By David Malacari - 14 Mar 2011
We are right in the middle of the Festival and it will be over before we realise, so there's no time to lose. Already the critical and audience response has been very gratifying.
Vietnamese Waters Puppets has
been one of the highlights of the Garden Theatre. The lanterns down
the walkway beside the Town Hall hint at the presence of these
delightful puppets but you need to see this show to believe it. And
if it drizzles you'll get a free poncho to keep you dry while the
puppeteers work their magic in the temporary lake. There's nothing
like a bit of drizzle to remind you that autumn is nearly with
Auckland. The performers come out for their curtain call to remind
us that they have been waist deep in water behind the bamboo
curtain the whole time operating the puppets.
The
Manganiyar Seduction opened in the mighty Civic last week. One
review likened the concert to 'a vertical orchestra'. Three rows of
curtained cubicles stacked one on top of the other become the
platforms for a transformative musical experience that you will not
forget. This week in the Civic, on the final day of the Festival, a
'Foley' or sound FX artist will help create the live soundtrack to
the screening of Carnival of Souls,
alongside Leon Radojkovic and his band Dr Colossus. You can still
book for this fantastic show.
Maguy Marin's incredible work May B, completed its season last week and was a
testament to the brilliance of author and playwright Samuel Beckett
as well as to choreographer Maguy Marin's genius. May B is a
refined and seminal work of dance-theatre , now on its 30th
anniversary tour and it was a privilege to have it in Auckland as
part of the largest survey of French dance theatre, FranceDanse New
Zealand 2011, ever held in the Southern Hemisphere. The last of the
FranceDanse productions, Jerome Bel's The Show Must Go On, opens this
week.
Performances of First Love and The
End, two of Beckett's prose works are also opening this week.
Both are wickedly funny and again illustrate what an amazing writer
he was.
Xiang Xou, and Lautten
Compagney's performances had audiences moved. Many concert
goers have told me how much they enjoyed the performance of
Timeless which juxtaposed music from the 16th century with that of
the 20th centuries to the point where it is difficult to tell which
was which.
The reception for Martha Wainwright was fantastic. We
are hoping for her to return again soon.
And the Ihimaera concert had an amazing roster of
local artists of international stature.
There is plenty more music and plenty more to see: The Auckland
Philharmonia next Friday and Music with Flavours of Asia in between
including Spirit of India:
Shehnai and Flute, O'Cambodia, New Purple Forbidden City
Orchestra and the New
Zealand String Quartet. On top of that Paul Kelly
sings his A-Z and the venues of Auckland are full of
life-affirming, entertaining, challenging and provocative theatre
and dance: Gaff
Aff from Switzerland, Douglas Wright from New
Zealand, U-Theatre from Taiwan, Titeres
Porno from Colombia and a week more of the Vietnamese Water Puppets, Smoke
& Mirrors and the delightful Festival Garden in Aotea Square.
Be there, get into it. Get a ticket to a great arts
experience.