Edition 2

Basement Theatre

Three nights downstairs

When
24–26 Nov 2022 · Evenings · from $18 · iTicket
Where
Basement Theatre, Auckland
Edition 2 festival art: the ASIAN(SOUND)SCAPES oval logo with the season's show names — Asian Comedy Takeover, RaagTime, NZ Blossom Art Troupe, Wāhine Asian Are Here Tour, ASIAN(CLUB)SCAPES — arranged around it

Five months after the Potters Park weekend, the second edition took ASIAN(SOUND)SCAPES indoors — a compact, three-night late-November season at Basement Theatre, Auckland’s home of independent performance — single shows from $18 (students) online, with multi-show festival passes at $50, $70 and $100 for the completists, booked through iTicket.

The season opened with RaagTime’s Indian-jazz improvisation and the near-100-member New Zealand Blossom Art Troupe on the same Thursday night, gave Friday to the first Asian Comedy Takeover — nine comedians, MC’d by Jess Karamjeet, with Pax Assadi as special guest and Angella Dravid headlining — and closed Saturday with the Auckland stop of the Wāhine Asians Are Here Tour before ASIAN(CLUB)SCAPES turned the theatre into a pop-up nightclub until late.

The club night had form: two months earlier, in September 2022, ASIAN(CLUB)SCAPES had piloted at the same venue with Darwin-based Filipino-Australian producer Kuya James — the first time the brand’s late-night strand stood on its own bill.

Night by night

  1. Thu 24 Nov · 7:00pm — RaagTime

    RaagTime — Ben Fernandez (piano), Manjit Singh (tabla & vocals), Dean Rodrigues (bass)

    With guest vocalists Amrita Bhende D'Souza and Daljeet Kaur — improvisation drawing on Indian music, jazz and popular song

  2. Thu 24 Nov · 8:30pm — NZ Blossom Art Troupe 新西兰百花艺术团

    New Zealand Blossom Art Troupe

    Chinese traditional orchestra of nearly 100 members, founded by troupe leader Li Yulin 李玉霖 in 2008

  3. Fri 25 Nov · 7:30pm — Asian Comedy Takeover

    Jess Karamjeet (host) · Ed Amon · Henry Yan · Manish Latch · Summer Xia · Vasu Premkumar · Hiren Khatri · Pax Assadi (special guest) · Angella Dravid (headliner)

    Nine comedians getting to be something other than “the token Asian”

  4. Sat 26 Nov · 7:00pm — WAAHT! — Wāhine Asians Are Here Tour

    Miss Leading (7:30pm) · RESHMA (8:30pm) · Ersha Island 二沙岛 (9:30pm)

    Auckland stop of the tour (Wellington 18 Nov · Whanganui 19 Nov) — a collaboration between Peach Promotions, Eastern Sound Collective, Where The Asians At‽ and SquareSums&Co

  5. Sat 26 Nov · 10:30pm — ASIAN(CLUB)SCAPES

    DJ RNG+sus · special guest DJ

    A pop-up nightclub to close the season

Credits

Event producers

  • Where The Asians At‽
  • SquareSums&Co

Partners

  • Basement Theatre
  • iTicket
  • CHANG&BHUTHADIA
  • Peach Promotions (WAAHT)
  • Eastern Sound Collective (WAAHT)
  • Oryza
  • Auckland City of Music

Sources for this page

  • Season media sheet — ASIAN(SOUND)SCAPES @ Basement Theatre (production archive, on file; times, durations and prices verified 2026-07-08)
  • Basement Theatre season listing (venue's own page, archived 27 Jan 2023 — dates, bills and set times)
  • MMF Aotearoa — “Wāhine Asians Are Here Tour”, 3 Nov 2022 (tour routing and name)
  • Under The Radar — Asian Comedy Takeover tour page (2023), referencing the Basement debut