Towards the end of William Shakespeare’s career, in the early years of the seventeenth century, all theatres in England went into lockdown to control an outbreak of the plague. Bad news certainly if you were an actor or theatre-goer, but when the playhouses finally reopened, it seems Shakespeare emerged from isolation having written two of his greatest works, King Lear and Macbeth.
Fast-forward to 2020 and while the rest of the world’s arts industry remains in pandemic-induced lockdown, here in New Zealand our own artists are coming back. We are thrilled to throw open doors to our theatres and galleries again to give our audiences one of the first festival opportunities anywhere in the world.
Artists from Taranaki’s creative community and across New Zealand have returned to help us re-set 2020!
We look forward to seeing you in Taranaki this November.
Craig Cooper, Artistic Director