Known for their irreverent comedy and cabaret antics, The Crimson Club’s dynamic line up of vocals and violin, accordion and high-hat, cello, alto flute and kick drum (simultaneously), with a splash of theremin brings a truly original take on some great classic tunes.

The capital's premier comedy competition. Witness the rising stars in stand-up comedy before they hit the big time.

See the top 10 new comedians in the capital battle it out for a spot in the national Grand Final!

After a SOLD-OUT January showcase, more of Pōneke’s best professional comics come together for an epic night of laughs!

A compilation of their best sets, this is a celebration of Wellington comedy at its finest.

Lace up your boots… Grass Roots is back by popular demand for TAHI 2026!

his energetic solo show tackles queerness, masculinity, and our national obsession with the game we love.

MOTHERED is a new theatre work in development exploring the complex and essential relationship we have with our mothers and motherhood.

Get to know Anita Wigl'it in this kooky, hilarious and tell-all one-woman show.

Travel back in time to 1989 when a little boy with a big personality was born. Then follow him as he grows up into the glamorous drag queen that we all know and love.

Seven writers write a letter to a reader they will never meet, sending their words into the future in the hope they’ll find someone waiting on the other side. Through curiosity and speculation, they contemplate the future, our place within it and who is ahead of us.

Featuring Witi Ihimaera Smiler (Te Whānau A Kai, Te Aitanga A Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Ira, Ngāti Porou), Elizabeth Knox, Tīhema Baker (Raukawa te Au ki te Tonga, Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira), Terri Te Tau (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa), Pip Adam, Mia Farlane and Shariff Burke.

Inspired by words from Chris Tse’s new collection Dance-Floor Romance, this electric poetry event invites poets to respond to the line: ‘pleasure and pain share a heart’.

Where longing meets euphoria, and nostalgia pulses through the body like the beat of your favourite pop ballad, Tusiata Avia, Hinemoana Baker, Simon Sweetman, Jackson McCarthy, Helen Rickerby, and Nafanua Purcell Kersel take to the stage with poems that shimmer, sting and seduce.

At the age of 80 novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera Smiler chose to immerse himself in te reo Māori during a year of full-time study at Te Wānanga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa.

The journey proved no small undertaking—wading through shame, loss and disconnection, the beloved author found fulfilment, reconnection and joy in the reo of his tīpuna.

Looking to the past to better understand the present, three authors explore how colonisation and environmental change reverberate across generations binding the past, present and future.

Hana Buchanan, Lauren Keenan, and Terri Te Tau in conversation with Matariki Williams discuss the connections between whakapapa, whenua and history, and the ways these relationships continue to shape the present.

Dismissed as a feminist disruptor and accused of leading a witch-hunt, Dame Silvia Cartwright’s work heading the 1988 Cervical Cancer Inquiry is now recognised as a turning point in public health accountability, exposing medical malpractice and igniting national controversy.

In her memoir, That Woman, she threads personal story with national history. Anna Fifield joins her to discuss courage, reform, and the enduring fight for justice.

Memory is both precious and precarious. What does it take to access memories that are buried deep in the past, still being made sense of in the present, and to share them with care, responsibility, and imagination?

Elizabeth Knox, Joseph Trinidad, and Tusiata Avia work across different forms, generously opening up intimate worlds. Emma Ng joins them to discuss the ethics of writing memory, capturing real lives into art, and the slippery, abstract nature of memory itself.

Award-winning author Brannavan Gnanalingam returns with his ninth novel, U.X.O., an intergenerational exploration of memory and the lingering consequences of war.

Drawing on histories connected to his Sri Lankan heritage, Gnanalingam discusses how fiction can open up conversations that history alone cannot resolve. In conversation with Balamohan Shingade.

In the city of Cork lies the former Victorian mental asylum known as Our Lady’s, now transformed into modern apartments. The building and its stories are a haunting presence in both Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s Said the Dead and Noelle McCarthy’s Stakes.

In conversation with Claire Mabey, these Irish authors discuss the building’s hold on their lives, its violence and legacy, and how the dead continue to speak through archives, memory and storytelling.

Legendary frontman of Shihad and The Adults, Jon Toogood, pulls back the curtain on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the roar of international stages, this is a life driven by sound.

Nick Bollinger joins him to explore the sounds and stories that forged an astounding career. This is more than a rock story.

Two teams take to the stage to thrash it out in Don’t Worry, Tech will Save Us! A fast-paced, big-thinking debate where wild hypotheticals and genuine insight collide. Expect sharp arguments, questionable statistics and plenty of laughs.

Adjudicated by comedian Jerome Chandrahasen and featuring Chlöe Swarbrick, Toby Manhire, James Nokise, Pip Adam, Samantha Hannah and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith.

Described by Ali Smith as ‘one of the finest writers alive’ Michelle de Kretser is among Australia’s most acclaimed authors, celebrated for her genre-defying, socially astute fiction. A multiple winner of Australia’s top literary awards, her work is renowned for its sharp intelligence and wit.

Kate Duignan joins Michelle de Kretser to discuss a celebrated writing career and her triumphant new work.

Step into the chamber and imagine the future we could build. Drawing on their recent books, four formidable writers - Kaeden Watts, Lucy O’Hagan, Carwyn Jones, and Trish Harris - deliver their own maiden speeches, sharing hopeful visions of possibility, followed by a conversation with Toby Manhire.

This event will be NZSL interpreted.

Inhabiting a mind or body that society often refuses to accommodate is a life’s work. Fighting the prejudices that make that difficult is an act of political rebellion, one that is capable of unleashing great joy. Join Deaf and disabled writers for readings and kōrero that will annihilate the ableist tropes between them and their good times.

Emcee Olivia Shivas, editor of The D*List, will lead a panel including writer/librarians Riah Tahana-Dawson and Bee Trudgeon, and writer/actor/filmmaker Jared Flitcroft.

This event will be NZSL interpreted.

How do we write other people’s stories? What do we leave in and what remains unseen?

Asher Emanuel and Aaron Smale capture the stories of others by using fiction writing techniques: creating arcs, characterising people, unfurling facts – somehow without blurring the line of truth?

In conversation with writer and journalist, Māni Dunlop, they discuss the influence of fiction on their work, and how narrative can drive new ways of understanding facts.

Join Catherine Robertson and a panel of writers as they find words for the books that have found them speechless.

Sri Lankan Australian author, Michelle de Kretser (Theory & Practice), will share the stage with esteemed, award-winning Aotearoa writers; Ingrid Horrocks (All Her Lives); Elizabeth Knox (Night, Ma); publisher of Spoor Books, Balamohan Shingade; and Chris Tse (Dance-Floor Romance).

Perfect for book clubs, curious readers, and anyone looking for their next literary obsession. Come away with a stack of recommendations to add to your bedside table.

Arco y Olvidé marks a new chapter in the artistic journey of Lebanese-New Zealander flamenco guitarist and composer Paul Bosauder. Paul’s music draws from the deep vocabulary of Andalucía while allowing his own melodies, harmonies and sense of space to emerge with honesty and restraint.

Paul Bosauder will present his second album live at The Hannah Playhouse, Wellington, joined by world-class flamenco musicians travelling directly from Spain for a night of flamenco energy, intimacy and harmony.

Taite Music Prize-winning New Zealand songwriter Anthonie Tonnon presents Cinematographer, an immersive audiovisual performance combining live electronic music, cinematic storytelling and visual design.

Part film, part disco club set, and part francophile performance lecture, the show moves between the Situationist International in 1960s France and Italy, and the mysterious city of Whanganui, New Zealand at the turn of the millennium.