Prolific playwright Sam Brooks has not one, but two plays premiering in Wellington and Auckland in February for Pride.

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different region to get the latest on the arts and culture scene. This week we’re at Waitangi.

Kiwis will be watching the next season of White Lotus even more closely, following the casting of New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly (Housebound, Mean Mums, Wentworth). The hugely successful dark comedy will be set in Thailand for its third season, following earlier seasons in Hawaii and Italy.

It may be 2024, but playwright Albert Belz (Ngati Porou, Ngā Puhi, Ngati Pokai) wants you to stretch like it's 1990. Dedicated to the pump of aerobics, Belz’s new play Hyperspace is an unapologetic 1990 nostalgia fest.

RNZ Culture 101 takes you behind the scenes and on a tour inside a giant bouncy castle complex with a difference.

News in the past week from the arts and culture sector

Each show, Culture 101 visits a different region to find out what's going on in the arts and culture scene.

For our first show back this year, we're heading to Te Tairāwhiti and joining us is prolific Maori artist, musician, cultural advocate and the chief executive of the Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, Tama Waipara.

Everyone can sing. Not necessarily well, but everyone has the ability. The phenomenon Pub Choir has taken this idea and combined singing with comedy and beers.

For teenagers who grew up in the 2000s, Bring It On (2000) was a VHS and DVD staple. It would, without fail, be brought out during sleepovers. It felt like everyone knew the cheerleading chants. Kirsten Dunst was at the height of her fame.

Closer to home, it’s serving as inspiration for a new theatre show Pring It On!, with the pom poms swapped out for Polyfest. The story goes behind the scenes, into the dramatic world of the world’s largest Secondary Schools’ Pacific Dance Festival.

Most of us at some point have worked for a company with an HR (Human Resources) Department. We’re familiar with the jargon and usually have brushes with the team entering and exiting a role. 

But what about HR as a musical?