Get slip, slap, slop, dip, nap and snacked for a snitch and snatched Summer/Pride 2023 season.
2023 at Basement is the year to be free - unbound, carefree, indulging in plentiful play and parties, melting into moments upon moments. Expect the unexpected, Hire-for-Nothing spaces, choose-what-you-can-pay tickets and fighting the good fight for ferocious independent art to flourish in Tāmaki Makaurau
We’ve shaken up the fizzies and they’re ready to pop!
“2023 marks the first year at Basement where we have been able to present a month-long season of Queer art as part of Auckland Pride Festival. The tidal wave of Queer excellence coming at us was so strong that you’ll find it not just in Pride but soaking well into our programme all summer long and we reckon that’s just as it should be. We have legendary icons, urgent and emergent voices, heart filled humour and an inaugural Festival of Live Art to keep you rinsed, inside out with the pleasures and treasures of live performance.” - Nisha Madhan, Basement Programmer
PRIDE
LGBTQI+ artists, art and performances are at Basement all February long. We have it on good authority that when you’re at Basement, you’re gayer.
CXNT Vol. 1 7-10 Feb, Mother Honey Givenchy gives a middle finger to censorship and the policing of non-binary bodies.
Club Cxnt 11 Feb, Wrapping up Cxnt Vol.1 The Luxurious House of Givenchy present a night of Skin & Sin - bring it in a look that shows off bawwwdddy and don't be scared to bring that devilish attitude.
Man Lessons 7-11 Feb, Adam Rohe takes us through the wild, earnest behind-the-scenes of the documentary of his transition.
Festival of Live Art, F.O.L.A (AKL) 14-18 Feb, the art brats are out to play in this festival of subversive, playful, and daring art featuring over 30 leading experimental and forward-thinking, feminist, queer, and BIPOC artists, including 5 international performers, across 10 full-length shows and a full free public program.
Concerning the UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill, Auckland 21-25 Feb, Reon Bell tells the story of a young man living in 1980s Auckland, struggling with his growing belief in aliens and his life as a closeted gay man.
No Homo 23 & 24 Feb, Two nights + Bigger theatre for even more LOLGBTs.
Festival of Live Art F.O.L.A (AKL), CXNT Vol. 1, Concerning the UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill Auckland, Man Lessons, No Homo
SUMMER
At Basement, we like to push Summer out as long as possible, so we have packed you up with summer goods right up until the end of April.
Bake away on our iconic Slab sippin’ on gin and juice before heading in for the cool, collective charm of experiencing the unexpected together… together. Summer at Basement offers you old and new kids on the block, long-distance lovers and a dose of the I-Know-What-You-Did-Last-Summer-Scaries!
New Kids
So Fresh and So Clean, these artists are plunging into their first-ever seasons at Basement.
Actor//Android 7-11 March, Louise Jiang’s solo comedy explores the industrialisation of art and its effect on our human relationships through Seven - an AI designed to seduce and destroy the performance industry.
Tunnelling Wormholes 28 March - 1 April, a dance work by Miriam Eskildsen/Solveig Mov. exploring a singular friendship through the exuberant and wandering theatricalities of a budding imagination.
Limited Time Only 4-6 April, Ensemble devised physical theatre compiled entirely out of advertising copy from some of Aotearoa’s most well-known brands, brought to you by rising star Hone Taukiri.
Cholo Fugue 25-29 April, an unhinged comedy by an ethnically ambiguous immigrant casts a spell of existential euphoria created by Esaú Mora
Tunnelling Wormholes, Cholo Fugue
Old Friends
Absolute icons returning for another dip!
Badong 23-25 March, A brand new hour of laughs from James Roque about growing up and finding joy in adulthood.
Not Woman Enough 28 March - 1 April, Like being privy to an adult slumber party after the 5th round of never-have-I-ever - Proudly Asian Theatre presents a new play by Hweiling Ow
A Tart on Tour 18-22 April, anyone who has auditioned in Auckland will know Andrea Kelland, now watch her perform her own life on tour and always searching for excitement and ‘The Ultimate Good Time’.
Champions 18-22 April, Written by Isabella McDermott and directed by Harriett Marie, four emerging visual artists vie for a prestigious award. When one finalist rejects a proposal to split the $50,000 prize, things begin to fall apart.
Not Woman Enough, A Tart on Tour, James Roque presents Badong
Long-distance Lovers
Give it up for our Pōneke pals!
Tea with Terrorists 28 Feb - 4 March, Journey with Sameena Zehra as she shares stories from a life that straddles two very different cultures; having tea with some terrorists in Kashmir among many others.
Fish Saw 4-6 April, Created by a team of artists from Japan, Argentina, and the USA, Fish Saw is like Ghibli meets Isabel Allende, with original animation and musical score. Inspired by Sachie Mikawa’s family in Sendai, Japan, who lived by the sea for hundreds of years until one fateful day that changed their lives forever.
Tea with Terrorists, Fish Saw
I-Know-What-You-Did-Last-Summer-Scaries!
Every season is spooky season
Haha Horror 7-11 March, After a whole lot of cancellations due to Covid in 2022, David Correos & Hamish Parkinson can finally present the full season of their horrific comedy masterpiece.
The Wedding: Return Season 14-18 March, A Fool’s Company have created a truly unique piece of theatre that will make you gasp in terror, laugh until you wee, and finally, question the traditions we hold sacred.
To Be Frank 14-18 March, A hilariously horrifying comedy about Frankenstein’s monster thrust into creation and trying its best to discover why. Performed and created by Michael Hockey
To Be Frank, The Wedding: Return Season, Haha Horror
Jump into the Summer/Pride season from 7 Feb!
