Arts Community Supports Nelson Arts Festival Programme

Arts Community Supports Nelson Arts Festival Programme Launch

Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese launched the 2016 Nelson Arts Festival programme, on Wednesday evening, to a Theatre Royal packed with arts supporters, sponsors and media to welcome this year’s programme.

“This year’s Festival is going to be one to remember,” said Mayor Reese. “Art, theatre, music, literature and performance are the lifeblood of many Nelsonians and this is our chance to really show the depth of our culture and our support for the arts. The Arts Festival is one of the reasons people choose to live in or visit Nelson.”

The Festival celebrates its 22nd birthday this year with a memorable line-up of international and home-grown music, theatre, cabaret, dance, comedy, readers and writers and community events.

The festival is rich in true-life stories. Watch out for Scribe (The White Guitar), Jean Batten (Miss Jean Batten), 19th Century courtesan Marie Duplessis (Songs for the Fallen), and mass murderer Anders Breivik (Manifesto 2083).

Award-winning British actor, theatre director and producer Guy Masterson will perform Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, plus Shylock – an exploration of one of Shakespeare’s most tragic and tempestuous characters.

Masterson's extraordinary theatrical lineage includes his uncle, British actor Richard Burton (First Voice in the original BBC recording of Under Milk Wood) and Italian superstar Marcello Mastroianni.

Programme picks include Ross McCormack’s dance theatre work Triumphs and Other Alternatives, Regan Taylor with SolOTHELLO (a Maori perspective on the Shakespeare Classic) and the return of Live Live Cinema with Little Shop of Horrors.

Music lovers will appreciate Dunedin Sound legends The Chills, Don McGlashan and Shayne Carter sharing the stage, plus Miles Calder, Tami Neilson and modern day troubadour Delaney Davidson.

Families are not forgotten with the iconic Masked Parade and Carnivale in the main street on Friday 21 October, plus pantomime and school shows Hinepauand Guji Guji, free shows, events and music.

Mayor Rachel Reese said the programme would give Nelsonians a wonderful opportunity to experience world class performances in their home town.

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