City: Kerikeri

The Worm

A little worm goes on an epic adventure!

Written by Carl and Peter Bland.

When a giant bird pokes its beak through the ceiling and swoops away with his mum, a determined little worm sets off on a heroic adventure to save her! This surprising tale from acclaimed company Nightsong (Mr Red Light, Te Pō) is funny, exciting, and delightfully offbeat, featuring live music by Carnivorous Plant Society’s Finn Scholes.

Can one tiny worm wriggle his way past dastardly critters, tricky puzzles, and wild encounters to save his mum?

“So perfectly pitched for enjoyment of older and younger audiences” – Kick Arts

Presented by Nightsong and PANNZ (Performing Arts Network New Zealand).

 

Werewolf

Three ill-equipped wardens keep watch over a makeshift community (that’s you, the audience) who must learn to work together. But as the threat outside takes shape, the atmosphere inside begins to turn.

Inspired by the classic game of deception, Werewolf is a gripping blend of thriller and comedy that pulls you into an immersive world of suspicion, survival, and uneasy laughter.

With heart-pounding sound design, razor-sharp performances, and a daring, darkly funny style, this international cult hit asks: When night falls—who do you trust?

“A perfect hour of interactive and immersive theatre that is not to be missed”
★★★★★ - Theatre Scotland

“Has people screaming in terror one minute then giggling like children the next”
★★★★★ - British Theatre Guide

“Werewolf is a slick, silly, shivery hour”
★★★★ - Fest Magazine

Presented by Binge Culture, PANNZ (Performing Arts Network New Zealand), Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival, ONEONESIX & Turner Centre.

Created by Joel Baxendale, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Oliver Devlin, Karin McCracken, & Ralph Upton
Performed by Stella Reid, Joel Baxendale, & Hannah Kelly
Dramaturgy: Ralph Upton
Sound Designer & Operator: Oliver Devlin
Stage & Production Manager: Eleanor Strathern
Set & Lighting Designer: Lucas Neal

*Contains periods of complete darkness, flashing lights, loud noises, content designed to unsettle, and non-compulsory audience participation. Recommended for ages 12+

 

 

Te Tangi a Te Tūī

Following its international premiere in Vancouver and an acclaimed Aotearoa season at Te Pou Theatre during Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki, Te Tangi a Te Tūī now travels to five North Island centres as part of the PANNZ National Touring Programme. Audiences across the motu are invited to experience this visually arresting and emotionally stirring work, deeply rooted in te ao Māori.

“visually and emotionally powerful” - Stir Vancouver

An epic tale of love, loss and hope, weaving te reo Māori and cirque theatre.

By Tainui Tukiwaho and Amber Curreen. A collaboration between Te Pou Theatre and The Dust Palace

He karanga nō te kainga. Pulling us heart first back to the ngāhere.

The Tūī soaks up the world around it and responds in song. Though beautiful, its tune is now a faint echo of what it once was when Aotearoa was blanketed in the ngāhere, flutes of patupaiarehe filled the trees and Māori alone walked gently upon their mother.

Te Tangi a Te Tūī invites you to experience an enchanting and empowering Māori cirque theatre work about adaptation and authenticity.This collaboration between kaupapa Māori theatre company, Te Pou Theatre and circus theatre company, The Dust Palace, is an evocative narrative of love and loss between Māori and the natural world in the face of colonial impact.

The show features an incredibly talented cast of performers including, Ria Paki, Eve Gordon, Joe Dekkers-Reihana, Paku Fernandez, Tainui Tukiwaho, Te Rongopai Cureen-Tukiwaho, Luis Meirelles, Anthony Te Puke, Mary Piggin and Mia van Oyen.

After sell out seasons in Vancouver and Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Tangi a Te Tūī is set to tour Te Ika-a-Māui in August 2025.

 

Kaituhi / Writer - Amber Curreen
Kaituhi, Ringatohu, Kaiwaihanga /Writer, Director, Co-Creator - Tainui Tukiwaho
Kaiwaihanga /Co-Creator - Eve Gordon
Whakawhiti Reo /Script Translation - Te Rau Kete Ltd (Haani Huata) & Ōmanapou Ltd (Maioha Allen)
Mātanga Reo Māori / Te Reo Māori Consultant - Maioha Allen
Movement Consultant / Kaiwhakarite Nukuhanga - Ria Paki
Kaiwhakarite Whakaari / Producer - Rachael Dubois
Ringatohu Maninirau / Circus Director - Geoff Gilson
Kaihoahoa Rama, Ātaamira / Lighting, Set & Apparatus Design - Jane Hakaraia
Kaihoahoa Oro / Sound Design - Crescendo Studio: David Atai & James Zambucka
Kaihoahoa Kaka / Costume Design - Eve Gordon
Kaihoahoa Kūne / Technical Director -Emily Hakaraia
Kaiwharite Ātaamira / Stage Manager - Edward Peni
Ringa whakahaere Oro/Rama / Lighting & Sound Operator - Michael Goodwin
Ringa whakahaere hiki / Riggers - Josh Davern & Andrew Gibson

Proudly presented by The Dust Palace, Te Pou Theatre and PANNZ, with support from Baycourt, Sir Howard Morrison, TSB Showplace, Forum North and Turner Centre.

There will be a matinee and evening show in each centre, and kura / school groups are encouraged to contact the theatre near them to access discounted tickets.

Performed entirely in te reo Māori, the production surrounds audiences with the richness of the language and its cultural resonance. Those who are fluent or on their te reo Māori journey will enjoy the full immersion experience.

Those with limited knowledge of te reo Māori and wishing to engage more deeply will be provided with a full English-language synopsis and radio play upon booking (This can also be listened to below). The recording ensures the work remains accessible to all, allowing audiences to connect with the performance at whatever level suits them.

Suitcase Show

A traveller arrives at a border with a stack of battered cases. From within them, whole worlds will emerge…

“A masterful weaving of stories… Crafty as all hell” -Art Murmurs, Wellington

Suitcase Show is an eclectic box set of short stories. Dark, spiky, and comic, each one is told out of a suitcase. The staging is inventive, from lo-fi shadowplay to wireless projection, from dancing disembodied hands to narratives that crackle from a 70s stereo suitcase.  Tiny in scale, but expansive in story, it touches on climate change, love and death, travel, and secrets that we carry with us – an overthrown autocrat finds themselves on the run from their own shadow, an astronaut turns their telescope back on earth and back in time. The work was developed through a series of showings in unusual site-specific spaces, from a pub to a photography darkroom.  

Trick of the Light is renowned for crafting inventive shows and intricate narratives. Suitcase Show reunites multi-award-winning collaborators Hannah Smith, Ralph McCubbin Howell, Tane Upjohn-Beatson, and Filament 11 Eleven. 

“Weaves a bright, dark magic.” ★★★★ —The Scotsman, UK

 

Director - Hannah Smith
Writer - Ralph McCubbin Howell 
Performers - Ralph McCubbin Howell, Hannah Smith, with Anya-Tate Manning and Richard Falkner
Sound Design and Composition - Tane Upjohn Beatson with additional composition by Robyn Bryant
Lyrics by - Ralph McCubbin Howell
Production and Technical Design collaborators - Brad Gledhill & Rachel Marlow (Filament Eleven 11)
Videography - Dean Hewison
Craft & Prop Design - Hannah Smith, Ralph McCubbin-Howell, Rebekah de Roo, Romina Menses and Emory Otto
Poster Design - William Duignan

Produced by Trick of the Light Theatre and presented as part of the PANNZ (Performing Arts Network New Zealand) touring programme.

Running time: 55 minutes

This is an adult work but is suitable for audiences aged 12 and up. Contains haze, flashing lights, references to death and depictions of violence.