Preview: Young & Hungry
For 24 years Young & Hungry and BATS Theatre have been providing young people with a platform to perform, produce and create great theatre. With the Playwrights’ Initiative producing three new kiwi plays a year and the annual Festival of New Theatre at BATS – Y&H feeds the theatrical hunger and quenches the creative thirst […]
Preview: Project Glow
At a possibly not-that-secret location in the heart of Te Aro, The Wellingtonista was invited to preview the entrants for this year’s Project Glow. We had to tap on the window to gain entrance, and while there only managed to take the blurriest of photos. That’s because the judges were busy at work; and we […]
Review: Oikos Hellenic Cuisine, Miramar
Oikos is the new Greek Restaurant, in the the southern most southest part of Miramar, on the 2 bus route, and close to the cycle tunnel. This is firmly in Greek territory of Wellington. The local fish’n’chip shops also serve a variant of Greek food (yeros mostly), which is a delicious alternative to fried fish. […]
Preview: Black Grace – As Night Falls
Following a sold-out Auckland season in 2016, and a 10-centre tour of the United States, Black Grace and Tour-Makers are proud to tour the critically acclaimed As Night Falls to seven national centres from 22 June – 6 July around Aotearoa. A poetic ode to our troubled world, As Night Falls is Artistic Director Neil […]
Preview: The Mooncake and the Kūmara
Layered with myth and fable, The Mooncake and the Kūmara is a moving story about a mixed-up, Māori-Chinese love affair that sprouts among rows of potatoes. Told in a mixture of English, Māori and Cantonese, the play is showing in Wellington as part of the Kia Mau Festival. Māori-Chinese playwright Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen talked […]
Preview: Fire in the water, fire in the sky
Told through movement, dance and text, this is a modern statement on climate change, colonisation and Christianity across the Pacific Rim. It’s an untangling of the greatest collision to have affected the Pacific – western imperialism. Fire In The Water, Fire In The Sky has various performance times during the mornings. It shows in Tangata Le […]
Preview: The Māori Sidesteps
The newest and naughtiest Maori showband on the Aotearoa entertainment scene plays at BATS Theatre during the Kia Mau Festival. Self described as “Funny Māoris with funny songs” this show is more of a gig than a theatre piece for the actors involved. Band member Jamie McCaskill talked about the origins of the group and what they do. “Rob Mokaraka, […]
Preview: The Purple Onion
The Purple Onion peeps into the world of Wellington’s infamous burlesque parlour as part of the Kia Mau Festival. Established in the mid 1960s, the Purple Onion was Wellington’s premiere strip club which attracted some of New Zealand’s social elite as well as its fair share of dubious characters. Combining text, dance and a live funk […]
Preview: Riverside Kings
Riverside Kings opens in Upper Hutt today and plays in BATS Theatre next week as part of the Kia Mau Festival. The creators Sarita So and Natano Keni, describe it as “a physical weaving of brotherhood, nostalgia and change.” Their new company, I Ken So Productions, aims to create, diverse works of a high quality. They […]
Review: Three days in the country
Set against the backdrop of 1850’s Russia. Serfs (aka slaves) still work the land under the estate holder’s control. Reform is coming and the country is restless. Rakitin is visiting his friend Arkady at his country estate. Arkady’s wife Natalya is recovering from her illness. Their son Kolya, and their ward Vera, are spending time […]