The infamous tale of the ‘unruly tourists’ has been making headlines once again thanks to the work of NZ Opera and Federation.
Promoting The Unruly Tourists, an original and thought-provoking piece by NZ Opera, Federation has shone a spotlight on the loathing and despair aired by New Zealanders during the height of the tourists’ antics with confronting out of home and social campaigns.
Back in January 2019, the real unruly tourists got under Kiwis skin, creating chaos across New Zealand with anti-social behaviour, resulting in global news headlines and even social media petitions to have them thrown out of the country.
“Suddenly, everyone from your average Joe to government officials had an ugly view and a potty mouth. And this led us to the inevitable question ‘Who was truly unruly?” says Tony Clewett at FEDERATION.
Marketing Manager at NZ Opera, Sophie Morris says: “The events surrounding the ‘unruly’ visit said as much about the traits of this rowdy bunch of foreigners as it did our own prejudices. With The Unruly Tourists campaign, we wanted to position The Unruly Tourists as a contemporary culture satire – one that proudly sits within the NZ Opera season.”
“The Unruly Tourists production has provoked a lot reaction and a lot of media coverage,” says Elizabeth Beatty, Managing Partner at Federation. “And we’re leveraging that to convert opera outsiders to insiders, exposing fresh new audiences to the visceral power of opera.”
The Unruly Tourists runs from the 22nd to the 26th of March at the Bruce Mason Centre , Takapuna, Tāmaki Makaurau.
