Auckland City Guide - Culture

The New Zealand cultural scene is vibrant and receives a lot more attention these days than it has in the past, principally because of the cinematic release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Auckland, as a cultural melting pot, has a particularly healthy and diverse cultural scene, although not everything that the city generates gets beyond national boundaries.

One of the centres of Auckland cultural life is The Edge, a conglomeration of buildings around the junctions of Queen Street, Wellesley Street West, Albert Street and Mayoral Drive. Auckland Town Hall, Queen Street (tel: (09) 309 2677; website: www.the-edge.co.nz) is an impressively renovated building, with its Great Hall said to have some of the finest acoustics in the world. Behind the Town Hall, the Aotea Centre, Queen Street (tel: (09) 309 2677, website as above), has main and small stages, for drama, music, ballet and opera.

For a taste of the alternative culture with a bit more of a Polynesian influence, visitors should take a Saturday trip up the Karangahape (K) Road, or for that matter to any of the cultural or flea markets that spring up around the city on Saturday. K Road is awash with mainly Maori and Polynesian shops, butchers, fishmongers, grocers, craft shops, clothes shops, cafes and restaurants, all of which offer an intriguing insight into New Zealand's bi-cultural society.

Tickets can be booked through Ticketek, Aotea Centre, Queen Street (tel: (09) 307 5000 or 0800 842 538; website: http://premier.ticketek.co.nz). The Thursday and Saturday editions of the New Zealand Herald, the free monthly listings magazine What's Happening, and the free newspaper Tourist Times all provide listings and information on cultural performance and events in Auckland. Listings are also available online (website: www.aucklandnz.com).

Music: The Auckland Philharmonia (tel: (09) 623 1052 for tickets; website: www.akl-phil.co.nz) performs mainly at the Auckland Town Hall, Queen Street (tel: (09) 309 2677), which has classical music, opera and ballet regularly featured on the cultural menu. Although based in Wellington, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (tel: (04) 801 3890 or 0800 479 674; website: www.nzso.co.nz) also frequently performs in Auckland, usually at the Town Hall or the Aotea Centre, Queen Street. Outdoor concerts are also held regularly in the Auckland Domain during summer.

Theatre: The main venue, with various sized auditoriums, is the Aotea Centre, Queen Street (bookings as above). The beautifully restored Civic Theatre, Queen Street and Wellesley Street West (tel: (09) 307 5058; website: www.civictheatre.co.nz), north of the Town Hall, is used for plays and musicals.

More modern rock, dance, drama and cabaret performances take place at the Sky City Theatre, corner of Federal Street and Victoria Street (tel: (09) 912 6000; website: www.skycityauckland.co.nz). Local productions can be seen at the Dolphin Theatre, Spring Street, Onehunga (tel: (09) 636 7322 (bookings); website: www.dolphintheatre.org.nz) and the Howick Little Theatre Inc, Lloyd Elsmore Park, Howick (tel: (09) 534 1406; website: www.hlt.org.nz).

Dance: Numerous local dance groups include the Auckland Dance Company. There are regular visits from the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company, whose base is in Wellington. Most performances are given at the Aotea Centre, Queen Street (tel: (09) 309 2677). Black Grace is an all-male dance troupe from the Pacific Islands, while the Pounamu Maori Performance Group give regular displays of Polynesian song and dance at the Auckland Museum, Auckland Domain (tel: (09) 306 7067).

Film: The city used to have numerous cinemas but large-screen multiplexes have almost killed off smaller cinemas to leave central Auckland with one giant 12-screen cinema and two arthouse cinemas. The best listings are in the daily New Zealand Herald. The Sky City Village Megascreen, 291 Queen Street (tel: (09) 979 2401; website: www.villageskycity.co.nz) is part of a modern mall and concentrates on blockbusters and main stream releases. The main arthouse cinema is the Academy, situated beneath the city library, 44 Lorne Street (tel: (09) 373 2761; website www.academycinemas.com).

Decent small cinemas left elsewhere include The Bridgeway, 122 Queen Street, Birkenhead (tel: (09) 481 0040; website www.bridgeway.co.nz), Lido, 427 Manukau Road, Epsom (tel: (09) 630 1500; website www.lidocinema.co.nz) and Rialto, 167 Broadway, Newmarket (tel: (09) 369 2417; website www.rialto.co.nz). There is also a seven-storey high IMAX screen at Force Entertainment Centre, next to Aotea Square, Queen Street (tel: (09) 979 2400; website: www.skycitycinemas.co.nz).

The homegrown films that have caused the biggest international sensation are the Lord of the Rings trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson - parts of which were filmed not far from Auckland. The city has achieved more serious-minded celluloid acclaim for itself through the 1994 film Once Were Warriors, made from Alan Duff's harrowing novel about the struggle of a poor Maori family in south Auckland - but it's worth remembering that a little research pays great dividends with the New Zealand film industry which has also been responsible for such gems as The Piano (1993), Heavenly Creatures (1994), Whale Rider (2002), In My Father's Den (2004) and The World's Fastest Indian (2005) to name but a few.

Literary Notes: New Zealand, rather than just Auckland, has several literary figures, many of whom are known internationally, such as Katherine Mansfield, most noted for her short stories. Janet Frame concerned herself largely with the emotional crises that she herself experienced, while Keri Hulme, of mixed Maori, English and Orkney descent, won the Booker Prize for The Bone People (1983). This was an experimental work drawing on Maori culture and the best selling book ever by any living New Zealand author.

Maurice Gee, who worked in Auckland as a teacher and later a librarian, sets several of his novels in the city. Alan Duff's kitchen-sink dramas, such as Once Were Warriors (1990), examine the place of Maori in modern society. Witi Ihimaera, made famous by The Whale Rider (1987), is one of the country's finest Maori writers. Bulibasha - King of the Gypsies (1994) is probably the best introduction to his work.