Expanded Street Theatre Programme at Festival of Colour

Monday 25 March

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Acrobatics, theatre, dance, an audio-walk, storytelling and a people library are highlights of the 2019 Festival of Colour Street Theatre programme.

The Festival of Colour takes place from Tuesday 2 to Sunday 7 April in Wanaka, Queenstown and Central Otago. Known as ‘the best little arts festival in New Zealand’, the festival also spills over for an extra four days of special events from Saturday 30 March.

The Street Theatre Day has been a highlight of the biennial festival and this year has been expanded to include events from next Monday and running throughout the Festival. The full line-up of events for the Festival’s Street Theatre programme was released today.

“This year we’ve expanded the street theatre programme to bring the Festival to everyone in Wanaka,” says Festival director Philip Tremewan. “As well as our popular Street Theatre day, we are bringing more events to the community and giving everyone the chance to enjoy a wide range of performance at no cost.”

The Street Theatre programme begins with Tree Dancer featuring New Zealand’s arboreal aerialist Chloe Loftus performing in the branches of a tree for three nights from Monday 1 April.

The Street Theatre day on Saturday 6 April runs from 9am to 4pm beginning with the incredible acrobatics and crazy circus stunts from 3 Speed Crunch Box while over at the Lake Wanaka Centre, The Tape Artists will create an imaginary chart of the night sky on the footpath. Dancers from Dance Wanaka feature inLive:Stream which celebrates classical and contemporary movement, and the flow of water and energy.

Children’s storyteller Tanya Batt will share stories at the Wanaka Library while, a library of a very different sort will be at the Lake Wanaka Centre – the People Library features a range of people with expert knowledge of a range of topics who can be ‘borrowed’ for 20 minutes at a time.

Audio-walk The Living Archive of Breath is a special experience taking audience members to the lakeshore to listen to stories and sounds and witness air, atmosphere, breath and cosmology in relation to each other.

And specially for redheads, photographer Bianca Duimel is setting up a studio for redheads to be part of her third book Red Matters ($10 booking fee per session).

Colombian acrobat Jair Ramirez performs his “edge-of-seat” show, while The Insecurity Guards will help get rid of pesky insecurities.

Jair and The Insecurity Guards will also be performing in Wanaka Town Centre on Sunday 7 April.

Alongside the Street Theatre programme are two free art exhibitions and the addition of ‘fringe’ show,Orpheus.

Wai Water Wanaka opens at the Lake Wanaka Centre on Saturday 30 March and features works by a group of New Zealand arts looking at our rivers, lakes and wetlands. Ngāi Tahu artist Ross Hemera provides the anchor installation piece and the exhibition also includes Campbell Burns’ interactive Water Table.

The Wanaka Camera Club Exhibition opens on Thursday 4 April at the Wanaka Hotel with renowned artist Grahame Sydney and events include a live poetry showcase on Saturday 6 April.

Orpheus is a storytelling and music performance by innovative UK theatremakers Alexander Wright and Phil Grainger. This award-winning show is a modern retelling of the ancient myth transporting us through dive bars, back streets and late-night karaoke and is at Gin and Raspberry for one night only on Wednesday 3 April.

The 2019 Festival of Colour takes place 2-7 April with other events beginning from Saturday 30 March, and is generously supported by gold sponsors Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Aurora Energy, McKinsey & Company and Milford Asset Management plus funders Creative New Zealand, Central Lakes Trust, Otago Community Trust and Queenstown Lakes District Council.
Visit www.festivalofcolour.co.nz for full details of the programme.

ENDS

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