DAFT 2022
2022 was the first year of D.A.F.T. This page contains information about last year's programme.
DAFT Programme 2022
2023 programme will be launching soon.
Events & Shows
Launch Party & Living Library
Welcome speech/es, info about the Festival programme and kaupapa…, sharing food and drinks, a living library/speed date an artist component where launch goers can meet and interview DAFT artists about them and their creative work.
Welcome to the launch of DAFT - the Disabled Artists' Festival of Theatre!
We'll have welcome speeches, info about the Festival programme and kaupapa, we'll share food and drinks, and you'll find a living library where you can speed date an artist - meet and interview DAFT participants and ask about them and their creative work!
Wellington Feminist Poetry
The Wellington Feminist Creative Community brings you its curated Poetry Night, this month in association with DAFT. Eight disabled poets bring their finest work to your Tuesday night, with MC Creatif Kate. All proceeds go back to the poets.
DAFT x Barbarian SCRATCH NIGHT
Thursday 22 September, 7pm
(Venue entrance: 70 Victoria Street)
Volunteer Audio Described
Scratch Night offers artists and audiences an opportunity to present short excerpts or ideas of work-in-development, offering audiences bite sized morsels of wild new work and artists an opportunity to test and present work in front of a live, generous, art-loving audience. Come and witness some of Poneke’s finest disabled artists in what promises to be an unforgettable night. If you are a disabled poet, dancer, comedian, writer, performer or singer and want to present your work please email Jessie.
Illegally Blind
Friday 23 September, 7pm
(Venue entrance: 70 Victoria Street)
Integrated Audio Description
Touch Tour 6.30pm
Tw: Ableism, fatphobia, queerphobia
Tragedy!
Hardship!!
Inspiration!!!
This. Is. NOT. That. Show.
Susan is a perfectly normal queer, fat, functionally blind, Autistic, chronically and mentally ill, nonbinary person, who just happens to be collecting diagnoses faster than they collect eel facts.
In this not-so-solo solo show, Susan just wants to get stuff done. Instead, they end up on an epic quest, battling sock-puppets, ableist audio-describers, a pile of laundry, and people who don’t provide digital copies of important documents.
Drawing on twenty years of theatre and performance skills, Susan brings their real-life experiences to the stage. The result is a whimsical romp through the world of identity and shattered expectations, mixing traditional theatre with stand up comedy, poetry, improvisation, and more silly voices than you can shake an eel at.
Content warning: Illegally Blind contains references to ableism, fatphobia and queerphobia.
Spring Shoots: Performance & Film work from Silver Noodle Soup
Saturday 24 September, 7pm
(Venue entrance: 70 Victoria Street)
Volunteer Audio Described
Witness 2022 Wellington Airport Award Winners, Silver Noodle Soup. The Film & Theatre Company presents another legendary theatre performance programme and premiers their latest film SNS 4! SNS artists roll out the red carpet to showcase their ensemble skills in movement & song including resident writer Maggie Rose Paine’s Instruments Have a Christmas Party… where violins going by the clump, French horns sneeze and bassoons go unheeded… and some solo acts to boot!
SNS4 is a 30 minute, captioned, roller coaster ride of Silver Noodle Film Making Workshop 2021 artists doing what they love best: big song hits, drag, storytelling, dance, movie scenes, magic tricks and comedy.
Sexy Sunday Shenanigans
Slide into Sunday evening with a truly vaudevillian variety show, featuring tantalising talent from the top tier of Wellington’s performance world. All corners of the cabaret scene are covered: burlesque, pole, comedy, drag, poetry, music, a mixture of them all – we've found only the finest for you to wind down the weekend with. Starring: Laura Loach, Blood Baby, Nathan Bond, Vixen Temple, EJ Barrett, Dave Batten, ShaZaah, Ness Quick
Created, produced, and hosted by Wellington's wildest woman – Creatif Kate (winner 2021 Welly Comedy Award for Innovation).
Made possible with the support of the WCC Living Wage for Artists Fund.
Workshops
Intro to Improv Workshop
A workshop for disabled people which puts our experiences first. Have you always wanted to try improv, or do you already love it?
And are you disabled or have a long term mental or physical condition?
Come along and learn how to make theatre on the spot, have some fun, and unlock your spontaneity!
No experience necessary. This will be a fun jam, and an exploration of skills, for any experience level.
Learn from a fellow disabled improvisor, and throw away your inhibitions, expectations, and a decent chunk of your dignity. As we play games, look over some basics, and have an amazing time connecting with each other, and above all, making stuff up!!! All the exercises and games are adaptable, and no one will make you do something you are uncomfortable with. The tutor is blind and neurodivergent, so the day will absolutely be blind and ND friendly.
Inside Drag with Les Femmes
Les Femmes, New Zealand’s cabaret drag sensation is coming to DAFT! This trio of gals deliver slick vocals, tight choreography and bucket loads of belly laughs.
Come behind the scenes and grab a taste of Drag prep and performance! DAFT 2022 are excited to be hosting the Les Femmes queens for an insightful performance preparation demonstration. Join us for a fascinating window into the complex 'getting ready' process the Les Femmes queens embark on each time they prepare for a performance. From makeup design and application, to body work, wigs, jewellery and costuming - watching the queens become 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' and performance ready is an education you won't want to miss out on! You will have lots of opportunity to ask questions and talk with Les Femmes about Drag performing.
Silver Noodle Soup Drama Workshop
Would you like to try out drama in a no-stress, friendly and inclusive environment or check out how our Silver Noodle Soup Film and Theatre Company approaches inclusive performing arts practice? At the workshop you will meet and spend time with disabled performing artists, play games, share ideas, devise and perform pieces with a disability-led film and theatre company! Silver Noodle Soup Company members alongside tutors Madeline McNamara and Haidee Clark will lead this fun session. SNS Company members are young performing artists, film and theatre makers with intellectual disabilities and/or who are neuro-diverse. Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend this workshop!
MC Workshop
Join Creatif Kate for a beginner's guide to MCing as a person with disabilities. Learn about stage presence, crowd work, and setting the scene for shows of all kinds. Practise your skills with the class, gain confidence in front of an audience, learn how to manage your disabilities, and have fun!!
Creatif Kate is well-known on the poetry, comedy, and cabaret circuits of Wellington. She's a poet, producer, performer, photographer, preacher – basically, if it starts with 'p' she's in. She has done MC work of various kinds for many years and lives with multiple chronic conditions, both physical and mental.