It may have been a little early for English high tea, but the cabaret-style seating in the concert chamber aimed to recreate the spirit of an 18th century German coffee-house.

The festival offering from playwright Mitch Tawhi Thomas is a taut study of family dysfunction that finds plenty of life and laughter in the explosive quarrelling of estranged brothers.

Auckland Arts Festival celebrates Benjamin Britten's centenary not once, but twice next week.

The Auckland Arts Festival's centrepiece demonstrates what happens when the sophisticated elegance of commedia dell'arte collides with the eccentric weirdness of classic British comedy.

So far, as an audience member during this Auckland Arts Festival and Fringe feast, I have enthusiastically eaten cake, sprinted down a city road, predicted the future with flashcards, sat cross-legged on a school mat, and jumped into a bouncy castle.

Dozens of events all over Auckland will be shining brightly and busily tonight for Auckland Arts Festival's White Night, which stretches from the CBD to all corners of the city.

Exhibitions that run during the Auckland Arts Festival should have some special factor that lifts them above the run of the mill.

Screens filled with red clouds at dawn start this contemporary circus with hip-hop styling, but instead of a shepherd's warning, they herald a city delight.

The Scottish National Theatre makes an exuberant return to ale-house culture with a riotously funny and at times tenderly lyrical tribute to Scottish narrative ballads.

Almost halfway through the Auckland Arts Festival, advance ticket sales are at a record high.

Those planning to go to Circolombia's performance shouldn't expect a circus show, but a circus concert, says its founder.

We had come to the Civic Theatre to hear Haydn and Mozart from Kronos Quartet; in partnership with pipa virtuoso Wu Man, the Americans were offering a rare mingling of music and magic.

The singer who recorded New Zealand's unofficial national anthem is releasing a new version of the song - but one with an Aussie twang.

Pictures from the opening night of the Auckland Arts Festival performance by French pyrotechnical wizards Groupe F

Those heading to tonight's performance by the Royal New Zealand Ballet should expect the rowdiness of a beer hall and a touch of Hollywood action mixed in with the more traditional fare.

Constant chest-beating from Wellington has blinded Aucklanders to their city's cultural wonders, writes Toby Manhire.

Just go see this. French pyrotechnical wizards Groupe F offer a superlative, splendiferous, explosive extravaganza. Artistic director Christophe Berthonneau and his team, and Red Leap Theatre, are to be congratulated.

Walking tours - especially those guided by a remote, apparently all-seeing, all-knowing central HQ - are full of tantalising possibilities: where will I be going? How will I know how to get there?

Cantina opens with a velvety voiced crooner promising to "shoot the moon right out of the sky" and honours that with an exhilarating acrobatics display set in the seductive ambience of a 1920s speak-easy.

Pacific Les Mis musical hugely leavened by romance, humour and funky 70s style