AOTNZ 2018 Menu

Flora and Sean, Rado and Raybon and on it goes – AOTNZ 2018 Menu

Once again, Arts On Tour NZ has arranged a potpourri of musicians, singers, actors and comedians to tour the country from February to November. These performers bring outstanding acts to both small and large venues in small and large towns throughout the country – from Kaitaia in the North to Invercargill in the south, and sometimes Stewart Island.

First it’s fiddle player Flora Knight and guitar picker Sean Donald playing old time country music in February, then it’s comedians Raybon Kan and Nick Rado in March. Kan and Rado have separate stand-up slots in the first half of the show, then join up to solve problems suggested by the audience. Can these two save the world?

Come April, it’s ‘Olive Copperbottom’, a new musical by Charles Dickens and that irrepressible red head, Penny Ashton, who brings orphan Olive and a gaggle of squalid Victorian characters to life on stage “…very very good ..very very funny” RNZ National

Next in May, it’s horn-heavy duo Hopetoun Brown, joined by arguably the country’s finest trumpet player, Finn Scholes. This trio will bring trumpets, saxophones and strange keyboard instruments on stage to offer blues, soul, funk, jazz, and Americana, complete with foot stamping vocals.

‘Seed’, winner of the 2014 Adam New Zealand Play Award, follows four women as they try to get pregnant, stay pregnant or become unpregnant. Described by the award judges as “hugely entertaining, funny and entertaining”, Seed tours the country in July.

‘No Holds Bard’ features Arts Laureate Michael Hurst playing a fictional aging thespian confronting his demons in what he hopes will be a final ’dark night of the soul’. The demons are as crazy as he is, with the result that we get to hear a foul-mouthed Macbeth, a confused Hamlet, a know-it-all Othello and hungry King Lear – in other words, no holds barred, touring in August.

Award winning musician Helen Webby presents the world of the harp – music from Wales, Ireland, Scotland; plus music written by Bach and other baroque composers, then on to Paris and the Belle Époque. Helen has toured several times with AOTNZ and is always a favourite. She tours in September.

October features Adam McGrath and The Roaring Days. Famed as the lead singer and songwriter of the The Eastern, Adam brings the same intensity, passion and humour to his act when travelling solo.

Finally, in November, husband and wife team Lizzie Tollemache and David Ladderman present two shows inspired by the life and times of Harry Houdini - Seven Deadly Stunts (for adults) and Messy Magic Adventure (for children and families). Expect escapology, chainsaw juggling, walking on broken glass and other famous feats performed together with illuminating storytelling. Step right up!

For more information, contact:

Diana Moir, AOTNZ media liaison, 021 126 5738, diana@aotnz.co.nz

Steve Thomas, Arts On Tour NZ Trust, 0274 386 154 aotnz@xtra.co.nz www.aotnz.co.nz

Arts On Tour NZ (AOTNZ) organises tours of outstanding New Zealand performers to rural and smaller centres in New Zealand. The trust receives funding from Creative New Zealand as well as support from Central Lakes Trust, Community Trust of Southland, Interislander, Otago Community Trust, Rata Foundation and the Southern Trust. AOTNZ liaises with local arts councils, repertory theatres and community groups to bring the best of musical and theatrical talent to country districts. The AOTNZ programme is environmentally sustainable – artists travel to their audiences rather than the reverse. (ends)

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