Kōanga Festival | Rutene Spooner's Be Like Billy?
Presented in partnership with PANNZ

BE LIKE BILLY? WILL SURELY GO DOWN AS A TRUE TAONGA OF AOTEAROA’S THEATRE HISTORY” 

– Backstage Christchurch | Belinda Cullen Reid

 Tāmaki Makaurau Premiere. Join award-winning entertainer Rutene Spooner as he celebrates show-band legacy, idolises the greatest Māori showman, and tussles with the future of Māori in entertainment.

 Featuring the flashest southern showband The Tekīra Mutton Birds, Be Like Billy? strums up all new and original waiata, garage party classics, and old-school hits from the likes of Uncle Howie, The Prince of Jandels, and Te legend, Te master, Te chuckling funny-fala.

Be Like Billy? is everything but an impersonation show. Can you Be Like Billy without being the butt of the joke?

“Spooner lays out this complexity for us in a show that starts with joy and celebration, with nostalgia, then pivots to something more complex when the audience is confronted with the division between laughing at and laughing with…” — Flat City Field Notes | Erin Harrington

Originally commissioned by The Court Theatre, produced by Metro Māori Productions and presented as part of the PANNZ (Performing Arts Network of New Zealand) touring programme.

WHEN: 25 -28 September, 7.30pm
WHERE: Te Pou Theatre, Corbans Wine Estate, Auckland
TICKETS: https://nz.patronbase.com/_TePou/Productions/BLB/Performances