Put these giants in front of an audience and they’ll make you laugh, cry, sing or maybe even inspire you to get up and dance. They are our performance artists and while some of them are familiar faces on New Zealand stage, television and film, others have taken their talent all over the world.

While home to more than its share of comics, Palmerston North is serious about backing its performance artists – it is the only city outside New Zealand’s major centres to have a professional playhouse, Centrepoint Theatre.