Festival of Colour launches 2013 programme

The Southern Lakes Festival of Colour has announced its 2013 programme featuring an international mix of theatre, art, dance, conversation and music against the spectacular autumn scenery of the Southern Lakes region.
Highlights of the 2013 festival include two world premieres as well as the power and energy of New Zealand's top dance company and a visit from one of the world's most celebrated investigative journalists during six action-packed days from 16th to 21st April.
In one premiere, Michael Houstoun teams up with soprano Jenny Wollerman for 'Between Darkness and Light' a performance that moves the audience from night through to morning with a compelling series of songs from the last 200 years accompanied by full theatrical lighting.
The second premiere is 'Tracing Hamlet', a deconstructed production of the Shakespeare classic set in Puzzling World's famous maze and illusion rooms. Leading professional director, Sara Brodie is working with local artists and performance students from Mt Aspiring College for this true Wanaka original.
'Aspiring Conversations' is expected, once again, to be a real festival highlight. This year veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh tops the bill with two hard-hitting sessions on US foreign policy. Hersh won a Pulitzer Prize for uncovering the 1969 My Lai massacre in Vietnam and also broke the story of the US military's mistreatment of detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2004.
Festival Director, Philip Tremewan explained "Seymour is a star performer and his appearance is a real coup.
"He'll be talking about American wars past, present and future as well as how one finds out the truth from government and military agencies who wish to keep it concealed. This is all highly relevant for New Zealand given its involvement in global conflict as a close ally of the US."
New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager, hugely out of favour with Prime Minister John Key and his predecessor Helen Clark, is also speaking on this country's presence in Afghanistan while there are separate 'Aspiring Conversations' on religion, poetry, art and politics.
New Zealand's top contemporary dance company, Black Grace brings its spectacular Vaka to Wanaka and Queenstown especially for the festival. There are just two performances of the show that's taken Europe by storm an explosive mix of Pacific culture and contemporary dance.
Other theatrical highlights include a brand new Dave Armstrong comedy Kings of the Gym, another Auckland Theatre Company production On the Upside Down of the World, beat generation piece Beautiful Losers and SALON, a sister-piece to 2011 festival favourite, HOTEL set in a real hair salon with the audience limited to just 15 for each performance.
The musical programme is eclectic, electric and acoustic featuring New Zealand Guitar Quartet, Electric Wire Hustle (performing with their parents!), NZ Music Awards 2012 winner Amiria Grenell, the country's leading percussion group Strike, New Zealand queen of soul Bella Kalolo and the Yoots, a calypso-ska supergroup led by Fat Freddy's Drop trombonist, Hopepa.
Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells for Two sold out at the Edinburgh and Wellington Festivals just two musicians recreate the classic album live with no extra hands. Fabulous Arabia is another double-act sure to sell out with Lawrence Arabia and Mike Fabulous (Black Seeds) joining forces with a backing band of heavyweight musos from Fat Freddy's Drop, Trinity Roots and others.
'Songs to Leave Behind' is an astonishingly powerful performance by three of the country's finest singer-songwriters Julia Deans, Anna Coddington and Don McGlashan. Specially commissioned for the Christchurch Festival after the quakes, they lay hearts and voices on the line celebrating the power of song.
BabyO is an altogether different experience Scottish Opera's interactive mini-opera specially composed for babies proves you're never too youn

http://www.festivalofcolour.co.nz/festivals/2013