The Auckland Arts Festival has been one of the unluckiest in the country over the past two years – their 2022 festival is the third in the row to be disrupted by Covid outbreaks, and you can only imagine the heartbreak and despair caused by such constant, ongoing interruptions.
All festivals can learn from their experiences, though, and after the previous interruptions, AAF has been one of the few festivals to have digital offerings waiting to go in case of an outbreak. And while digital can never replace the live experience, it's a far better alternative than nothing.
It would have been a complete shame if A Stab in the Dark had gone completely unseen. The latest work from Nightsong and creatives Carl Bland and Ben Crowder, this innovative show stars Joel Toebeck as doppelgangers John and Warren, and follows the tense and confounding events that occur when they meet each other.
![Joel Toebeck, right, faces off with a puppet police officer. Photo / Supplied.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/K7GGDNI7ZRRS6JM3NMNABGX7LY.jpg?auth=466ba746b5ce01724da9e98ff7a30a1f21af8a915fd31ed23f97cacc8490e733&width=16&height=10&quality=70&smart=true)
With a circular, multipurpose wall as the main set piece, the play throws numerous elements together – projection, dual characters, narration, animation and, most notably, an oversized policeman puppet as the play's central secondary character, trying to understand what's unfolding.