The hit of the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe comes to Christchurch for four performances only at St. Margaret's College Chapel. This unmissable work from Belgium has won accolades the world over for its frank view of thirteen youngsters who are at once rebellious, aggressive, vulnerable, cool, childlike, and sometimes surprisingly adult.
30 July - 1 August, 7.30pm2 August, 6.00pm
Take a step in the world of SLAVA’S SNOWSHOW and prepare for themost magical winter transformation imaginable! SLAVA’S SNOWSHOW is unlike anything you have seen before.
23 & 28 July, 7.30pm24, 26 & 29 July, 6.00pm25 July, 2.00pm & 7.30pm26 July, 1.00pm - EXTRA SHOW
A joint venture between CSO and the Christchurch Arts Festival, this performance presents an abridged version of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream accompanied by Felix Mendelssohn’s complete incidental music.
24 July, 8.00pm
Circus, dance, music and drama collide. The result is a Pinteresque-world that combines the exuberance of madness with the exhaustion of reality. Visually breathtaking, it melds desolate romanticism with zany comic zest. Happy Home Road is circus for a new century.
6 & 7 August, 7.30pm8 August, 1.00pm & 7.30pm
Le Sud is a rollicking political satire that warmly pokes fun at three cultures, two islands and one country.
28 - 31 July, 7.30pm
After a successful premiere in Europe, award-winning NZ theatre collective the clinic presents a visually rich and dramatically compelling multimedia performance.
28 – 31 July, 7.00pm1 August, 2.00pm & 7.00pm
Dark humour prevails as Naomi Ferguson relives the sights and sounds of her mother’s world in 1970s Christchurch with Songs My Mother Taught Me.
5 August, 5.30pm6 August, 5.30pm
Starring playwright Pierre Brault, Portrait of an Unidentified Man explores the story of a man who may have painted more than a thousand classics of modern art.
30 July - 2 August, 7.30pm
Sat 1 August, 2.00pm
This stunning adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story of love, longing and loss in a society teetering on the edge of its own excess captures the spirit of one of the great novels of the twentieth century.
25th July – 22nd August.Mon & Thurs 6pm. Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat 7.30pm
A theatrical tour de force, The Kreutzer combines dance-theatre, live classical music and an interactive audio-visual feast.
6 & 7 August, 7.30pm8 August, 1.00pm & 7.30pm9 August, 6.00pm
Eleven years ago Stevie and Sing – cousins and best friends since Sunday school – had talent, a band and dreams of stardom. But just before they hit the big time, Sing left the band to dedicate her talent to God and the church.
22 July – 15 AugustMon & Thur 6.30pmTue, Wed, Fri & Sat, 8.00pm
MY HEART IS A BEAST is a series of performances evoking the enigmatic presence of the wild spirit of humanity bursting to exist within the confines of the city. HERNE the Hunter, ancient pagan deity, invites us to enter a world of dreams, senses and myth.
23 July – 9 August12 - 2pm & 7 - 9pm
Hear what members of the Festival team have to say about Once & For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We are So Shut Up and Listen.
Steph Walker (Theatreview) reviews Eli Kent's The Intricate Art of Actually Caring.
Angels, as reviewed by Steph Walker (Theatreview)
Lindsay Clark (Theatreview) reviews The Great Gatsby.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, as reviewed by Lindsay Clark (Theatreview).
Lindsay Clark's (Theatreview) review of Slava's Snowshow.
Elody Rathgen (Theatreview) reviews the opening night of Le Sud.
An interview with Pierre Brault, performer and writer of Portrait of an Unidentified Man.
An interview with Julieanne Eason, who has directed and conceived Love You Approximately, a New Zealand/Spanish joint venture.
Garreth Spillane, Head of Communications at the Festival office, writes about the Solid Energy Season of SLAVA’S SNOWSHOW
Natasha Hay interviews Sara Brodie, who directed and adapted, and choreographed The Kreutzer.
Rehearsals are about to commence for the Festival production of Happy Home Road, so Natasha Hay caught up with director Mike Friend and writer Joe Bennett to get some insight into this extraordinary new work.
This week, Natasha Hay speaks to Ken Duncum, the playwright whose adaptation of The Great Gatsby premieres at the upcoming Christchurch Arts Festival.
Dave Armstrong offers an exclusive insight to the Festival comedy Le Sud.
The Christchurch Arts Festival launched their 2009 programme on 6 May 2009.