International acts in NZ for Kids Fest

International artists are arriving in Wellington for New Zealand's biggest arts festival for children.

Arriving by plane from Bristol, a dubiously sail worthy boat from Hobart and on the back of a giant whale from Melbourne – the international acts for the Capital E National Arts Festival have started to arrive in Aotearoa!

From Australia we have theatre from acclaimed company Born in a Taxi (Melbourne) who are taking over Illot Green with their two shows – The Whale’s Tale, where an eight metre humpback whale made almost entirely from recycled materials needs the audiences help and the search is on to fix his broken heart; and A Curious Game sees a ridiculous over-sized chess board come to life with brilliant physical theatre and improvisation.

“Born in a Taxi are a captivating group of performers . . .their theatrical skills are so finely tuned they’re like reflexes, and you never know what they’ll do next . . .” - Herald Sun, Melbourne

 A show with puppets, circus, magic and adventure is BOATS by Terrapin Puppet Theatre (Hobart). Life long friends Jof and Nic set sail for an adventure of the aquatic kind with inventive staging and puppetry to tell the beautifully crafted tale of two mariners fleeing their past and embracing their future.

For music lovers Australian composer and musician Linsey Pollak (Queensland) will delight with his quirky new show Passing Wind, creating wind instruments from the most unexpected materials! Pollak has worked as a musical instrument maker for over 35 years and has designed a number of new wind instruments as well as specialising in woodwind instruments from Eastern Europe.

Captivating and cheeky multi media performance 2 Dimensional Life of Her is described as “an Andy Warhol for a new era”. Fleur Elise Noble (Brisbane), presents her award-winning show set in an artist studio combining puppetry, film, drawing and animation to create a mesmerising universe where anything is possible.

“When I first started to develop this work I was computer illiterate. I taught myself the basics, and expanded on all of the skills I had in drawing and sculpture to create puppets, work with film and to bring my creations to life. There's virtually nothing in this performance that a 10 year old couldn't do...” – Fleur Elise Noble

And rounding up the international acts - from the UK, Myrtle Theatre Company (Bristol), will perform their poignant, life-affirming comedy Up Down Boy, a play inspired by the extraordinary life story of Nathan Bessell who has Down syndrome and his mother’s unique perspective on bringing him up.

For two weeks Wellington becomes an exciting hub of theatre, dance and music for schools and families visiting the capital as venues around the city play host to thousands of children.

With these six exciting international shows the fifth biennial Festival promises to be exciting, inspiring and unique!

The festival will take place 13 – 27 March 2011