You can download a PDF of MENU 2019 HERE
Michele A’Court and Jeremy Elwood are two of New Zealand’s premier stand-up comics. Well known on radio and for regular television appearances on 7 Days and The Project, Michele and Jeremy are renowned for their intelligent, irreverent and insightful comedy. Michele’s 2016 Arts on Tour NZ show “Stuff I Forgot To Tell My Daughter” was a huge success. With her second book “How We Met” now in bookstores, this show promises to be a hilarious night out.
Month: February
Venue: Any suitable theatre, hall, woolshed, anywhere
Personnel: 3
Set up: 2 hours for sound check in venue
Duration: 1.5 hours (plus interval)
Price: $1300+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Comedy audiences, general public Website: www.ncomedy.com
Mockingbird explores the often neglected subject of mental health through the use of humour, mask and music. Based on a true story, Le Coq trained Lisa Brickell brings to life a family of characters from different generations.
Accompanying Brickell on stage is the talented actor, singer and musician Siri Embla, who performs original music for the show, composed by Sarah Macombee, adding a dynamic layer of beauty and depth to this moving and insightful show.
Mockingbird is directed by Le Coq trained Ruth Dudding and acclaimed director Giovanni Fusetti from Italy. Mockingbird melts away the stigma around depression and leaves the audience with a far greater understanding of mental health issues. A hopeful and entertaining show, Mockingbird will resonate in your thoughts long after you leave the theatre.
“This is the most wonderful show, deeply moving, hysterically funny with a twist that takes you to the darkest of places and returns you to the light.” Alex Bonham, What’s Good
Month: March
Venue: Any suitable theatre, hall
Set up: 2 hours
Personnel: 3
Duration: 1 hour (plus interval and Q and A)
Price: $900+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Theatregoers, health professionals, comedy audiences
Website: www.funny-business.co.nz
TUi MAMAKi, formally of The Mamaku Project, performs a new repertoire inspired by her love affair with the beautiful voices of Bulgaria. Haunting vocal melodies soar effortlessly over intricate guitar tapestries. Hypnotic odd-meter rhythms are brought to life by the spirited percussion of Doug Brush (USA/NZ).
This collaboration will take you on an evocative musical journey through love, the seasons, death and beyond.
Elegant and sassy music, spiced with the epic ardour and humour of traditional Balkan songs. World Music for the heart and soul!
“Powerful, microtonal vocals…” – Nick Bollinger, Listener
“An extraordinarily beguiling voice…” – Sunday Star Times
Month: April
Venue: Any suitable theatre, art gallery, music venue, hall, woolshed, anywhere
Set up: 2 hours for sound check in venue
Personnel: 2
Duration: 1.5 hours (plus interval)
Price: $800+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Music audiences, lovers of exotic vocals and quality percussion
Website: www.tuimamaki.com
MY NAME IS MOANA with electro-wizard Paddy Free is an intimate 90-minute tribute to the Ocean led by singer and songwriter Moana Maniapoto. This music, which is so interwoven with New Zealand’s identify, has taken her from garage parties in South Auckland to exotic stages right around the world.
Using an intoxicating mixture of music, myth and personal anecdote, we discover and share our relationship to the Ocean – and to each other.
Haere mai. Moana and her musicians host their own little garage party, and you’re invited. Bring your own guitar or ukulele! Join them for a delightful showcase of sublime singing and captivating storytelling that will draw you in, make you think, feel, laugh, sing along and possibly even dance. Thank you for caressing our consciousness and humanity with your music (Wellington)
Month: May
Venue: Any suitable theatre, music venue, hall, marae, art gallery, woolshed, anywhere
Set up: 2 hours for sound check in venue
Personnel: 4
Duration: 1.5 hours (plus interval)
Price: $1200+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Music audiences with bicultural interests and others
Website: www.moananz.com
Four uniquely accomplished guitarists bring an infectious energy to the concert stage. Recently returned from concerts in Australia, China, Mexico and the USA the NZGQ is building an international reputation that transcends borders both geographically and stylistically.
Their performances of classical, contemporary and world music continues to engage audiences from all walks of life. The NZGQ 2019 Arts on Tour NZ programme follows in the footsteps of the popular 2017 tour and will explore a diverse range of genres including Balkan, Brazilian, Persian, bluegrass, Celtic, Spanish and flamenco music.
“Technical brilliance and emotional depth” – Christchurch Arts Festival
“Sublime musical entertainment” – Whangarei Music Society
“…nothing less than extraordinary” – Motueka Music Society
Month: June 22 – July 20
Venue: Any suitable theatre, music venue, hall, art gallery, woolshed , anywhere
Set up: 2 hours for sound check in venue
Personnel: 4
Duration: 1.5 hours (plus interval)
Price: $900+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Classical and crossover music audiences
Website: www.nzguitarquartet.com
Four of Auckland’s brightest musicians combined.
With a spell-binding backdrop of custom animations penned by band-leader / multi-instrumentalist / genius Finn Scholes they use a plethora of instruments to perform what can only be described as Mexican Fantasy Music. There will be two forty-minute sets of music that will leave your mind blown and you clapping for more.
“Wonderful” – John Campbell, Radio NZ
“The soundtrack to the sepia-toned, sun-washed short film of your dreams… as you would expect from a collective of such talented individuals, the musical genius at play is hard to ignore” – The New Zealand Herald “They make a fantastic sound… Full of robot bartenders, scary sand-creatures in the desert. There’s a man with a spare face growing out of his shoulder which is a bit alarming… It’s fantastic!” – Grant Smithies
“Some serious instrument playing going on!” – Kathryn Ryan, Radio NZ
Month: July
Venue: Any suitable theatre, hall, art gallery, music venue, woolshed, anywhere
Set up: 2 hours for sound check in venue
Personnel: 4
Duration: 1.5 hours (plus interval)
Price: $900+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Contemporary music audiences, hipsters, young and old
Website: http://carnivorousplantsociety.com
“When the Roaring Lion calls my Henry, I’m dreaming hours down to minutes…”
In 1913 Annie enters the remote mountains of Kahurangi National Park to live a hidden life with her lover Henry Chaffey.
Forty years in exile, swallowed by the silence, enslaved by the fire. This beautiful, touching true story is about Annie Chaffey’s love, loneliness, loss and laughter. An old story from a new perspective.
Nominated for Best Actress, Best Solo Performance, Best Script and winner of best Music/Sound at the Nelson Fringe Festival.
“Solitude is storytelling at its finest. Writer, director and performer, Martine Baanvinger of DramaLab, is utterly compelling, humorous and breathtakingly honest as Annie. Not only is this an interesting New Zealand story but it is told by an expert in an incredibly imaginative and touching way.”
– Lisa Allen,
Nelson Fringe Festival review.
Month: August
Venue: Any suitable theatre or hall
Set up: 2 hours
Personnel: 2
Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes (no interval)
Price: $800+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Theatregoers, historical societies, literary groups
Website: www.dramalab.co.nz
Music that makes you want to dance – wild, spirited and haunting.
Take three former members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Robin Perks, Debbie Rawson and Jacqueline Nordon,
a top New Zealand composer and Arts Laureate, Ross Harris, and a shared passion for Klezmer music, and you have The Kugels!
The folk idiom of the Jewish people, Klezmer, was originally played at weddings and other celebrations in Eastern and Central Europe This music gained popularity in America with the arrival of Yiddish speaking immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, assimilating jazz elements into the mix.
Month: 15 September – 13 October
Venue: Any suitable theatre, hall, art gallery, music venue, woolshed, anywhere
Set up: 2 hours for sound check in venue
Personnel: 4
Duration: 2 hours (includes interval)
Price: $900+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Music audiences, classical and crossover, exotic sounds
Website: www.the-kugels-klezmer.com
Dementia and Alzheimers affects many New Zealand families. It’s a condition none of us can ignore. This play is created from interviews with people with direct experience of the disease: caregivers, family members, doctors, and support workers. Their stories communicate the effect dementia has on the lives of people living with the disease and everyone around them.
In performance, the actors re-enact those interviews. With the audio playing in their ears, they relay the original words, and how those words were spoken. Every vocal inflexion, intonation, and hesitation, as well as the physical gestures and facial expressions.
The Keys are in the Margarine interweaves hilarity with heartbreak to poignant effect, while providing deep insight into what it means to be human.
Profound and enlightening, The Keys are in the Margarine is a unique form of stagecraft. “Verbatim” or “documentary” theatre is real, mesmerising and truthful.
Month: October
Venue: Any suitable theatre, hall
Set up: 2 hours
Personnel: 5
Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes (no interval)
Price: $1800+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Theatregoers, health professionals, general audience
Website: www.theatreworks.co.nz
Helene and Gordon are stuck. Stuck in their same armchairs, on their same farm and in the same rut. One longs to get out and experience everything the world and retirement has to offer, while the other won’t leave his milk tart.
When they finally leave everything they’ve ever known and immigrate to New Zealand, the result is hilarious and heartbreaking as they discover it’s hard work to find “home”.
Sure, the grass is always greener, but home is always home. The South Afreakins is about displacement, immigration and finding that home cannot only exist within places, but within people.
The South Afreakins is a dark comedy performed solely by Robyn Paterson.
“Razor-sharp and achingly poignant” – The Stage
“[Paterson] has the audience right in the palm of her hands.” – The Mortal Fool
“Paterson takes us on this journey with wit and emotional insight.” – Sunday Express
Month: November
Venue: Any suitable theatre, hall
Set up: 2 hours
Personnel: 2
Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes (no interval)
Price: $800+GST (or 70% of gross after reasonable costs, whichever is greater)
Appeal: Theatregoers, South Africans, comedy and general audience
Website: www.thesouthafreakins.co.uk