Your Guide to the Auckland Arts Festival 2015

It's time for the Auckland Arts Festival to come and wow us once again. The programme this year is so good, I recommend you save your pennies and get ready to fork out for some world-class entertainment. It's worth going a bit broke for (metaphorically speaking). However, if you are short on financial blessings, worry not—there are plenty of stellar free events to get involved in as well. Here are some of our top picks to get you excited and inspired.

iTMOi (in the mind of igor)

Akram Khan is an innovative choreographer, who interweaves contemporary dance with his training in Kathak, a classical Indian dance form. You may remember his powerful performance that opened the London Olympics in 2012. iTMOi (in the mind of igor) is Khan's take on Stravinsky's ever-challenging 1913 ballet, The Right of Spring. iTMOi takes inspiration from Stravinsky, bringing together a group of composers to create an explosive aural backdrop to the dance. It's a privilege to see a professional of this calibre interpret such a classic, groundbreaking piece of work—don't miss the opportunity to be wowed, shaken and stirred by his talented group of dancers.

March 19 – 21, 8pm

ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

Tickets from $35 to $87

Skin of Fire

Fireworks. Fire. Explosions. Humans can't resist their luminous charms. Groupe F is returning this year, to dazzle us in the open grassy plains of the Auckland Domain. Their Breath of the Volcano sold out last festival, wowing thousands of spectators. You can get a taste of what you are in for here. This is going to be a highlight of the Auckland Arts Festival and is the perfect opportunity to impress your date, or you family, with a surprise outing. Remember to bring a blanket or two.

March 5 – 7, 6.45pm

Auckland Domain

Tickets from $12 to $38

BLAM!

Danish comics do not grace our shores too often, so get a full load of their humour while you can, with the awesome foursome of BLAM! If you liked Klown, you'll probably enjoy this. And if you didn't like it, you are likely to enjoy it anyway. BLAM! presents the crazy antics of bored office workers who, raiding the stationary cupboard, take those staplers and pot-plants into their own hands to transform their drab environs into a mad world of slap-stick comedy and adventure. This is going to be fun. Ricky Gervais loved it, you will too.

March 6, 7pm, March 7, 7.30pm and March 8 – 10, 6.30pm

The Civic

Tickets from $12 to $38

Macbeth

Macbeth, by A Third World Bunfight Production is an adaptation of Verdi's opera Macbeth, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's play of the same name, which you may have read in fourth form English class, like myself. New iterations of Shakespearean classics emerge every year. This particular production is set in Congo, features a live chamber orchestra, corruption, dictators and some incredible sets. It's Macbeth like you have never seen, and made completely relevant to the political proceedings in Africa and beyond today.

March 11 – 15, 8pm

ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

Tickets from $45 to $128

The Mooncake and the Kumara

The Mooncake and the Kumara is a play about love, family duty and cultural clashes. The story follows a pair of young folk, one Maori, one Chinese, falling in love amongst a potato-lined market garden in 1920s Auckland. It's an interesting premise and is inspired by the playwright's own family past — she is of Maori-Chinese background herself. The play is performed in a mix of English, Maori and Cantonese so it's an extra bonus you know more that one of these languages.

March 5 – 7, 7pm, March 8, 1.30pm and 7pm and March 9 – 10, 6.30pm

Q Loft

Tickets from $49 to $55

David Shrigley at Two Rooms

David Shrigley is a breath of fresh air in the world of contemporary art. The art world can be a place where self-importance, pretentiousness and snobbism flourish. Not so when it comes to Shrigley. The artist may have been nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2013, but his naively drawn, off-beat doodles are anything but high brow. Not only does David Shrigley draw, he paints, makes sculptures, books, photographs, cartoons, animations and has even recorded a spoken-work album. He is hilarious and hugely likeable, and the Two Rooms' artist in residence for 2015. Go and visit his show, it's some of the best art you'll see this year.

March 6 – 21

Two Rooms

Free

The Kitchen

Auckland boasts a large Indian community, which thankfully brings with it the culinary delights of Indian food, with all its wonderful colour and spice. The Kitchen is a celebration of that cuisine, blown to epic proportions. There will be rows of drums, and there will be vats of sweet, sweet payasam being sensuously prepared before your eyes. There will be heavenly smells, delectable sights and, most importantly, your taste buds will get to join in on the party as the dessert is shared with the audience at the end.  I am drooling already.

March 14 – 15, 8pm and March 16 – 18, 7pm

SkyCity Theatre

Tickets $40 to $75

White Night

White Night is back. A popular affair around the world, White Night will keep art galleries open until late, with special events and all kinds of exiting shenanigans taking place all over Auckland. This year the event promises to be huge, with outdoor installations, interactive digital artworks, surprise performances exhibitions open until midnight. Over 100 venues will the buzzing with the spirit of creative adventure, so you had better check out the schedule here, and pencil in your must-sees.

March 14, 6pm – 12am

Across Auckland

Free

Cedar Lake

Rules? What rules? Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet believes in no silly regulations that might hamper or restrict them in any way. Though a ballet company by name, they are unafraid to tackle a diverse range of styles in their performances, purposely seeking out collaboration with experimental choreographers. The New York based ensemble will grace us with three separate dance pieces over two hours of writhing, jumping, pirouetting and everything in between. A rare chance to see one of the most talked about dance companies today.

March 12, 7.30pm, March 13, 6.30pm, March 14, 7.30pm and March 15, 5pm

The Civic

Tickets from $35 to $87