The Nelson Marlborough West Coast Brass Band Competition returns to Nelson and we invite you to join us for the 'Festival of Brass' where bands present a competition programme with a focus on stagecraft, 'lighter' pieces, and a featured soloist from within the band.
Judged by two music judges (Mark Carter, NZSO and Cameron James, NZ Army Band) and entertainment judge, MP for Nelson Rachel Boyack, this will be a great night of Brass Band entertainment.
General Admission (seats not allocated)
Family Friendly | All Ages (PG) | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
Seats on the flat will be removed to make room for dancing.
Rows S, T & U in the Dress Circle may have restricted viewing of the projected content of this event.
Experience the greatest concert film of all time like never before! Stop Making Sense was shot over three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre in December 1983 and features Talking Heads' most memorable songs.
You’re going to a movie but be prepared to leave your seats and dance for this one!
Newly restored in 4K to coincide with its 40th anniversary, this 1984 film was directed by renowned filmmaker Jonathan Demme and is considered by critics as the greatest concert film of all time.
Stop Making Sense stars core band members David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison along with Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steve Scales, Lynn Mabry and Edna Holt.
Take a look at the trailer here and get excited – we'll see you on the dance floor, Whakatū!
14+ | Audio Described | NZSL Interpreted | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
After wowing us in Thoroughly Modern Māui, award-winning Rutene Spooner returns to celebrate showband legacy, idolise the greatest Māori showman and tussle with the future of Māori in entertainment. This is everything but an impersonation show. Can you be like Billy without being the butt of the joke?
Aotearoa's newest Māori cabaret is hui-hopping to sweep you off your feet and Theatre Royal seats. If you loved Thoroughly Modern Māui (or missed it at our 2022 Festival), you MUST see this show!
Award-winning entertainer and playwright Rutene Spooner (Ngāti Porou, Ngāruahine) explores his personal connection with his childhood hero, Billy T. Infused with live music, humour, and show-band flair, the electrifying Be Like Billy? isn't just a tribute to Māori showmanship; it also prompts contemplation about the future of Māori entertainment—how to revel in joy without becoming the subject of mockery.
Joined by the flashest southern showband The Tekīra Mutton Birds, Rutene Spooner celebrates the showband legacy, idolises the greatest Māori showman, and tussles with the future of Māori in entertainment, to ask: Can you Be like Billy without being the butt of the joke?
"The Showband Era birthed some of Māoridom's most legendary entertainers. This production honours that lineage, reaching back to the infectious cheeky cackle we all know and cherish. But what does modern Māori showmanship entail?" - Rutene Spooner
“Be Like Billy? will surely go down as a true taonga of Aotearoa’s theatre history.” - Backstage Christchurch | Belinda Cullen Reid
"Spooner lays out this complexity for us in a show that starts with joy and celebration, with nostalgia, then pivots to something more complex when the audience is confronted with the division between laughing at and laughing with." - Flat City Field Notes | Erin Harrington
Originally commissioned by The Court Theatre and produced by Metro Māori Productions.
Supported by: Downing
14+ | Content warnings | Lock-out applies | NZSL Interpreted | Audio Described | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
Rows S, T & U in the Dress Circle may have restricted viewing of the projected content of this event.
An exploration of identity, desire, family, and of being disabled and Pasifika, AIGA (Sāmoan for family/whānau) is ground-breaking theatre told through the lens of Pacific Toa award-winner Lusi Faiva.
AIGA represents the big dreams and heart-felt reflections of award-winning disabled performing artist Lusi Faiva – performed by an ensemble of women, non-binary, disabled, non-disabled, Pasifika and Māori creatives.
Exploring identity, family, and desire, AIGA is a show that ebbs, flows, dips forward into the wicked and tilts back toward the heavenly as we traverse the experience of Lusi’s beautiful and complex life story. Using music, movement and dramedy, AIGA chronologically captures Lusi’s life from youth into adulthood, from 1960’s Samoa to the warrior that we bear witness to today.
AIGA is a three-year “crip time and c r i p s p a c e” devised work that has not only drawn on the life history of Lusi, but also the experiences of co-collaborators and performers including Iana Grace Pauga, Forest V Kapo (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Raukawa), Alex Medland (Kai Tahu), Jake Arona and support writer and performer Fiona Collins. The collective creative ensemble of women, non-binary, disabled, non-disabled, Pasifika and Māori gives this work its proud identity.
We’re incredibly proud to share this Aotearoa story with universal resonance with you, Whakatū. An honest and heartfelt work that moves, expands empathy and consciousness and invites us to explore new perspectives of being.
With a powerhouse creative team, this work features storytelling at its core; a story that will make you laugh, cry, think and feel – one that needs to be heard.
Features Sāmoan, Te Reo Māori, English and NZSL languages.
Supported by: Innit Creative
TICKETING INFORMATION
Two sections have been reserved as priority seating for the Disabled and D/deaf communities, and older people.
One of these sections is at the front of the stalls (downstairs area on the flat) and one is on the stage to the side and back of the performance area.
These sections are reserved to allow audience members that are part of these communities access to connect and celebrate with Lusi Faiva (the lead artist).
Front of the stalls priority seating (downstairs seating on the flat)
The front rows closest to the stage will be reserved with a mixture of theatre seats and spaces for wheelchair and mobility device users. There will also be reserved seats for the D/deaf community near the NZ Sign Language interpreter.
Stage priority seating (accessible via wheelchair lift or stairs)
This will be a combination of chairs, beanbags and space for wheelchair and mobility device users. Access is via wheelchair lift from foyer. These seats will be to the side and back of the performance area, and the lighting state of the show means that the audience seated in the stalls will only see a shadowy silhouette of anyone seated on stage, except when the houselights are up.
Tickets to these sections can be purchased by phoning the Theatre Royal box office on 03 548 3840 (Select 1) or by emailing [email protected]
Ticket Cost
All priority tickets are $24 plus a $2.50 booking fee.
Companion seats are free of charge and can be reserved in the same area.
16+ | Content warnings apply | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
From broke solo mum to award-winning comedian and TV star in five years – is this a dream? Join Courtney Dawson for a hilarious wakeup call filled with warm, anecdotal humour and banger punch lines.
The past five years have seen Courtney Dawson (Ngāti Kurī, Ngāti Amaru) go from that “crack up chicky at the BBQ” to award-winning comedian and rising TV star on shows like Paddy Gower Has Issues and Celebrity Treasure Island. But there’s still that lingering worry in her mind - don’t all stars eventually explode? Don’t worry Courtney, we know you’re only just getting started!
Come snuggle up with Courtney at the Theatre Royal as she uses signature warm, anecdotal humour paired with banger punch lines for a hilarious wake up call.
This comedy star will take over the comedic universe any time now – better catch her here in Whakatū while you can, arts lovers!
14+ | Content Warnings | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
Tessa is a criminal defence lawyer at the top of her game: defending, cross-examining, playing to win. But when the tables turn, she finds herself at the mercy of this system. After West End and Broadway seasons, don’t miss this exceptional Aotearoa production during its national tour.
Something has to change.
A criminal defence lawyer at the top of her game, Tessa is playing the rules of the law to win. But when the tables turn, she finds herself at the mercy of the very system that she has dedicated her life to. Shadows of doubt are illuminated, making us question, who is our legal system serving?
Turning our courts of law into a different kind of stage, this sharp, witty and gripping one-woman show written by Suzie Miller had sold out shows throughout Australia, the West End, and Broadway. This phenomenal production starring Mel Dodge (Miss Brontë) and directed by Lyndee-Jane Rutherford (Rants in the Dark) continues an urgent conversation for Aotearoa.
Winner of The Olivier Award for BEST NEW PLAY 2023
“This play is the reason you go to the theatre” — Courier Mail
“An urgent and compelling work… run, don’t walk” ★★★★★ — Time Out
Audience Care: Prima Facie deals with the important theme of sexual assault and how the legal system deals with these cases. A sexual assault is described within the play. The actor is fully clothed at all times. The scene is stylised and will be treated with sensitivity. There are court scenes including the character Tessa taking the stand as a witness. Visit https://safetotalk.nz/ for help to do with sexual harm.
Presented by Kavanagh Productions and BRAVE Theatre.
Supported by: RMF
14+ | Content warnings | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
Seats on the flat will be removed to make room for dancing.
A three-day rave condensed into an award-winning art performance: three dancers, non-stop, endurance, club culture. A spectacle of the human body as victim to music, passion and our endless desire to achieve more. Prepare to be (literally) moved. Dance floor tickets available!
“An international sweaty hellhole and the cesspit I so desire to be trapped in for 48 hours. The likes of the Berlin and New York underground rave scene have always fascinated me. I believe another version of myself exists somewhere in a piss-covered club where I’ve chewed through my cheeks and some guy’s kids are spilled down my back. I am galvanized and roused by rave culture and everything it encompasses.” - Oli Mathiesen
Oli Mathiesen with Lucy Lynch and Sharvon Mortimer present the award-winning The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave, an endurance-based dance work to the booming techno album 'Nocturbulous Behaviour' by Suburban Knight. Hot off their stints at Liveworks 2024 and Melbourne Fringe, we’re so thrilled to have this mind-blowing performance take over the Theatre Royal stage for our closing festival weekend. Seats are out, come prepared to join the rave!
Exploring the movement vocabulary used in techno and rave culture, a contemporary nightclub between 3 bodies emerges. Relentless movement, seamless without pause, detailed down to every beat. The atmosphere and culture of a 3-day rave condensed into a high art, streamlined performance where you watch the destruction of 3 human beings commence in front of you. Indulge in the pain, the sweat; a display of pure endurance to achieve a goal. A spectacle of the human body as a victim to music, as a victim to passion, as a victim to our endless desire to achieve more. To win and win again.
Resuscitation on repeat. It is the come up and the come down all in one and highlights the beauty of feeling alive but all the consequences that come with it. It’s an ode to the past 3-year marathon of losing societal morals and political structure. Our communal loss of work, time, love, sex, eating, fighting, cleaning, holidaying, sleeping, pashing, drinking, throwing up, everything, physicalised as an artifact of what we as a people have endured. And just like listening to a love song that sings to that one breakup you had, The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave is an acid house remix that screams f**k you to the pandemic.
“As an exploration of human endurance – the show does exactly what it set out to do. The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave is the coolest version of the beep test I’ve ever seen, and as an audience we’re locked in, rooting for their success whilst in awe of their prowess. Go and vicariously get your cardio in for a month!” - Art Murmurs
Artistic Credits:
Creator, Choreographer, and Performer: Oli Mathiesen (Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi)
Choreographer and Performer: Lucy Lynch (Ngati Kahungunu)
Choreographer and Performer: Sharvon Mortimer (Ngāti Porou)
Producer and Stage Manager: Abbie Rogers (Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa)
Production Designer and Operator: Bekky Boyce
Family Friendly | Aotearoa Premiere | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
Join World of WearableArt Founder & Ambassador Dame Suzie Moncrieff, Show Director Malia Johnston and award-winning designer Gill Saunders for an entertaining evening of memories.
As part of our 30th birthday celebration, we’re thrilled to go back to where the Festival started: alongside WOW!
Since it was established in 1987, World of WearableArts has embraced the worlds of art and design, running an international competition that culminates in a spectacular theatrical performance each year. The exhilarating WOW Show is a visual feast for audiences and an opportunity for designers to be recognised and celebrated on the world stage. And we have WOW’s founder Dame Suzie Moncrieff to thank for the birth of our festival as well - the inaugural Nelson Arts Festival, in its current form, took place in 1995, envisioned as a wrap-around event for WOW and to encourage visitors to the region to stay longer.
“WOW rewards the curious, the courageous and those who are passionate enough to stand in the face of self-doubt and embrace creativity no matter the cost,” says Dame Suzie.
As the closing event of our 30th festival, we look forward to taking a look behind the scenes of the WOW phenomenon. Please join us for an entertaining kōrero with Dame Suzie, show director Malia Johnston and 2023 Supreme Award Winner and Whakatū-local Gill Saunders.
Image Credit: Gill Saunders, Earthling, photographed at the 2023 WOW Show, BEYOND.
Vast Dance Festival is a dance festival for high schools across Te Tau Ihu, giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their choreographic and technical skills.
The Festival fosters the dance community amongst high school students and celebrates a wide range of dance styles.
Māori Theatre about the Nelson Tenths with pūrākau, taonga pūoro, waiata, and poetry.
As a mokopuna of Taranaki, Donna McLeod carried her Nanny's kete to hui in the 70s, where the kaupapa was the Nelson Tenths.
In 2023, her whānau live on papakāinga in Motueka. Donna refuses to let her mokopuna carry her kete.
Intergenerational history. My history. Your history. Our history.
All Ages
Content Warning: The content of this show touches on important but difficult themes which are relevant both historically and to the present day. May contain strong language.
