In the Theatre, catch The Ruckus, a DIY fantasy nerd punk show. Part D&D, part improvised gig, three performers navigate a role-playing game dictated by dice rolls and a live band. Also, catch Live Reel: Undercover Beauty Queen. Hosted by Nicky Vella, Auckland comedians Becky Umbers, Catherine Yates, Nicko Vella, Chelsea McEwan Millar, Jack Buchanan, and Tyler Kokiri will attempt to perform Miss Congeniality entirely from memory. Will Sandy B stop the crimes? Will there be a talent portion? You bet… if they remember.
In the Studio, catch 404: Fafa Not Found, a multidisciplinary work that refuses to define identity, staging a continual rewriting of the body the algorithm rejects. Closing out the week, Bull Rushreturns for your improv comedy Friday fix. Come mess with the bull and feel the rush.
Mā te wā,
Basement Theatre x
404: FAFA NOT FOUND
26 – 28 Feb, 6.30pm. Studio. Choose What You Pay
404: Fafa Not Found explores the impossibility of being authentically represented and the rituals we invent when explanation fails. Drawing from queer Pasifika and Indigenous knowledge systems, it refuses to define identity, instead staging its continual rewriting. A butch queen, a liberated body, the body the algorithm rejects. This work invites you to decode what appears … and what stays hidden in the system.
Live Reel Presents: Undercover Beauty Queen
25 Feb, 8.30pm. Theatre. Choose What You Pay.
We’re back and we’re kicking off 2026 with a classic!
UNDERCOVER BEAUTY QUEEN!
Come see some of Auckland’s most crack up people as they perform Miss Congeniality all from memory!
Will Sandy B successfully become hot enough to stop some crimes against models? Will she remember to say ‘World Peace’? Will there be a talent portion of the pageant? You bet your ass there will be…if we remember.
The Ruckus
27 Feb, 7.30pm. Theatre. Choose What You Pay.
The Ruckus is a DIY fantasy nerd punk show. Every gig, a new line-up of three performers play a role-playing game (kinda like a very loose D&D), with a bunch of randomised elements decided by dice rolls while a live band plays an improvised soundtrack.
Tickets are Choose What You Pay from just $8 – The Ruckus is for all! All profits go back into making each Ruckus bigger than the last, so if you can afford a bit more on your ticket, it goes a long way.
So invite your adventuring party, buy some ticks, and we’ll see you down at The Ruckus!
Bull Rush
27 Feb, 10pm. Studio. Choose What You Pay.
No Friday night will ever be the same again.
With a roster of Tāmaki Makaurau’s best and brightest performers, expect spit-take worthy gags, epic stories, heartbreaking tales, and live improvised music at Bull Rush.
So gather your mates for a night of never before seen, totally made up, improvised comedy every Rāmere Friday.
Consider the ever-expanding blackness of space, the vastness of the deep ocean, That there is more video content on the internet than you could watch in your lifetime.
Do you remember the last time you really lost yourself on the dance floor?
Motion Sickness compares the end of the universe with the current political fire-storm of 2026. Using a score of pulsing electronic music, immersive, hypnotic visuals and breakneck-speed new writing, a2 Company is taking over the Basement Theatre for four nights to guide you through the three leading theories of the end of the world.
To be a tiny part of a massive universe is not the same as being insignificant.
Before We Begin – Fundraiser Season
5-7 Mar, 8.30pm. Studio.
Taskmaster meets Sex Education… Before We Begin returns for three nights only!
After delighting audiences at Pride, the Before We Begin team are thrilled to be coming back to Basement and Tāmaki Makaurau audiences before making our Australian premiere at Adelaide Fringe.
The Base – Street Dance Festival
5 – 7 Mar, Various Times. Theatre.
Back to the base. Built from the roots.
THE BASE is a three day street dance event focused on the foundations of the culture. Delivered on an intimate scale, this fest highlights foundation based performance, battle, and choreography, centring the underground street dance community.
Across three days, THE BASE creates space for street dance styles to be honoured and held through depth, exchange, and presence.
Day 1 Thursday 5th Showcase night featuring Hip Hop dance theatre
Day 2 Friday 6th Battle night centred on freestyle and dope music, 7PM start
Day 3 Saturday 7th Foundations Dance Contest honouring the roots and fundamentals of street dance.
THE BASE is presented by Projekt Team in collaboration with street dance groups and leaders from the community.
More details to be announced. See you at THE BASE.
E Ipo, My Love
10 – 14 Mar, 6:30pm. Studio. Choose What You Pay.
There’s all this history… but there’s also me and you.
E Ipo, My Love is an honest, heartfelt and at times hilarious look at what it is to be a Māori and Pākehā couple in Aotearoa New Zealand. Inspired by historical accounts, interviews with couples, and their own experiences of being together, Tane Te Pakeke-Patterson (Kai Tahu, Kāti Hateatea) & Gisele Proud pull back the curtain on bicultural relationships in a nation with "one of the best race relations in the world".
From first contact to final moments, E Ipo, My Love invites you to navigate both the uncomfortable and the uplifting alongside a young couple who are still trying to figure it out for themselves.
Bring your lover, your partner, or your situationship to enjoy this exciting new work by two young artists who are returning to Tāmaki Makaurau after developing and then touring this show internationally. The show was created through the Hagley Theatre School Six-Month Theatre Creation Course under the mentorship and direction of Dr Pedro Ilgenfritz.
Warewaretia
10 – 14 Mar, 8pm. Theatre. Choose What You Pay.
Alzheimer’s didn’t take just one life. It changed all of ours."
Warewaretia is a powerful one-woman theatre work by award-winning writer and performer Kristyl Neho, bringing 19 characters to life in an intimate, raw and deeply human story about whānau, memory and love.
Inspired by Kristyl’s grandmother’s who she called mum and her journey with Alzheimer’s, Warewaretia captures what happens inside a family when memory begins to fade, the chaos, the humour, the heartbreak, and the fierce love that holds everyone together.
First developed at Toi Whakaari in 2008 and later presented by The Conch in 2009, the work was performed at the Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival in 2016. It has since been fully redeveloped, returning as a bold new reimagined version shaped by time, lived experience, and deeper insight.
Following the success of Kristyl’s award-winning, sold-out solo show Tangihanga, Warewaretia moves between laughter and tears, delivering an unforgettable theatrical experience that is both deeply personal and widely relatable.
Support Basement Theatre, supporting artists, supporting a vibrant Tāmaki Makaurau.
Basement Theatre is where the ideas, artists and arts leaders of tomorrow are being formed. We are hell-bent on supporting artists to develop their craft and build sustainable careers. We need your help to make this happen and there are a number of easy ways you can support us.
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