The 2011 Auckland Arts Festival presents:
SMOKE & MIRRORS
The Festival is thrilled to present the sensational new show from Sydney Festival and the producers of the 2007 and 2009 sell-out hit La Clique. Oozing out of the utterly gorgeous boudoir of the Spiegeltent, Smoke & Mirrors explodes with a dazzling array of quixotic characters: Vaudevillian tap dancer, twisted chanteuse, sublime aerialist, death defying acrobats, an ooh-ahh magician – and the odd white rabbit.
The talk of the 2010 festival circuit, Smoke & Mirrors, directed by Craig Ilott, stars the co-creator of the show, and ringmaster extraordinaire iOTA, plus a troupe of luscious burlesques and a wicked live band. Premiering to critical acclaim and a triumphant sell out season at Sydney Festival, Smoke & Mirrors was a smash hit at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and won three prestigious Helpmann Awards for Best New Australian Work, Best Cabaret Performer - iOTA, and Best Original Score. The Guardian gave Smoke & Mirrors four stars, praising iOTA as “a remarkable presence both seductive and repellent, jaunty and regretful, malevolent and desperately sad.”
Director Craig Ilott’s career highlights include Hedwig and the Angry Inch (for which he won the 2007 Green Room Award for Best Direction) and Company B’s production of The Pillowman. Helpmann award-winner iOTA won a Green Room Award for his role in the Australian production of Hedwig and his strangely electrifying take on Frank N Furter in a recent production of The Rocky Horror Show brought the house down. This Festival, let the Spiegeltent – situated in the magical Festival Garden – be your portal to the glamorous side of life. Join the Smoke & Mirrors troupe for a lyrical adventure – but be warned, tickets will sell fast. Book early to avoid disappointment!
