The 2020 Auckland Arts Festival (AAF) programme has been announced and here are our top picks.

Snow White

Credit: Yang Wang

Snow White
High fashion meets iconic fairy tale in this darkly delectable retelling of Snow White. Performed by world-famous Ballet Preljocaj and featuring stunning costumes by the legendary Jean Paul Gaultier, this is ballet on a truly visionary scale. Exclusively in New Zealand at Auckland Arts Festival 2020. “Utterly beguiling” – The Guardian

 

Black Ties

Credit: Garth Oriander

Black Ties
When Māori corporate hotshot Hera and Aboriginal consultancy entrepreneur Kane locked eyes, it was love at first sight. But there is one thing they can’t control… their families! Join them for the biggest, brownest wedding ever – a hilarious, heart-warming theatre experience from award-winning ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and Te Rēhia Theatre.

Cold Blood

Credit: Julien Lambert

Cold Blood
Featuring elaborate scale film sets, tiny props, cinema projection, ace film technicians and a cast of performing hands, Cold Blood is like nothing you’ve seen before – a mind-blowing theatre event that unfolds in miniature, and on the tips of performers’ fingers, right before your eyes on a giant movie screen.

Mouthpiece

Credit: Lara Cappelli

Mouthpiece
Following sold out, award-winning Edinburgh Fringe performances, Traverse Theatre Company’s gripping, critically-acclaimed sensation about class, culture and appropriation comes to Auckland. Winner of the prestigious Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award 2019, this powerhouse play is a frank, unflinching and unexpectedly humorous hit.

Biladurang

Credit: Pippa Samaya

Biladurang
Pull on a bathrobe and share a uniquely immersive and intimate encounter with proud Wiradjuri man Joel Bray, in this hilarious and revelatory solo show exploring indigenous identity, queer sexuality and being in a hotel room somewhere in Auckland.

Limbo Unhinged

Credit: David Solm.

Limbo Unhinged
The mad-geniuses behind Festival blockbuster LIMBO are back with a brand new, wildly unhinged extravaganza. Taking circus-cabaret to the next level, Limbo Unhinged has earned rave reviews and sold-out houses wherever it’s toured. Auckland, now it’s your turn – don’t miss out!

Lagrime di San Pietro

Credit: Tao Ruspoli / Marie Noorbergen

Lagrime di San Pietro
Orlando di Lasso’s heavenly masterpiece soars to breathtaking new heights in this spine-tingling a cappella performance by the outstanding Los Angeles Master Chorale, devised by renowned theatre director Peter Sellars. For one special night only, experience the emotional riches of this polyphonic epic performed by this world-class choral ensemble.

UPU

Ana Corbett in Upu Mai Whetū, 2018. Image: Julie Zhu

UPU
Silo Theatre’s first production for 2020 brings the wealth and power of Pacific literature to roaring theatrical life. Curated by award-winning poet Grace Taylor and led by powerhouse director Fasitua Amosa, UPU gives the stage to Oceania’s most electrifying poetry from Ben Brown, Karlo Mila, Albert Wendt and more.

Circolombia acelere

Credit: Roberto Ricciuti

Circolombia Acéléré 

This event has been cancelled as a result of the Government’s new border control measures. For details click here.
Circus superstars Circolombia are here to amaze with their renegade brand of dance, live music and astounding acrobatics. Smashing all preconceptions of circus, this high-risk, adrenalin-fuelled production bursts with Latin fire and heart-stopping energy. No ordinary circus, Acéléré is simply extraordinary.

ka po, ka waiata

Artwork: Zak Waipara

Ka Pō, Ka Waiata
Imagine a world where darkness is your every day, where true sight relies on sensation, sound and feeling. In Ka Pō, Ka Waiata musicians work collaboratively to shape responses and environments of sound for darkness.

Watt

Credit: Pia Johnson

Watt

This event has been cancelled as a result of the Government’s new border control measures. For details click here.
Irish actor and legendary Samuel Beckett expert Barry McGovern performs his exceptional stage adaptation of the novel Watt for the first time in New Zealand. Capturing the writer’s dark worldview, scintillating humour and delicious wordplay, Watt will have you in raptures contemplating the absurdity of life.

Last updated: 01 December 2020

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