An abundance of inspiration and entertainment greeted visitors to the Coromandel over the last official holiday weekend of the summer season.     

 

The Easter break saw creative passions unleashed the length and breadth of the peninsula, from the Colville Easter Festival in the north to the Printmakers Combined Exhibition down south in Whangamata. Holiday makers and locals were spoiled for choice with a staggering mix of arts related events providing something for everyone.  

 

Among the many reasons for celebration was the emergence of new innovative ideas to sit alongside long-standing annual staples, as well as the distinctly youthful flavour of several of the weekend’s offerings.   

 

Providing young people of the Northern Coromandel with a chance to perform through drama and song was the motivation behind The Great Piratical Rumbustification which graced the stage at both the Colville Easter Festival and Hauraki House Theatre in Coromandel Town. The play is based on a story by Margaret Mahy and this production by The Coromandel Players featured a full children’s cast directed by Barry Ross.    

 

“Rehearsals over the several weeks prior to the performances were held in both Papa Aroha and Coromandel Town to ease the travel that children and their parents needed to do to be involved,” explained Warwick Mather, Creative Coromandel trustee for Coromandel Town.    

 

The cast included several main characters and a large pirate choir, with children from five years to teenagers participating.  An adult theatre crew included stage manager, backstage, set construction, costumes, lighting and sound, prompt and on-stage keyboard player. Support in so many ways from parents of cast members made it a true community project.     

 

“As the rehearsals progressed, it was wonderful to see these young people on stage grow in confidence and ability with their performance. It is experiences like this that can open doors to these young people’s future direction. This was a truly worthwhile undertaking with many positive outcomes that will resonate for a long time,” said Warwick.    

 

Meanwhile, down the East coast in Cook’s Beach, a fledgling initiative held an exciting and successful debut. Think Coromandel Gig Guide staged its first pop-up exhibition featuring the work of 10 local creatives in a range of disciplines including painting, drawing, ceramics and photography. With no set theme, the desire was to introduce locals and visitors to some fresh and creative talent from our peninsula that they may not have encountered before.    

 

“Our opening night was a real party with Let’s Go Descarrego playing some tunes, followed by a great weekend with plenty of curious visitors and art lovers through the door,” said organiser Emma Mudgway.    

 

Emma is one of the artists behind Think Coromandel Gig Guide which, like Creative Coromandel, is fast becoming another fantastic resource for everything arts related on the peninsula. Emma is promising there is more to come from the Think team and advises “watch this space” to see where they might pop up next.   

 

Other successful events over the Easter weekend included Coromandel Easter Exhibition, Whangamata Open Studios Trail, Makers 1 Exhibition in Kuaotunu and the Deb Brock Exhibition at Thames Society of Arts, Tararu. And despite the fact winter is almost upon us, there is no cooling down on the local arts scene with lots on the horizon to look forward to.  

 

Gitbox Rebellion, an innovative and exciting 10 piece Guitar ensemble, promises an unforgettable acoustic experience in the intimate setting of the Back Room Performance Space at Lotus Realm on May 24th. Or how about taking on the groovy contagious African Drumming Rhythms & Dances workshop at Hot Water Beach on May 26th? For those who like their funny bone tickled, Queen’s Birthday holiday will see Auckland based “Casual First Date” bring their brand of comedy improv to Whitianga on June 1st. 

 

Check out our events guide for lots more dates for your diary, right around the Coromandel.  

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