‘In the beginning, there was Rage’ a Bogan Gala 2022

Dust off your sharkies and comb back your mullet because bogans are taking over Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre for a mid-winter rage fest!

‘In the beginning, there was Rage’ a Bogan Gala 2022 is the first chapter of current Arts Centre Creative Resident Rose Kirkup’s new work Period Drama bringing their unique live performance style back to Ōtautahi, after their 2021 debut of Boys for the Court Theatre Youth Company.

The Bogan Gala 2022 will take place in the Great Hall on Friday 29 July, 6:30pm - 9:30pm. An all-ages alcohol-free event, with a fun-filled atmosphere, invites you to come in fancy dress, either in period costume or your best bogan drip.

“Hefty Jeff the balloon man will be there and the Wizitch of Canterbury!  It’s accessible and there’ll be affordable kai and fairground treats, raffles, and spot prizes for the best dressed!” says Director/Producer Rose Kirkup.

Arts Centre Director Philip Aldridge said, “it’s a night of festivities for the whole whānau to embrace full of magical moments, lively music, engaging performance, kid’s story time, mask painting… and a few delightful surprises along the way”.

Rose will activate their powers cultivated over the past decade working across the live arts sector, for companies like WOW, Taki Rua, NZ Opera, and more. They co-founded arts collective Everybody Cool Lives Here in 2011, allowing them to find some of the most amazing collaborators, making perception-pushing theatre across the North Island. 

Rose identifies as a TransMAD bogan from Upper Hutt, and their art is a celebration of identity, community, and all people who face barriers. Rose has Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) which makes it difficult for them to go very far from home. “I've noticed in a 15-minute radius around The Arts Centre there are many memorials. To treat some of my symptoms I recently had a hysterectomy, a harrowing time that took me into places of deep grief and loss. I want to koha back to the city saying thank you for holding me with such tenderness, aroha, and the bravery I see in its people helped me to be brave too,” says Rose.  

Bogan Gala 2022 is for the community to come and celebrate in a space of memorial, processing some of the pain through the party, acknowledging the beauty and rage we feel in a life cycle. Rose said “Ōtautahi has been through so much yet so much magic remains, Bogan Gala 2022 is happening where all are welcome, where respect and fun will be at the core of the celebration.” 

Rose Kirkup

Raised in Orongomai/Upper Hutt, Rose is a TRANSMAD artist who activates audiences' hearts through performance with shows like Big J Stylez by Jacob Dombroski, produced by Everybody Cool Lives Here and directed by Rose. Rose is thrilled to be back in Ōtautahi collaborating with locals on their new work Period Drama, a bogan pride piece exploring rock, car culture, menstrual cycle, and period costume.