Hayley Sproull stars in Night of the Living Dead. Photo / Toaki Okano.
Hayley Sproull stars in Night of the Living Dead. Photo / Toaki Okano.
Over 80 shows including 14 world premieres will make up the line-up for the 2022 Auckland Arts Festival, which will likely serve as a welcome reprieve for audiences starved of live theatre.
The annual festival is returning to venues across Auckland in March with hopes for an uninterrupted run, after the first Covid outbreak saw the 2020 season cancelled, while an outbreak in Auckland earlier this year disrupted this year's festival.
Despite an unfortunate two years, Auckland Arts Festival artistic director Shona McCullagh said that the arts sector remains "optimistic and tenacious and determined".
"We're all desperate to connect, we're all over Zooms completely. We're doing a lot of risk management planning, but it's full-steam ahead."
She said the festival will follow any Government guidelines and recommendations, though current red restrictions will allow shows to go ahead with reduced audiences.
The packed programme, which includes seven New Zealand premieres, will support around 700 artists and over 100 crew and front of house staff, McCullagh said.
"A festival is an opportunity for us to reward and repay those artists with the incredible generosity they have shown during lockdown periods, really supporting us to get through this, so I'm looking forward for a chance for people to return that generosity."
Alatini comes from the minds behind Sinarella. Photo / Supplied.
Productions popping up in the Festival that had been postponed include Alatini, the latest production from the minds behind sell-out sensations Sinarella and The Wizard of Otahuhu, and a "Live Cinema" performance of Night of the Living Dead starring Hayley Sproull.
Auckland Theatre Company, which cancelled three productions due to lockdown, heads to the festival with a local take on Shakespeare, Lysander's Aunty, while the Royal New Zealand Ballet presents Venus Rising, three pieces by three female choreographers.
The popular Civic Club season from the 2021 festival, where the audience is seated on stage at the iconic Civic Theatre, returns with a lineup that includes The Topp Twins marking 40 years of performing, Fred Award winner James Nokise, and local cabaret commission Truth and Lies.
The latter ties in with the festival's theme of Truth, with McCullagh said will reflect how "artists are powerful antennae of societal dynamics and the zeitgeist".
Venus Rising. Photo / Stephen A'Court
Music is on the cards with the Town Hall music series, featuring everything from pop stars Broods to a tribute to soul icon Bill Withers, while the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra returns to its home base with the world premiere of Requiem by Victoria Kelly.
With border restrictions still hanging over arts festivals, local productions are at the focus, but the programme still has a focus on diversity, including bilingual Chinese spy comedy Spy Duck, and local African supergroup BLKCTY heads to the festival with The Diaspora.
McCullagh said that a lot of international artists are now based in New Zealand, having moved here with expat partners who returned home during Covid, increasing the country's artistic output.
"You'd be astonished at what comes out of Raglan these days!"
• The Auckland Arts Festival will run from March 10 to 27. Earlybird tickets are on sale now until January 6.
