After seeing three shows in the Auckland Arts Festival this week, Sam Brooks reflects on the place of art in the wake of national tragedy. After a week of self-inflicted Wellington time, it felt a little strange to come back to the Auckland Arts Festival. After the events of 15/3, even more so. There were … Read more
Last week international acts Beach House, Rhye and Four Tet played at the Auckland Arts Festival. Lauren Spring went to all three shows. I arrived in Auckland from Wellington, thoroughly wiped out. My very humid arrival in Auckland was heralded by a very painful tattoo on my ribs (I 100% screamed like a little bitch), … Read more
How important is accessibility when it comes to enjoying and appreciating our art? Sam Brooks reviews Blanc de Blanc and The Magic Flute, both part of the Auckland Arts Festival. Accessibility means a range of different things when it comes to art. The first thing that might come to mind is the physical accessibility; how accessible is … Read more
In a stunning new run of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, Samoan women are allowed to be whole, writes Madeleine Chapman. I had two mums growing up. There was Pani (pronounced “Bunny”), my mum, who spoke Samoan on the phone to her sisters for hours, howling with laughter, yet seemed angry all the time. She could silence … Read more
Auckland Arts Festival is rolling around again and there’s so much to choose from this year. Sam Brooks picks the six shows everyone will be talking about – the ones you’ll kick yourself for missing. Festival time can be stressful, especially once you pick up that pretty brochure with dozens of shows to choose from … Read more
To sleep or not to sleep? Madeleine Chapman stays overnight at Max Richter’s eight-hour show and realises how tired she is. This post was first published 17 March 2018. Being tired is a privilege that must be earned, and I earned it for the first time as a 23-year-old. I used to think being tired … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Henry Oliver talks to Kate Robertson and Madeleine Chapman about their summer music festival experiences. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver, prolific pop pundit Kate Robertson and Spinoff staff writer Madeleine Chapman talk Auckland … Read more
To sleep or not to sleep? Madeleine Chapman stays overnight at Max Richter’s eight hour show and realises how tired she is. Being tired is a privilege that must be earned, and I earned it for the first time as a 23 year old. I used to think being tired meant being sleepy. I thought … Read more
Last night, during Cyclone Hola, King Krule played Silo Park as part of the Auckland Arts Festival. Henry Oliver was there in all the wet weather gear he could find. If you despair about that state of music, you need to listen to King Krule. If you’re worried about streaming and the unfettered, ahistorical, decontextualized … Read more
Teeks, Emily King, and Tank and the Bangas performed together in a three-part outdoor event for Auckland Arts Festival. Madeleine Chapman was there. Tank and the Bangas couldn’t hear themselves. It was a disappointing start to the much anticipated final act of an otherwise flawless three-part event. I had seriously considered not even going after … Read more
Simon Wilson sat down to pick the five shows he was most looking forward to in the 2018 Auckland Arts Festival next March. Here are 10 of them. And a few more. A new festival, a new director, a new music venue, a new look and some new ideas to guide it all. Change is … Read more
Auckland Arts Festival boss Carla van Zon has left the spiegeltent. Triumphant but also very ill, she has retired. Simon Wilson pays tribute. The day I interviewed Carla van Zon she was due on a flight to Wellington, where the airport was closed due to fog. So she’d managed to get a new flight to … Read more
The Spinoff Auckland editor Simon Wilson loathed Wednesday night’s Rufus Wainwright concert. But onwards: this weekend at the Auckland Arts Festival looks to be full of wonders. There was a moment about halfway through Rufus Wainwright’s vainglorious “symphonic visual concert” Prima Donna (a concert version of his opera) when I thought the diva might be … Read more
Right now at the Civic, the audience screams are spiking right off the charts. And with good reason: the Auckland Arts Festival show Horror is scary good, says Alex Casey. I’ll admit it. I once hit a werewolf over the head with my handbag. In my defence, he did lunge at me in a haunted house … Read more
And there’s more to come. With 10 days still to run, Simon Wilson takes stock of the Auckland Arts Festival. The rain came down and you had to be a hardy soul (and living in an unflooded house), not to stay home. But then it stopped and look at this weather now – and the … Read more
If you see only one show in the Auckland Arts Festival, says Simon Wilson, make it The Encounter. Its short run starts tonight. Every arts festival has a special show. It bedazzles, but that’s not all. It jolts your senses and your sensibility, and has such a depth of theme and strength of creative expression … Read more
In the Arts Festival play Cellfish a drama teacher invites a bunch of prisoners to do a Shakespeare class – and it’s not why you think, says Simon Wilson. The rain came down and then it stopped and nothing got cancelled. Five shows opened in the Auckland Arts Festival on Wednesday and this one, Cellfish, … Read more
Tomorrow sees the opening of the Auckland Arts Festival, 18 days of theatre, visual art, burlesque, sound installations, acrobatics, music and more at venues across Auckland. On his first day as editor of The Spinoff’s new Auckland section, Simon Wilson talks to the people behind the festival and shares his 10 can’t-miss shows. Dolina Wehipeihana … Read more