15 January 2024
We're all about thinking outside the box. Dive into our performances and you’ll uncover a programme that brings the weird, the wonderful and downright eclectic to the Festival. The 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts is a feast for the imagination, from disco dancefloors to immersive acrobatics and more, discover the unique experiences to get stuck into this summer.
Morning People: Warehouse Rave
Bring the beat in at 6.30am on a Friday morning. It’s a rave like no other, brought straight to Newtown by Morning People. With the ethos ‘party first work later’ you’ll be busting moves on the dance floor before the working day has even begun. Expect music hits from DJ Dick ‘Magik’ Johnson remixed with complementary L’Affare coffee, All Good Bananas and ice-cold Karma Kombucha.
The only question left to ask, is it even legal to have this much fun before 8am?
Our Own Little Mess by A Slightly Isolated Dog
A world-premiere right here in Wellington comes the audio-adventure of Our Own Little Mess. Sat with headphones on you’ll be transported into the inner consciousness of characters through snippets from podcasts and narrations. Inspired by the likes of the Daniels hit film, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, you’re set for a unique theatre performance that collides multiple realities in magical ways.
The FNZ season of Hatupatu | Kurungaituku: A forbidden love
You’re invited into a world of forbidden love. With the scenes and actors above your head, journey into Rotorua and its landscapes as aerialists and performers take to the stage and the skies for an immersive storytelling experience. Taking performance quite literally to new heights, discover the destiny of the young warrior Hatupatu packed with stunning acrobatics and powerful rhetoric.
Lost Lear by Dan Colley
A twist on a literary tragedy, Lost Lear is a moving and darkly comedic interpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Irish theatre maker Dan Colley brings a story of a complex mother and son relationship that navigates estrangement and illness. Taking what we have all known as a well-versed story, Colley overlaps fiction and reality through incredible puppetry, live video and light projections to bring the story of King Lear to life in distorted and clever ways.
Taniwha Time Machine – The Dreamgirls Collective
Is it Pōneke’s Waterfront or is it a mythical place of Taniwha Time Machine? Well, in truth it’s technically both these things, but when the Dreamgirls Art Collective work their magic you’re sure to be transported to a mystical space. Journey through the legendary taniwha of Ngake and Whātaitai, who formed the landscape of Te-Whanganui-a-Tara. Navigating through the inners of each taniwha you’ll come across the likes of a sparkling phone booth, created by cameo Dreamgirl Coco Solid (Ngāpuhi/Samoa) and the energetic vibes of a disco dance floor. It’s a real burst of colour, adventure and a whole lot of Dreamgirls magic.
Visual Arts
Step out of the galleries and into some of our incredible visual arts for a fully immersive experience. Explore the motion of live art as movement artists come together for The Performance Arcade. Set on Wellington’s waterfront there’s fascinating new art, a pop-up bar, food trucks and live music too. Or dive into the digital with Halo by Gill Gatfield. Whip out your phone and look up above the harbour for a virtual reality sculpture that defies the laws of gravity. While in Upper Hutt, play with the power of light with Stack by Angus Muir – an atmospheric visual experience that will leave your senses in awe.
Uncover the full line-up for all the experiences at the 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.
