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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people and injured more than 200 in Norway. Before he attacked his fellow citizens he sent out a 1500 page manifesto containing racist propaganda, philosophical reflections, bomb manuals, interviews he conducted with himself and diary entries. Danish theatre makers Christian Lollike, Olaf Højgaard and Tanja Diers […]
Every year millions of women and children around the world are trafficked and trapped in sexual exploitation. Using stories of real survivors, Out of Darkness presented by the Just Be Collective, follows the emotional journey of Alice as she is trafficked into sexual exploitation and then rescued and restored to find her way back to […]
After her Grandma’s death a woman is tasked with cleaning out the basement of her house. As she sifts through what seems like every single thing her Grandma ever owned she discovers a tape recorder. Then she finds a box of tapes — some of which work, and some which don’t. As she listens to the […]
I couldn’t see any of the House of Sand shows in the Fringe Festival this year so I’m really pleased that two of them – Pedal and Castles — are coming back to BATS Theatre this month. Castles won the SYNZ Award and was nominated in a number of other categories. I sent some questions to […]
A bare stage greets us at the Gryphon Theatre. It seems bigger than usual with a soundscape that hints at vast desolate spaces where the only thing alive is the whistling wind. Then noise! Lights! And a tattered creature that stutters out from the wings as if glimpsed by lightning flashes. Vladimir the Crow is […]