High street to the hills, issue 27

Events worth noting around the country

Words: Ann Warnock

Cloud9

29 August to 29 November, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu

This shimmering show by nine contemporary New Zealand artists is themed with strange dreams and celestial structures. It is the fourth instalment in an emerging-artist series staged by the gallery and features new work by recent graduates Elliot Collins, Ruth Thomas Edmond, Tim Thatcher, Telly Tu’u, Georgie Hill, Marie Le Lievre, Pete Wheeler, Mike Cooke and Eileen Leung. The works explore new directions in painting techniques and celebrate a genre which has the ability to transport the viewer to another realm.

Phone (03) 941 7300, www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz

New Zealand Opera – Eugene Onegin

17 to 26 September, Auckland and 10 to 17 October, Wellington

An international cast and cutting-edge creative team light up the stage with Tchaikovsky’s great opera of honour, love, death and regret. Set in 19th-century Russia and based on Alexander Pushkin’s novel, Eugene Onegin packs dramatic and visual punch. New Zealand soprano Anna Leese stars as Tatyana alongside British baritone William Dazeley. Leading Russian conductor Alexander Polianichko, based at St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, takes the podium. Phone (09) 379 4068 or (04) 499 8343, www.nzopera.com

Hollywood’s Ancient World

6pm to 8pm, Wednesdays 16, 23, 30 September and 7 October, Pipitea Campus, Victoria University, Wellington

Swords and sandals on the big screen. Gladiator (2000) launched a Hollywood revival of big-screen movies featuring the ancient world and sparked renewed interest in antiquity. Troy and Alexander in 2004 and 300 in 2006 followed. This fascinating short course of seminars led by Victoria University’s Professor of Classics, Arthur Pomeroy, and Senior Lecturer in Classics, Matthew Trundle, explores the relationship between the four big films and the world that they portray. Do they reflect Hollywood in the present as much as they reflect the ancient past? Phone (04) 463 6556,www.victoria.ac.nz/ceed

The Auckland Vintage Textile Fair

13 September, Alexandra Park Raceway, Auckland

This specialized fair, now in its second year, is tailor-made for the fabric fiend. Billed as an event of great interest to collectors, theatre costumiers, historians, designers, quilt-makers and museum curators, it includes a glorious array of men’s and women’s vintage clothing, hats, buttons, buckles, trims, embroideries, patterns, costume jewellery, craft books, household linens and lace. Phone (09) 820 1900

Vegetarian Expo

27 September, Horticultural Centre, Christchurch

The largest vegetarian event to be staged in New Zealand, this is a big day out for all foodies, including carnivores. It comprises cooking demonstrations of Chinese, Indian and raw vegan foods, workshops on vegetarian nutrition and sustainable landscapes, a feast of short films and a food market featuring the delectable wares of the city’s leading vegetarian restaurants. Food-product stalls and others showcasing the best of the vegetarian community (including Ellerslie International Flower Show gold-medal winner, landscape designer Carl Pickens) are all part of the mix.

Phone (03) 940 9483, www.vegetarianexpo.org.nz

Twelve Miles Beneath the Moon – new sculptural works by Tanya Blong

29 September to 17 October, The Lane Gallery, Auckland

This solo exhibition from Taranaki-born, Muriwai-based sculptor Tanya Blong showcases her hallmark use of the vessel as a metaphor for life’s journeys. Tanya’s sculptures relate to traditional navigation and include references to star compassing and other routing methods used by the early Pacific navigators. The artist, who graduated from Hungry Creek Art and Craft School in 2006, has worked extensively overseas.

The show comprises 10 works, both large and small.

Phone (09) 302 5295, www.lanegallery.co.nz

Topp 100 Years Tour

14 October, Regent Theatre, Hokitika, then nationwide

It is pitched as “an irreverent, hilarious romp through different eras of New Zealand fashion, politics and music with the world’s only comedic, singing, dancing, cross-dressing, yodelling twin sisters with a penchant for gingham skirts and pink towelling pants suits”. Those two vibrant ladies, Jools and Lynda, are celebrating 25 years in New Zealand showbiz with a brand-new theatre show, the theme of which is their amazing lives. www.topptwins.com

Frost Buster 09

17 October, Methven, below Mt Hutt ski area

Shake off the winter gloom and welcome spring with a physical blast at a legendary South Island event which sees competitors pounding the banks of Pudding Hill Stream, charging through the Awa Awa Rata Reserve, leaping on bikes to whoop along the Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road and paddling kayaks down the Rakaia River. This three-stage multi-sport and duathlon race is perfectly pitched for both individuals and teams, whether seasoned competitors or nervous first-timers.

Phone (03) 302 1822, www.multisportevents.co.nz

The Day My Bum Went Psycho

2 to 24 October, Fortune Theatre, Dunedin

Australian children’s theatre specialist Laura Cooney has taken the children’s blockbuster novel written by fellow countryman Andy Griffiths and transformed it into a racy and rapturously funny stage show. Young Zack Freeman’s bum has detached itself from his body and run off to join the bum uprising. Zack enlists the help of some bum-fighters to get it back and learns it has become the leader of a band of rogue bums, determined to take over the world. Phone (03) 477 8323,

www.fortunetheatre.co.nz

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

22 to 31 October, Te Whaea: National Dance and Drama Centre, Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, Wellington

Twenty graduating actors form the cast in this production of Bertolt Brecht’s dramatic parable – a puzzle box of social dilemmas, the nature of justice and insights into the glories and defects of human nature. Set in the 13th century, it centres on the struggle of two women over the custody of a child. It is directed by Christian Penny, Toi Whakaari’s Head of Directing and Associate Director, who is seen as one of the country’s boldest theatre directors. Costume construction, entertainment technology and management and design students are also on board.

Phone (04) 381 9251, www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz

The Cabinet Makers: Prime Ministers of New Zealand

12 November to 10 February 2010, New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington

This exhibition of portraiture of New Zealand’s prime ministers from the earliest beginnings of Parliament to last year’s election is curated by Gavin McLean, Senior Historian at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. It features painted portraits, photographs and cartoons and provides a journey of dates, deeds and the contributions of the 40 men and women who have held office since Henry Sewell staged the country’s first ministry 160 years ago. Some prime ministers such as Seddon, Savage and Muldoon are implicit in Aotearoa’s history while others are barely remembered.

Phone (04) 472 8874, www.portraitgallery.nzl.org

132nd Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Show

30 and 31 October, Ashburton

The Ashburton A & P Society was founded in 1877 and its two-day annual show is the largest agricultural event in mid-Canterbury. Exhibitors and visitors from throughout the South Island descend on the town for traditional events featuring sheep, horses, dog trials, shearing competitions, poultry, goats, alpacas and highland dancing. Roll out the tartan rug and picnic at the car or enjoy the array of food and drinks on offer at tents and stalls in the grounds. This year’s theme is Rural Contractors.

Phone (03) 308 7908, www.ashburtonshow.co.nz

Hunterville Huntaway Festival

31 October, Hunterville

From midday to midnight the township of Hunterville heaves with festival frivolity and an array of rural challenges. Its pinnacle event is The Shepherd’s Shemozzle – a surprise-on-the-day three-kilometre cross-country obstacle race for shepherds and their huntaway dogs. Last year’s contestants had to sprint with bulls’ testicles in their mouths, catch eels and dunk for dog collars. Shearing and dog-barking challenges, live music from the fiddler band Hobnail Boots, a disco in the Scots Hall and a magician who stages his illusionary show from the back of a truck are all on the agenda. Phone (06) 322 8770, www.shemozzle.co.nz

The International Trout Fishing Competition

21 and 22 November, Rotorua Lakes

Anglers from all corners of the world and third-generation locals are part of the scene at this charity competition. Competitors put out their lines at 5am on Saturday and reel them in at 3pm on Sunday. Each night the trout are weighed at tournament headquarters where prizes include those for heaviest and best-condition rainbow trout, heaviest rainbow trout caught by a lady angler and junior entries.

Phone (07) 348 6769, www.trouttournament.co.nz