THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

Photo: Nick George / Aotearoa New Zealand Festival Special Note: Co-commissioned by the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts and YIRRAMBOI. Mythosoma is a bold, uncompromising, and viscerally affecting new dance‑theatre work by Body Island – Motu Tinana, the creative partnership of Nancy Wijohn and Kelly Nash. Part choreography, part ritual, the piece probes where shock and trauma continue to live on—in muscle, voice, and silence—as shifting forces that ripple through time, inviting audiences to recognise what the body holds and how it transforms.  

Sometimes we are short on time.  Even short stories take up too much attention.  So what if we had a collection of tiny, microfictions to ingest during a train ride or waiting for a bus or uber.  Maybe we've got 10 minutes to spare between meetings or waiting for our plane to land.  Maybe we just need a micro break.  Enter 'Short I Poto' a collection in English and te reo Māori, featuring 1 x page stories written by both well-known and emerging names. 

 The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA) has named children’s and YA author Fleur Beale this year’s NZSA President of Honour.

Photo: Nick George / Aotearoa NZ Festival The Works distils everything that makes Briefs Factory a standout in contemporary cabaret, delivering a fast‑paced, glitter‑soaked showcase of their best circus, drag, burlesque and comedy. The performers hit the stage with explosive energy, shifting effortlessly between high‑impact acrobatics, cheeky humour and flirtatious charm, all underscored by dazzling aerial work performed with both precision and theatrical flair. Sequins, feathers and barely‑there costumes amplify the fun, becoming part of the rhythm as quick changes and visual gags punctuate the action. Despite its spectacular bravado, the show retains a warm, camp camaraderie that keeps the audience feeling included and celebrated. Eclectic but cohesive, The Works highlights the troupe’s range—moving from sensual burlesque to bold circus feats to drag‑queen banter—creating a vibrant tribute to queer creativity, physical mastery and the joy of performance.

A witty, slightly hokey yet original look at a small town’s determined effort to stay afloat in the shadow of an overpowering urban giant. Jonas Jonasson is a Swedish journalist and writer, best known as the author of 'The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared'. He has a knack for spinning stories that feel both delightfully improbable and strangely plausible, and 'The Distinctly Competent District Councillor' fits neatly into that tradition.  His latest novel offers a playful, lightly satirical look at a fading district whose future becomes unexpectedly tied to Konrad Kaltenbacher Jr., heir to the Traumbett mattress empire — a company that has conquered the world everywhere except Sweden. It reads almost like a folk tale, light on detail, heavy on exaggerations. Facts are fluid, unchecked and mostly unimportant.  Rather than leaning on grand drama, Jonasson builds his narrative around the quirks and stubborn hopes of ordinary people. Like the ...