Ōtautahi Tiny Fest - a feast of art - Two stand-out shows featuring poetry

Ōtautahi Tiny Fest is a remarkable two day festival of epic proportions - 45 artists and 21 shows over two intense days - featuring theatre, poetry, dance, story-telling and intersectional forms showcasing the cutting edge of performative practice in Ōtautahi/Christchurch.

 

Here's a couple of shows that we think you might want to check out from two of Ōtautahi's most electric performance poets and theatre practitioners.

 

Gay Death Stock Take

Ōtautahi and NZ Poetry Slam Champion Nathan Joe presents a 'theatrical performance essay (with poetry elements)!' Kind of part TED-talk, part performance poem, part museum of personal history. Where birthday party meets mourning ritual. A brand new work by Nathan Joe, made in collaboration with Daniel Goodwin.

Nathan Joe is an award-winning theatre-maker and performance poet based between Tāmaki Makaurau and Ōtautahi. Recent work includes curating BIPOC spoken word event DIRTY PASSPORTS at Basement Theatre, a staged reading of his play Scenes from a Yellow Peril at Auckland Arts Festival, co-creating Slay the Dragon or Save the Dragon or Neither with A Slightly Isolated Dog, and directing Yang/Young/杨 for Auckland Theatre Company. He is also the current National Slam Champion.

Saturday 27th November, 10am

Ron Ball Studio, Christchurch Town Hall

Book Tickets 

 

 

 

Notes on a Migration

‘I think of my mother and father, standing by sunflowers
the plane tilts 
in a slow motion leapfrog 
to limboland
tucked knees under my chin 
the lights dim 
leaving, heading 
with both feet in’

'an imaginative journey traversing the entire world in this intimate, electric, political, part-memoir, part-story dreamscape drawn from Ullyart’s poetic journaling since leaving Heathrow and stepping foot in Ōtautahi in late 2017. She is supported on stage by experimental music maker Admiral Drowsy in a new collaboration especially for Tiny Fest.'

 

Hester Ullyart is an award-winning multi-disciplinary maker- writer, actor, visual and spoken word artist based between England and Ōhinehou since 2017. Original plays include; ‘The Ballad of Paragon Station’ (Stellar Original Content NZFringe, Ed Fest) ‘Paragon Dreams’ (Hull Truck, LAF). Original film includes ‘I am all the rooms of the house’ (Best Poetry Short DoDFest2020). Other Ōtautati work includes ‘How Dare You’ (Free Theatre), ‘Ship of Dreams’(Delaney Davidson). Directing includes ‘Our Town, Gladys and Alfie, Gladys and Daphne’ (LAF) and Robin Judkins’ ‘Free Bus to God’. Aotearoa screen work includes One Lane Bridge S2 (TVNZ/Great Southern). She is a National Poetry Slam 2020 finalist. 

Saturday 27th November, 5.30pm

Ron Ball Studio, Christchurch Town Hall

Book Tickets

 

Chop. The. Mop! Close shave for a good cause

 

Thursday 11th November, 7pm

Victoria Park Band Rotunda, Rangiora

Tonight as part of WORD Christchurch, Catalyst's own Doc Drumheller goes under the clippers for the Cancer Society.

Supported by guest poets, waiata, and poetry from several workshops facilitated for the Cancer Society, Doc will perform live while being shorn of his trademark beard and locks. The effort is in support of a call for donations to Doc's fundraising page for the Cancer Society.

This event is operating under Covid Alert Level 2 restrictions (please wear masks, respect physical distancing and capacity limit is 100 people). If the Alert Level is increased, attendance will be cancelled and the event will be live-streamed via Facebook.

Guest poets include: Bernadette Hall, Ben Brown, John Allison and Ciaran Fox.

It'll be a brave, new Doc come tomorrow morning.

 

https://www.youcanforcancer.org.nz/jason-clements https://www.youcanforcancer.org.nz/jason-clements

https://www.youcanforcancer.org.nz/jason-clements

Christchurch Poetry Slam 2021 - we have a winner!

 

Congratulations to 2021 Christchurch Poetry Slam Champ Nathan Joe!

Runner-up - Ray Shipley

3rd place - RiktheMost 

On a balmy night in Foundation Cafe at Tūranga the top 10 poets from the preliminary heat in August slugged it out across 3 rounds. It was the 10th anniversary of the Christchurch Slam being part of the national network of slams (for the pre-history, look up Poetry Idol here).

To mark the occasion, poet and artist Melanie McKerchar created a stunning trophy (the first since Poetry Idol) and lifted for the first time by Nathan at the end of a challenging and fierce three rounds.

The field of 10 were mighty and diverse - half of them were previous Slam winners (including international Slams) or runners-up, and the other half included first-timers this year.

The top 3 will go forward to the 2021 NZ Poetry Slam (to be held February 2022).

Thank you to WORD Christchurch for once again incorporating the Slam into the festival and for pulling off a postponed festival in very challenging and uncertain times.

Thank you UBS Books for sponsoring prize vouchers for our winners.

Thank you to Foundation Cafe at Tūranga for being brilliant hosts and problem solvers.

Christchurch Poetry Slam - it's on (again!)

 

After holding our breath through this latest Covid outbreak, we're excited to let it all out in the 10th edition of the Christchurch Poetry Slam Final on Wednesday 10th November.

Get ready!

Note: the event is going ahead under Level 2 restrictions - that means wear a mask and venue capacity is limited to allow spacing so get along early if you want to get in and grab a seat. We apologise in advance if you cannot gain entry due to the venue capacity limit. (Obviously that doesn't apply to the Slammers!)

If Christchurch is moved to Alert Level 3 or 4, the event will be cancelled. 

Christchurch Poetry Slam Final

Wednesday 10th November, 7pm (doors open 6pm)

Foundation Cafe, Tūranga, Cathedral Square.

Door charge: $10 cash only

Catalyst volume 18 book launch!

 

Catalyst volume 18 book launch (& open mic!)

Wednesday 3rd November, 7pm

Space Academy, 371 St Asaph St, Christchurch

It's been a helluva ride to get here (do we just say that every year now?) but we're delighted to announce the release of the latest issue of Catalyst into the world. Volume 18, edited by Doc Drumheller marks eighteen years of indie journal Catalyst and eight years under the imprint Republic of Oma Rāpeti Press. Join us to celebrate another outstanding collection of local and international poetry (the best way is by buying a copy, and one for your lover/enemy/whatever)! There'll be a little bit of speechifying, some readings by various contributors and we'll even make time for an open mic - because after all: Catalyst!