Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

once was Greytown Library. Readers were also relieved at the reboot of the New Zealand Listener in the second half of the year, after its closure in April.As in the rest of the world, social distancing forced the closure of theatres and productions. During lockdown, many companies were forced to postpone or cancel, or indeed move their live art online. Auckland Theatre Company's Chekhov's The Seagull, written by Eli Kent and Eleanor Bishop, was repurposed for the digital screen. Delivered in 30-minute instalments over four weeks in May, Chekhov's characters were reimagined with a Kiwi twist and congregated over Zoom. When theatres could re-open in the latter half of the year, there was a boom in productions, with small and large companies alike taking advantage of the lack of international touring shows. Trick of the Light Theatre revived their production of The Road That Wasn't There, as well as their new show Tröll about the early stages and dangers of the Internet. Other new works included The Glitter Garden by George Fowler and Lori Leigh, the world's first drag musical extravaganza for children, and Stanley Makuwe's Black Lover, a gripping drama about war, politics, and colonialism. Inspired by Bocaccio's The Decameron, 48 Nights on Hope Street