C-Zone with Simon Howard

21/07/2025

The Royal New Zealand Ballet are back at the St James this week and we’ve got a double pass to giveaway to their opening night! ✨

Also don’t miss out on $30 tickets if you’re under 30 - what a deal! 🎟️

Competition Time!

We’ve got two tickets to give away to the opening night of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s landmark triple bill Home, Land and Sea this Thursday – and you could be going! 💃🩰

In collaboration with the New Zealand Dance Company, this powerful evening features:
✨ Home, Land & Sea – exploring our identity and whenua, choreographed by Moss Te Ururangi Patterson with music by Shayne P Carter
🦋 Chrysalis – a world premiere by Shaun James Kelly with stunning costumes by Rory Docherty
💔 The Way Alone – an emotional, personal piece by Stephen Baynes

🌟 PLUS: RNZB is offering $30 tickets for anyone under 30 – huge savings if you don’t win but still want in!

TO ENTER:
1️⃣ Like this post
2️⃣ Tag who you’d take with you
3️⃣ Make sure you're following us!

Winner announced Wednesday 12pm. Good luck! 🎟️💕

14/07/2025

Coming up live from 5pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz :

Anthony Street Illusionist returns to Wellington this Sunday with his most ambitious show to date. The creator of hit shows Celtic Illusion and Ballroom Blitz joins me on the line from 5.30pm to discuss shining a spotlight not just on magic, but the man behind it.

Before then I'll bring you all the latest news and events in the Wellington stage scene, as well as a look ahead and my top picks for this year's Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival ahead of tickets going on sale later this week.

30/06/2025

Coming up live from 5pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz :

The Sound Inside is a gripping new play from Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp that received six Tony Award nominations on Broadway. Opening at Circa this weekend for its Aotearoa premiere, Dulcie Smart returns after more than 30 years in Berlin to play Ivy League professor Bella Baird. Kieran Charnock plays Christopher, her talented yet mysterious student. Dulcie and Kieran join me from 5.10pm to tell me more.

All The Things I Wish I Could Be is a joyful and high-energy celebration of imagination and friendship at Circa this school holidays. A wild musical ride with two lovable dads, Tom Knowles and Jed Parsons aka Jeff Parsnips are here to discuss this brand new Aotearoa-made adventure packed with playful chaos and catchy original tunes from 5.25pm.

Finally from 5.40pm I'm joined by the two stars of The Ballad of Briar Grant, Phoebe Caldeiro and Anna Barker. In the latest play by Squash Co.'s Jack McGee, two divas play out decades old conflicts amongst the apple trees that have nothing and everything to do with each other. The show embarks on a national tour at BATS next week.

22/06/2025

Coming up live from 5pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz :

Improv takes over BATS Theatre and the Circus Bar this week, with Austin Harrison at the heart of several exciting shows! Austin joins me from 5.10pm to discuss Wannabe Academy, a popstar survival parody, June Duets, a showcase of the city's funniest and most creative comedy duos and Pudgy Mediocre White Men, an improvised self-satire by Austin and Dylan Hutton.

The Home Inside is a new work for the July school holidays by Wonderlight Theatre Aotearoa, opening at BATS Theatre on Thursday. Performer and writer Emma Rattenbury is in the studio at 5.25pm to tell me more about this heartwarming tale of emotional growth and self-discovery, ideal for ages 4-8.

09/06/2025

Coming up from 5pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz it's the final week of Kia Mau Festival!

A Nightime Travesty is a First Nations vaudevillian musical nightmare from acclaimed artists Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Carly Sheppard of A Daylight Connection, based in Naarm/Melbourne. Opening at the Hannah Playhouse on Thursday, hear from Kamarra and Carly at 5.05pm about this must-see wild ride!

Tūī Girls is a new play by Michaella Steel premiering at Te Whaea—National Dance & Drama Centre from Wednesday. Director Alia Marshall and Production Manager Ollie Harding are here from 5.25pm to tell me about this powerful and playful piece following four cousins, as they prepare a 'fun-eral' for their beloved Nanny.

A Short History of Asian New Zealand Theatre is the latest boundary-pushing work from award-winning playwright and performer Nathan Joe, opening at Te Auaha on Wednesday. Each performance sees a different Asian performer tasked with the mission to deliver a presentation on Asian New Zealand theatre history while riding a stationary bicycle. Nathan is on the line from 5.40pm.

02/06/2025

Coming up from 5pm on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz we've got three more interviews on the way from Kia Mau Festival!

Ka Mua Ka Muri from Atamira Dance Company takes to the Opera House stage for one night only this Thursday. Bianca Hyslop joins me on the line from 5.05pm to discuss the unique and powerful double bill she's put together with long-time collaborator Eddie Elliott.

CONJAH bring their first full-length piece DARK!DARK!DARK! to the Great Hall at Massey University from Thursday. ooschon is one half of CONJAH, and he is here from 5.20pm to discuss their Tagata Moana performance – a living bestiary within a subterranean epoch in-between the collapse of one world and the birthing of another.

AIGA is a critically acclaimed work from Touch Compass, representing the big dreams and heart-felt reflections of disabled, award-winning, performing artist, Lusi Faiva. Forest Vicky Kapo is part of an ensemble of women, non-binary, disabled, non-disabled, Pasifika and Māori creatives at Te Whaea from Thursday. They tell me more after 5.40pm.

27/05/2025

Coming up in a special bonus show from 6.25pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz we're talking to the artists launching Kia Mau Festival at Circa Theatre this weekend!

A Master of None: Brown Fala is a choral reckoning. A woven resistance. A celebration of radical joy. Writer, director and performer Lila Crichton joins me to discuss this award-winning musical ensemble hit from the New Zealand Fringe, as it returns for three performances only at Circa this Friday and Saturday.

He Ingoa is a new musical theatre work from emerging artist Raureti Ormond. A stunning ensemble of musical talents combine forces to explore the essence of 'He aha te tikanga o te ingoa? What's in a name?' Raureti and fellow performer Monet Faifai-Collins are here to tell me more as they prepare for three shows at Circa also this Friday and Saturday only!

26/05/2025

Coming up live from 5pm on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz, Kia Mau Festival starts this weekend! We've got our first two interviews coming your way.

From 5.05pm hear from Kia Mau's Artistic Director and Chief Executive Hone Kouka about what's in store for 2025, as this biennial contemporary Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana & Indigenous arts festival gears up for it's 10th anniversary. 25 productions are set to take over many of our city's stages in the coming weeks.

One of those productions is The Aotearoans, a new play by Īhaka Martyn opening at Circa Theatre next week. An unlikely panel of five diverse personalities are brought together to decide once and for all—New Zealand or Aotearoa? A recipient of Kia Mau's new He Toi Puaki commission, Īhaka is here to tell me more from 5.30pm.

Stay tuned as we'll have more interviews from artists opening Kia Mau Festival on Access Radio later in the week!

18/05/2025

Coming up from 5pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz it's the final week of this year's NZ International Comedy Festival. Tune in to hear from three award-winning comedians with shows in town from tomorrow.

Mark Simmons arrives at Te Auaha from the UK with Jest to Impress, a show packed with expertly crafted one-liners. Winner of 'Joke of the Fringe' in Edinburgh last year, Mark joins me from 5.05pm.

Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato is Florence Hartigan's darkly goofy and nostalgic journey through the late 90's. Winner of Outstanding Performance at Auckland Fringe, Florence is at BATS Theatre this week. She's on the line from 5.25pm.

David Correos has created some of the most unhinged, volatile, and reckless shows in the Comedy Festival over the years. In Noise Zealand, David turns his hands to DJ'ing in a comedy noise spectacular at The Fringe Bar. Hear from David after 5.40pm.

12/05/2025

Coming up from 5pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz we've got more NZ International Comedy Festival coverage coming your way!

Tune in to hear from three comedians with shows at Te Auaha and BATS Theatre this week.

Eli Matthewson returns with Heaven's Devil, a brand new hour about whether lying can be good, actually. Eli's one of Aotearoa's finest comedians and a previous Fred Award winner. He's at Te Auaha on Friday and Saturday.

Kirsty Webeck is Australia's reigning champion of cheerful comedy, and she arrives at BATS Theatre on Thursday with Everything I Need To Say About Sea Creatures, a show that won a weekly Best Comedy Award at Perth Fringe earlier this year.

He Huang was one of the breakout stars of last year's festival. Now the Chinese Australian-based comic is back at BATS Theatre this week with her new show White Man's Burden. He was Best Newcomer at both the Sydney and Melbourne Comedy Festivals in 2023 and has already had to add an extra show due to popular demand this Wednesday.

We'll also bring you a full round-up of all the shows coming up this week across the city, including four Billy T nominees.

04/05/2025

Coming up from 5pm tonight on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and www.accessradio.org.nz :

The 2025 NZ International Comedy Festival is here! After all the fun of the opening weekend, we've got three interviews with comedians who have shows this week at BATS Theatre and Te Auaha.

Johanna Cosgrove returns to Wellington with SWEETIE at BATS, as the winner of the 'Most Unhinged Show' at last year's festival discusses unearthed family secrets and a tumultuous month in Melbourne where she returned no longer straight nor as white as she once thought.

Jim Fishwick is the mastermind behind Grifted and Talented at Te Auaha from Wednesday. A new twist on an old-school variety show, an eclectic mix of comedians, cabaret artists, and improvisers show off talents given to them on stage. To win they'll need to convince everyone the skill is something they can definitely do.

Maria Williams is back with What Dreamz r made of at BATS this week. A former Billy T nominee and Best Newcomer winner at the Festival, Maria is back to talk/sing/faff about onstage but ultimately inspire future generations. Her show is billed as for the recovering Catholic millennials and anyone who had their coming-of-age movie at age 32.

02/05/2025

More NZ International Comedy Festival interviews on the way from 5pm on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM!

Tune in to hear from Rhys Mathewson and Mo Munn ahead of their shows at Te Auaha next week.

Then coming up next Monday I’ll be joined by Maria Williams, Johanna Cosgrove and Jim Fishwick.

Tonight at 5pm - it's a C-Zone with Simon Howard and In The Neighbourhood crossover - extra Simon Howard interviews plus songs about neighbourhoods!

The NZ International Comedy Festival gets underway this weekend and we've got loads of interviews coming your way over the next three weeks. Simon from C-Zone with Simon Howard sat down with two top picks from next week's line-up.

First up is Rhys Mathewson, the Director's Choice winner at last year's Festival and a former Fred and Billy T Award recipient. Rhys is at Te Auaha next week with Time Trial, a perfectly-timed 55 minute set against a live countdown timer. Rhys is here to discuss his daring feat, and why few comedians have ever attempted this before.

Then we'll hear from Mo Munn, who debuts in this year's Comedy Festival with her new solo hour Is It Off? Mo was the Best Newcomer at the 2023 Wellington Comedy Awards and arrives following her critically acclaimed New Zealand Fringe Festival show Oversharer. Squishing stand up, experimental and improvised comedy together, Mo is on the line to discuss her season at Te Auaha next week. Mo also discusses Korero P**i, a show she's part of in the final week of the festival.

Finally, a replay of the interview that Simon conducted with Shannon Beresford, who pays tribute to the world's biggest pop star Taylor Swift with the show Taylor's Story, arriving in Wellington next week. Shannon and her live band musically narrate the evolution of Taylor through the eras.

5pm tonight!
🎧Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM
💻Stream via www.accessradio.org.nz