slice-of-life comedy/drama solo play Phone Whore to BATS The­atre with an artist talk­back fol­low­ing the show. Truth and taboo col­lide in this inti­mate vis­it with a phone sex oper­a­tor. Sit back and buck­le up.