Fafswag Makes a Triumphant Return to Basement this Spring

At the heart of Basement Theatre’s Spring 2019 Season is FAFSWAG’s RECLAMATION – the second and final work in the inaugural Basement Visions programme which asked Basement’s community of artists to pitch responsive, disruptive and unpredictable works to challenge the mainstream.

Led by up-and-coming artist Elyssia Wilson-Heti, RECLAMATION answers the call for more stories about desire and pleasure to be told by women of colour, for women of colour, featuring a bangin’ soundtrack and edible props.

Spring is all about new beginnings and fresh growth, so it’s only fitting that Basement’s 2019 Spring Season is the very first to be put together by their brand new Programming Coordinator – artist, director, maker and curator, Nisha Madhan. Nisha says of her first programme: “It’s my first attempt at filling our sacred and precious little Basement space in the middle of a carpark half way down the Horotiu stream in Tāmaki Makaurau, and I have to say, I may have gone a little overboard!”

Spring begins with an unmissable ritual theatre work, RITU ALKEMI. Join Tūrongo Collective in their Basement debut for an experience that is bound to cleanse your soul and delight your mind. Also making their Basement debut as a creator is Suzanne Cowan with the sly and beautiful MANIFESTO OF A GOOD CRIPPLE. Directed by Dynamotion leader Lara Liew, Suzanne’s piece is a humorous look at the assumptions we carry in a collision of disability, dance and subversive dreamscapes. 

In October, Company in Residence COVEN finish up their residency with Basement’s first ever Vogue Ball in a brand new collaboration between Basement Theatre and Tempo Dance Festival. As well as an evening of dance, drama and death drops with COVEN, Tempo is dressed to impress with KARANGA – a trans-Tasman song-line by Paea Leach and Vicky Forest Kapo, and a stupidly banging after-party featuring a line-up of acts curated by COVEN Producer, Lucia Farron-Diamantis.  

Three familiar Basement companies return this Spring: Ngā Rangatahi Toa presents MANAWA ORA: NAVIGATORS, showcasing a creative ensemble of movement, music and stories devised by young people working alongside top local artists. Prayas Theatre Company debuts FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS 2.0, a remixed version of last year’s sell-out hit, FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS. This time around Sananda Chatterjee curates the piece with a desi-licious ensemble cast. In November, Basement staples The Actors’ Program present another crop of new actors and future theatre makers in WELCOME TO THEBES, a political reimagining of the world directed by Sara Brodie.

Lastly, DRONE flies in from world-renowned Scottish poet Harry Josephine Giles after a sellout, five-star run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. DRONE entangles live sound and spoken word, and yes, it involves an actual real-life drone.

That’s just a sample of what to expect from September to November at Basement Theatre. For the full Spring 2019 Season line-up, visit basementtheatre.co.nz.

For more information contact:
Tim Blake
021 170 4020
tim@basementtheatre.co.nz