Event noticeboard: Sugar, rubber gloves and shocked bananas

The Spinoff

17-07-2025

The Spinoff's top picks of events from around the motu.
I was tempted, in a moment of despair, to title this week's noticeboard as 'Rain, rain and more rain' or perhaps 'Rain, flooding and more rain'. Thankfully it's not flooded here, but I was triggered looking at my weather app and seeing only clouds and rain till, you guessed it, Monday, that day I'm due to be back inside. Already I know what my partner will say when I go home and whine. 'You're not made of sugar!' So out I will go, dressed as a little squire with a strangely modern raincoat, to Princess Chelsea's annual midwinter ball (sold out sorry!). I guess once you make it past the falling drops, there are a few good things about this time of year.
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Avenue, Auckland Central
8pm Thursday to Saturday, July 17-19
$17-$30
In 2019 Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan duct-taped a single banana to a wall at Art Basel, a prestigious international art fair. That banana, titled 'Comedian' by Cattelan, set the art world and the internet ablaze partly in incredulity and partly in fury. Was it genius or not art at all? Later, Cattelan ate the banana onstage, saying its value (US$6.2 million according to one sale) was in the concept not the banana itself.
Last year Auckland playwrights asked the question – what if the banana woke up? They created a physical-theatre-clown-fruit-mash-up which reviewers have called ' relentlessly funny ' and 'a superb clowning commentary'. How to Art has already had seasons in Auckland and Wellington, and now the bananas are headed to Melbourne. They're making a special re-appearance in Auckland to raise some funds.
The show has wonderful handmade costumes and props (yes banana suits, but also other big plushy fruit) which they're showing off in a free touch tour before the show on Saturday at 7pm.
Whangārei
ONEONESIX, 116a Bank Street, Whangārei
2pm & 6pm Sunday, July 20
7pm Monday, July 21
7pm Tuesday, July 22
Gold coin
The culmination of months of creative exploration by over 20 rangatahi taking part in NYT's Emerging Directors Programme, this event invites you into the room as they test ideas, take risks, and develop their voices.
Tāmaki Makaurau
Halsey St Wharf, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland
10am – 4pm Saturday & Sunday, July 19 & 20
Free
Have a wander through Greenpeace's (third) Rainbow Warrior. Note: The ship is not wheelchair accessible – there are steep steps and a narrow gangway.
Hamilton
Workshop: Lost Wax Ring Making
Arts for Health, 2 Seddon Road, Frankton, Hamilton
4pm Sunday, July 20
$285 (includes materials)
Design and sculpt a ring using the ancient lost wax technique. After the workshop, it will be cast in silver and posted to you.
Waipukurau
Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Hear two scholars and artists talk about the impact of sugar, colonisation and global trade in the Pacific, and see the exhibition exploring these themes.
Blenheim
Artworks created by Te Ohu Weka, a collaborative art group based in Te Tauihu and working from Onetahua Marae.
Ōtautahi
Little Andromeda Theatre, Level 1, 134 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
7pm Friday & Saturday, July 18 & 19
$15-$20
'Join the hilarious and retro-sexy Gladys and Beryl as they take a sweep down memory lane, reminiscing on their successful and oh-so extravagant lives.'
Lyttelton
From my understanding, these artists take everyday sounds like bangs, taps, squeaks and wheeze and make them beautiful and buzzy.
Dunningham Suite, Dunedin City Library, 230 Moray Place, Dunedin
5:30pm Friday, July 18
$20 (proceeds towards the residency programme)
Robert Lord would have turned 80 this year – and so there's a party at his cottage. There will be readings, drinks and nibbles.
Gore
Eastern Southland Gallery, 61 Irk Street, Gore
3pm Saturday & Sunday, July 19 & 20
10.30am Tuesday, July 22
Free entry
See inside the messy studio and fascinating process of an acclaimed Kiwi painter.
Invercargill
Theatre: Matilda the Musical
7:30pm Wednesday – Friday, July 17, 18, 23, 24, 25
4pm Saturday, July 19, 26
2pm Sunday, July 20
$40-85
A multi-award winning show based on the beloved Roald Dahl book with high-energy dance numbers, catchy songs and quick wit.