A painter struggling with creative block. A little girl grieving for her grandma. A bold and beautiful celebration of New Zealand's ballroom culture. And one of the country's top comedians unpacking what it means to love.
Those four shows are just a small part of what has been a packed fortnight of events at the Auckland Arts Festival – a fortnight further condensed because of the alert level changes.
But while Covid may have disrupted the festival for a second year running, it has presented the festival the fantastic opportunity to craft a programme like no other, one that showcased the full diversity of New Zealand's artistic community.
It also allowed for experiments, such as The Civic Club. Delayed because of alert level changes, the set-up reversed the layout at the Civic Theatre so the audience was seated on the stage. Being able to stare out in the country's most stunning theatre was a rare and wonderful experience, and the uniqueness of the atmosphere heightened the show in residence, The Tom Sainsbury Love Hour.
The viral sensation turned chat show host for his latest show, quizzing notable Kiwis about their love lives and what's most important in a relationship. It felt a bit like a pilot season for a future TVNZ production, the show not yet striking the right balance between monologue, interview and games, but Sainsbury was as charismatic as always and made for an inquisitive and attentive host.