Must-see entertainment in New Zealand

The excellent, artful Dome is located inside the charming old Poverty Bay Club building (1874): beanbags and art-house flicks now occupy the glass-domed…

An urbane addition to workaday Masterton's cultural life, the Screening Room is a top spot to catch a movie (two plush 60-seat cinemas) or sip wine on the…

Wellywood’s cinema mother ship is an art-deco darling, built in the 1920s. Today she screens mainly mainstream films with state-of-the-art sound and…

Modestly proclaiming itself one of the 10 best experiences in the world, Tamaki offers a 3½-hour twilight Māori cultural experience in its recreated…

This is what a cinema should be like: wide, ultra-comfortable seating with fine local wine, cheese boards and olives available to accompany the mostly art…

This century-old dear survived the quakes and emerged restored to full glory in 2014. Its heritage features are enjoyed by patrons venturing inside for…

A vision in purple, this boutique 45-seat cinema screens art-house flicks in a sumptuous lounge, with ready access to pizza and dumpling snacks from a…

Exciting and educational kids' shows are performed at this innovative theatre in Henderson – expect extreme fun and irreverence – and the whole shebang…

This stadium hosts top rugby (winter) and cricket (summer) tests by the All Blacks (www.allblacks.com) and the Black Caps (www.blackcaps.co.nz),…

How very Wānaka that an art-house cinema should adjoin an indoor climbing wall. Channelling a lush New York or Shanghai vibe, Ruby's has a whiff of cinema…

This family-run outfit offers a popular three-hour evening event with a concert, hāngi and glowworm bush walk. The experience starts with the arrival of a…

Adjacent to the Brewery in Woolston, Blue Smoke is Christchurch's best small live-music venue. There's often a folk, roots music or Americana vibe to the…

In between regular showings of the excellent Ata Whenua/Fiordland on Film (adult/child $12/6), essentially a 32-minute advertisement for Fiordland scenery…

First opened in 1907 and now beautifully restored to its original glory, Ōamaru's opera house hosts a variety of shows, including music, dance, theatre…

When Stratford's fine old picture house opened on the last day of 1917, movies were still silent, King George V was on the throne back in London and New…

This restored 1920s theatre, run by volunteers, has been redeemed as Opunake's cutural beacon, with couches downstairs and regular movie theatre seats…

Martinborough has its own stylish art-house cinema – a mod, micro-sized complex with two comfy studio theatres and a cafe opening out on to a sunny,…

Whanganui's magnificent white weatherboard opera house (1899) is New Zealand's (and some suggest the southern hemisphere's) last working Victorian-era…

Sprawl on a comfy couch, or recline in a dentist's chair or an old Morris Minor at this Wānaka institution, screening the best Hollywood and art-house…

Truly the cat’s pyjamas, Meow goes out on a limb to host a diverse range of gigs and performances: country, ragtime, DJs, acoustic rock, jazz, poetry… At…