• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Scanning through the festival program is like opening a box of chocolates. They all look so good; so many flavours to taste, but it’s hard to tell from the blurbs exactly what you're in for.  That’s part of the fun, right? So what to choose?

Renee Liang tries to pick what to see.

* * *

The containers have landed in Aotea Square and that only means one thing – the Auckland Arts Festival is here again!

I can’t see everything (there’s sleep to be had and a baby to feed, not to mention budget). So I’ve gritted my teeth and made a list. I’ll share it with you on condition you don’t take it as anything other than my personal taste.

Wonderfully, the program this year contains many New Zealand works.  Some make a welcome return, like solo piece I, George Nepia which wowed audiences during the Rugby World Cup and The Factory, a true original billed as NZ’s first Pacific musical. I saw this piece at its premiere and can vouch for its energetic feel-good vibe, as well as the stonkingly good live band in the corner.  Speaking of music, Convergence, a collaboration between the world-class NZTrio and taonga puoro master Horomona Horo, is also on my list. With works by Gareth Farr and Richard Nunns, Chinese-NZ composer Gao Ping and Chinese-US composer Chen Yi, and featuring the world premiere of a piece by NZ composer Victoria Kelly, it should be a unique evening.

Mitch Tawhi Thomas’ piece Hui, about four brothers reunited on the death of their father, receives its world premiere and is definitely on my must-watch list.  The ‘testosterone-fuelled’ script won the Adam NZ Play Award in 2012, and the judges had this to say: “With devastating clarity and courage Hui grapples with the concepts of love, loss and how, for these brothers, they have come to define each other.”

Even closer to (my) home, Dominion Road Stories, the latest in the Auckland Theatre Company’s series of shows engaging directly with communities – this time in its own backyard - is a series of events ranging from promenade food theatre to a picnic concert.  For those watching their pennies but still keen to experience a bit of challenging art/theatre this could be just the ticket. And speaking of free, on the weekends there’s White Night and Family Day, each featuring squillions of free fun activities. Most of the visual arts program is free too.

Of course, for many of us, the exciting thing is finding out which famous international shows have made it to little ol’ Auckland this time round. It may be our one chance to see something without having to buy a plane ticket.  Such a piece is Rhinoceros in Love, a piece by Chinese playwright Liao Yimei which is credited with revolutionizing Chinese contemporary theatre (no less).  With a flooded stage, a bound heroine and funky Chinese urban vernacular, who could resist? 

Also from China comes Wu Man, a pipa revolutionary. P- what?  Wu Man plays the ancient Chinese lute, and over the past few decades has conducted feats of international diplomacy, using her gentle instrument to collaborate with musicians from around the globe.  She does two concerts, a solo recital tracing her personal musical journey, and a collaboration with the legendary Kronos Quartet featuring (of course) kung-fu movies.

Leo, a theatre piece where not only belief but gravity is suspended, is another international work making a welcome return to NZ after being one of the must-sees of the NZ Arts Festival last year. (I know an Auckland-based producer who bought a plane ticket just so he could see this.) And finally, it’s been hard to miss the posters around town promoting One Man, Two Guvnors. This looks like a delightful piece of traditional English farce and being produced by the National Theatre of Great Britain, will no doubt be expertly and cleverly done.

Every Festival contains a few shows whose operative word is ‘spectacle’ and Volcano definitely fits this description.  Created specifically for the hilly terrain of the Auckland Domain by fire, light and sound magicians Groupe F, we are promised 50 minutes of utter wowness which will show us our city in a new light (so to speak.) I’m in. Also likely to wow the senses is Urban, a circus show which has the added emotional tug of being about the performers’ own lives on the streets of Cali, Columbia. The acrobats – aged 17-28 – are graduates of Circa Para Todos, a professional circus company dedicated to giving disadvantaged youth a fresh start and the chance to tour the world.

Dance is always a spectacle and as a wordsmith, I’m oddly attracted to the idea of a piece that explores language without words.  Babel (words) is a dance piece featuring performers who between them speak 15 different languages – but on stage they speak with their bodies, on and around a huge sculptural tower.

Being a new mum, I can’t wait until I can take my baby to see some theatre and so I have paid special attention to the pieces in the Festival suitable for children. The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk intrigued me with its premise of a kid who betrays his best friend; and The Man Who Planted Trees, a theatrical adaptation of a classic ecological fable, promises ‘the best dog puppet ever’ and if that wasn’t enough, rain that really rains and wind that really blows. Can’t wait to be in the front row for that one (and I don’t care if I’m taller than the other kids.)

And finally... I can't resist a plug for my own little piece of Festival involvement.  Culture Clash, a work about transition, migration and the triumph of the human spirit and based on the 20 performers' own life experiences, comes back to TAPAC for one night only, as part of White Nights. I was involved in the devising and writing and am bursting with pride. See it... go on!

So that’s what’s on my list at the moment. It’s ambitious to say the least, but then, it’s the Festival, right? Over the next few weeks I’ll be running interviews with creators and performers from most of these shows, as well as keeping you up to date with my Festival experiences. What’s on your Festival list?

• The Auckland Arts Festival 2013 is on from 6 to 24 March