Auckland Fringe Returns with First Programme Launch

Auckland Fringe Returns with First Programme Launch
20th February – 4th March 2018

What does Ancient Roman role-playing, boat trips up the river Whau and improvised cooking competitions have in common? They’re all part of Auckland Fringe festival of course! From 20Feb - 4 March 2018, the creative brakes will not only be off they’ll be removed all together at over 25 venues across the city - with even more of the programme to be released in December.

Artists from all over Auckland and beyond are gearing up to present some of the most avant-garde works humanly possible including: Boat Date where audiences are putted up the Whau river in a boat created by artist Melissa Laing and an improvised cooking competition called Chef Masters.

Auckland Fringe is all about unique experiences - for artists and audiences alike - so this summer audiences can experience fighting a gladiator at Caesar's Rome: Hands-On Living History at a Roman Temple in Grafton, or see a show about the tent city created in Salonica in 1916 which is told in told in Serbian, English and NZ Sign Language (Salonica). 50 Years Before the Frock sees Julia Clement tackling the 50 years between her first questioning of her gender identity and now.

Continuing to ensure artists are playing outside the realms of normal, Basement Theatre have curated a programme of works called 1:1, artistic encounters that accommodate only one audience member at a time - including a quiet bolthole to put pen to paper (The Dead Writers Retreat), a fly-on-the-wall confessional (For Your Eyes Only) and a return to the beginning (A Womb with a View).

Auckland Fringe also includes a bevy of crowd-pleasers like Australian Ladies of the Big Top, featuring gravity-defying aerial acts, Cool Behaviour, which investigates what it means to be cool with a liberal dose of Beyonce, the return of sell-out 2017 hit Catacular, dance at everyone’s favourite cat cafe, and The Jenny Taylor Show, a talk-show parody that’ll take you right back to the 90s.

The programme also includes a line-up of familiar comedy gold - Billy T winner David Correoswith a brand new work, London-based Fringe favourite Charmian Hughes, snapchat star Tom Sainsbury’s latest Wigging Out and local Brendon Green.

Some of New Zealand’s most respected envelope-pushers return to Auckland stages including Julia Croft and Virginia Frankovich in The Plastic Orgasm, Rob Mokaraka’s autobiographical Shot Bro, Snort/Funny Girls leading creatives Donna Brookbanks, Brynley Stent, Alice Snedden, Laura Daniel, Kura Forrester, Hayley Sproull and Rhiannon McCall who inherit a farm in soap opera parody Mackenzie’s Daughters, and Nisha Madhan who is making her intentions clear in Fuck Rant.

With two different live jury trials (Binge Culture and Barbarian Productions’ It’s A Trial and Judge, Jury & Cookie Monster), a performance art piece where politics is served alongside cocktails (Drowning in Milk) and poetry from Auckland’s aged community (An Oldie but a Goodie), Auckland Fringe programme provides for all.

Believe it or not there are plenty more shows to come, and it looks as though the first time Auckland Fringe goes annual will be a total artistic takeover with venues spread across the city including Point Chevalier, New Lynn, Manurewa, Takapuna and Auckland’s CBD.

Artists (and non-artists) can register to be involved up until December 10th, and everyone else that wants to take part as a punter can do so from the 20th February. Tickets are available for selected shows now plus there is a whole new announcement of shows to watch this space for mid-December!

www.aucklandfringe.co.nz | #aklfringe
Auckland Fringe takes place –
20th Feb – 4th March 2018 at many wonderful venues Auckland-wide
For more information visit www.aucklandfringe.co.nz

© Scoop Media