Auckland Arts Festival has revealed the first four outstanding international and local productions that will hit our stages in March 2018.

From one-of-a-kind circus, to gripping theatre, to an edgy re-imagining of a classical ballet and a cinematic story adapted for stage, there is plenty to sink your teeth into.

Akram Khan’s Giselle
1 - 4 March 2018, ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

Auckland audiences will finally get a chance to experience English National Ballet’s stunning new reinterpretation of the classic romantic ballet Giselle, choreographed by dance superstar Akram Khan. This classic story of love, betrayal and redemption tells of an outcast migrant factory worker who dies from grief after discovering her lover is betrothed to another woman. She joins a group of ghosts who seek revenge for the wrongs done to them to take revenge on him, but their love overpowers her and he is released, forgiven. Fresh from their success at the 2017 Olivier Awards, English National Ballet brings to Auckland from London a huge team of nearly 100 performers and crew.

The Piano: The Ballet
8 - 10 March 2018, ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

The story of Ada McGrath and her daughter Flora, husband Alastair and lover Baines unfolded against the wild grandeur and desolation of Aotearoa, as Jane Campion’s award-winning film took audiences on a visceral journey into New Zealand’s imagined past. Drawing on the rich inspiration of The Piano, the Royal New Zealand Ballet will present this new full-length dance work incorporating excerpts from Michael Nyman’s film score blended with music by a range of classical composer as part of Auckland Arts Festival.

1984
9 - 25 March 2018, ASB Waterfront Theatre

A radical, international award-winning theatrical adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, 1984, is on its way to shake and rattle Auckland.​ Set in a world where an invasive government keeps a malevolently watchful eye on its citizens, this arresting and much-lauded staging explores surveillance and identity and how Orwell’s fiction has become our reality.​

À Ố Làng Phố
​15 - 18 March 2018, The Civic

Using huge bamboo poles, baskets and other astonishing props, French–Vietnamese company Nouveau Cirque du Vietnam spins the tension between tradition and modernity into a delightfully poignant celebration of Vietnam and its changing landscapes. Telling a story of Vietnamese culture in transition, the performers contrast scenes of custom and agriculture with the restless sights and sounds of a modern metropolis, performed to a live mash-up of serene South Vietnamese music (Cai luong) and contemporary hip hop.

Ref: www.heartofthecity.co.nz