I've shared with you before that I'm not a huge fan of winter. I don't enjoy the dark, or cold, or how my social diary goes into hibernation, waiting to emerge with the warmth of spring.
But that means I'm all the more grateful for the unstoppable march of Palmy's cultural calendar where a month doesn't go by without giving me something to do, see and tell you about.
Having said that, this will be my last column until November as this paper is not publishing columns from local government candidates and potential candidates once nominations open next week. So this month's column is a little different. I'm taking a fast run at events I'll be attending over winter and encourage you to book tickets and get them into your diaries now.
Centrepoint brings us Timberrr…!, a father-and-son tale of identity, acceptance and competitive woodchopping (smiling to myself as I write that – very Centrepoint). It opens on July 16. That's followed/overlapped by the return of the fabulous Sunday Script Sessions starting August 7. The sessions are rehearsed readings of new one-act plays from emerging Kiwi playwrights. Disclaimer: huge bias on show here, as I've participated in the last two of these and have just auditioned for the third, but I love it as it's a colourful explosion of creativity that puts new works and local talent (ahem) on the Centrepoint stage.
Centrepoint is also home to the Basement Company – our Palmy young adult theatre training programme. The 2022 company brings us Vanity Fair: An (Im)morality Play from September 22–24 . I'm looking forward to what promises to be a fun, fast-paced adaptation of Thackeray's social-climbing classic about finding your place in the world and the punishments for those who dare to reach for more.