The New Zealand shows at the 2014 Edinburgh Festivals

• Brian Donaldson
• 15 July 2014

This article is from 2014.

On the Upside Down of the World

Including Generation of Z, Mau: I am, Witi Ihimaera, Black Grace anf The Troubles

Generation of Z

The Generation of Z hurls you head first into a world ravaged by the undead. Fight for your future as you journey through a battle against extinction. Set within a maze-like security containment depot swarming with terrifying zombies, you're in the thick of it until the bitter end, be it rescue … or death. Inspired by the movies and video games of the zombie genre, The Generation of Z is a multimedia horror play on steroids that takes a chainsaw to the fourth wall.
The Generation of Z, Assembly George Square Theatre, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 2–25 Aug (not 11, 19), various times, £12. Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, 9pm, 11.30pm, £8.

MAU: I AM

Following his acclaimed performances of Tempest: Without a Body and Birds with Skymirrors during Festival 2010, Lemi Ponifasio returns with another work, exploring the legacy of the First World War and the seismic impact the conflict had around the world.
MAU: I AM, Playhouse, Greenside Place, 0131 473 2000, 16 & 17 Aug, 8pm, £10–£32.

On the Upside Down of the World

Based on the memoir Our Maoris, this is the tale of a disabled English woman who went to New Zealand in the 1840s as the young bride of that country’s chief justice.
Assembly Roxy, Roxburgh Place, 0131 623 3030, 2–25 Aug (not 11), 1.15pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8.

Witi Ihimaera

Three Book Festival events are scheduled for the 70-year-old writer whose Whale Rider was turned into a successful 2002 movie. According to The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, he was the first Maori writer to pen both a book of short stories and a novel.
Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 15 Aug, 7pm; 17 Aug, 5pm; 18 Aug, 2pm, £10 (£8).

The Troubles

Edinburgh-born jazz drummer John Rae leads his cohorts back to the motherland with sounds described as the ‘coarse to the sublime and the emotive to the absurd.’
The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street, 0131 220 4298, 24 Jul, 8.30pm, £10; 25 Jul, 11pm, £5; Tron Kirk, High Street, 0131 473 2000, 27 Jul, 10pm, £6.

Where do I end and you begin

Five NZ artists are among those contributing to this cross-national exhibition ‘exploring the ideas, ideals and myths which underpin notions of community and common-wealth’.
City Art Centre, Market Street, 0131 529 3993, 1 Aug–19 Oct, Mon–Sat, 10am–5pm, Sun, noon–5pm, free.

Black Grace

Neil Ieremia draws from his Samoan and New Zealand roots for the choreography behind this troupe he founded in 1995. The company has established an international reputation while telling stories entrenched in the South Pacific.
Assembly Roxy, Roxburgh Place, 0131 623 3030, 2–22 Aug, 7.20pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £10.