Preview: LUX festival

The containers are starting to appear on the wharf – the LUX light festival is back and opens Friday night! Festival director Mary Laine says they’re exploring some new ways of doing things. The festival grows bigger each year so this year they’re experimenting with five distinct themes. By focusing five precincts on particular types of work […]

Shows on this week

At BATS Theatre: Starting this week is an encore season of Onstage Dating by performance artist Bron Batten. Watch as she goes on first dates on stage. (These are actual first dates with a stranger, not with a performing audience plant.) Witness the vulnerability, thrills and heartbreak of the dating experience up close, as Bron […]

Preview: I am Tasha Fierce

From the mind of Wellington based artist Rose Kirkup, the recipient of the 2016 Fringe Festivals’ NZ Pacific Artist Residency award, comes I Am Tasha Fierce. We’re introduced to Kirkup’s alter ego Tasha: your typical Kiwi chick.  Her time at polytech, as well as following the teachings of Beyoncé, has helped her get out of […]

Preview: Dido and Aeneas: Recomposed

Dido and Aeneas: Recomposed is a fringe fest style opera brought to BATS by UnstuckOpera.  Directed by long time Wellington creative Frances Moore and re-composed by one of NZ’s leading young composers, Alex Taylor, their re-work of Henry Purcell’s classic includes samples from Stravinsky, Jazz Greats, and even Beyoncé and is performed by singers in over-the-top gowns, crazy make-up […]

Review: Dank Comedy: The National Average

Dank Presents is a series of experimental comedy shows created by Wellington comedians and producers. Hosted by Fringe Bar this Fringe, every show is different. I saw The National Average, based on an award winning routine in BATS Theatre’s Late Night Knife Fight. Jonny Potts and Matt Powell are brothers Cosmo and Carl, left a whisky/whiskey […]

More Fringe Festival: The Institute of Refuge in Art

Black Coffee in Newtown is hosting the Institute of Refuge in Art exhibition. Each piece has been created using discarded artworks. All recreated artwork will be up for sale over the week with 50% of the proceeds going towards Vinnies Wellington social services. Have a chat with Carmel from Black Coffee if you’re interested in any […]

Preview: Māoriland Film Festival 15-19 March 2017

The Māoriland Film Festival 2017 programme includes multi-award winning features, documentaries and short films. Of the award winning feature films, there are eight New Zealand premieres. “Indigenous filmmakers are very keen to screen at Māoriland as they consider it to be the most important festival in the Southern hemisphere,” said Māoriland Charitable Trust chair Tainui […]

On now: Pūtahi Festival

Tawata Productions in association with Victoria University of Wellington and Wellington City Council proudly presents Pūtahi Festival, 2017. The Festival is a presentation of works in development (and is a darn good time). Everything is showing at Studio 77, 77 Fairlie Terrace, Kelburn, Wellington. Most shows are koha but it pays to book a ticket so […]

Review: Faovale Imperium

This is an experimental spoken word/poetry event. James Nokise explores Captain James Cook’s voyage through the Pacific. It’s presented from several different points of view – Cook, his wife, an outside narrator. Some of the pieces are funny. Some are more reflective. Some, I think, are supposed to be funny, but we don’t laugh. There’s […]

Review of Paying for it and Easy living

Paying for it: an insider’s guide to the NZ sex industry The Prostitution Reform Act was passed in 2003 but apparently sex work is still a controversial job choice. As one of the speakers says “It seems like never is a good time to talk about sex work. “ So it’s really neat that several […]