Erin Harrington talks with Tim Bain about the upcoming Rainbow Festival at the Court Theatre, which features seven shows and events from Thursday 5 – Sunday 8 March, 2026.
EH: How would you describe the Rainbow Festival to someone who didn’t know anything about it?
TB: It’s a bunch of special one off events, likely to never be repeated, and so far, this is kinda true, except for Queered Scriptless. It happens over a few days where people who want to experience stories, laughter, inspiration and the excitement of LGBTQIA+ aligned shows get to do so. It uses the community to tell the stories. It uses people at the top of their fields to present something that is fleeting. In the moment. Special.
EH: How did the Rainbow Festival start?
TB: It was actually a concept that a previous CEO had. They wanted a festival somewhere in the calendar that aligned with someone on the artistic team. We were generously given a grant from Rātā Foundation and six weeks later had to have it presented. The first one was crazy – however, we pulled it off. The first year was a total blur of waaaay too many events over the weekend. We did 11am – 12am over the three days but it was a hit and the feedback from audiences was unlike anything The Court had ever received. We discovered a new audience, an audience that didn’t come to our regular shows. The big shock (and it shouldn’t have been having done the World Buskers Festival for so many years) was the amount of people that would come out at 10.30pm at night to see naked dudes reading literature.
EH: You have a combination of works this year – improv, theatre, a game show, comedy, a family show… Could you talk a bit about how you’ve gone about programming? Where do you start?
TB: I wanted it to be a joy this year. Last year we did have some more challenging or darker pieces but this year it was about the positivity, the silly, the chaos, the carnage and creating a line up that was ‘gentle’…whatever all that means. There is a lot of hurt, anger, confusion, and sadness out in the world at the moment so I wanted it to be an escape for the time you are joining us. That doesn’t mean that we forget about what’s going on, but sometimes a wee reminder about the ‘good’ in the world is really needed to sort of reset and then go back out and continue.
I also wanted it to have experiences for people who may not see themselves at any other events for Pride. The Divas of Theatre is getting into that, and while anyone can come, I thought about our older LGBTQIA+ community specifically for that event. Having Two Fat ‘Fine appear as part of a special Scared Scriptless on the Saturday night at the earlier time of 7.30pm is for our MVPFAFF+ community. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is for teenagers and young people. The Gigantic Gay Late Night Gameshow – well that is for the horny, naughty and chaosmakers out there – and with three of the four cast members of The Lord of the Rings in 90 Minutes! (Lizzie is super booked and blessed) you know it’s gonna be nutso! Hugo’s Rainbow Show is for families and the neuro-spicy amongst us.
There really is something for everyone. That was and will always be the goal. ‘Theatre’ by nature for some people still is a barrier. Getting people past those front doors is a huge challenge, but I feel this year these events will get people through the doors and maybe The Court won’t be as ‘scary or intimidating’ to come to another time.
EH: You talk to anyone who went last year and they’ll say one of the highlights was a one-off community production of The Laramie Project, which is a really beautiful and powerful work but also one that’s very challenging for the audience and the performers. This year you’ve gone for another one off – but this time it’s the Australasian premiere of the musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which has a really different energy. What’s drawn you to include this work specifically? Do you have similar community involvement?
TB: Last year in another interview I was asked ‘how do you get people to be part of the Festival’ and I replied with ‘Just ask’. This is one of those situations again – except with the show itself. I truly did not think that we would get the go ahead, when we did, I cried – it takes a lot to get the rights to shows at the best of times but this means something to me.
As you noted we are the first to do it in Australasia in this unique setting with scripts in hand, in a staged concert version. It is the full show, it’s got all the music, all the words but it is stripped back. The most exciting thing about the show is that we have someone who is actually sixteen playing Jamie, a world first. We’ve got teenagers playing teenagers, we’ve got people who have never done a show, we’ve got people who have done a truck tonne of shows, all coming together to present this incredible musical. It has a real community feel. Like The Laramie Project it is by members of the community and their allies, for the community.
I was drawn to it (and asked for it) because we always got the feedback, where is the work, show, event for young queer people? I’m not talking about rainbow families with young children, but work that speaks to teenagers, that is about them. While there is a lot of representation on film and tv, this type of show is rare. It is also joyful, it is uplifting – don’t get me wrong there are some truly brutal moments in the show, everyone is flawed in their own way – but ultimately, the message of ‘be yourself’ comes through.
EH: One of the things I love about the way you programme the Rainbow Festival is how it connects to some of your earlier, pre-Court Theatre work – I’m thinking specifically of your role as a producer with the World Buskers Festival, and the particular love you have for drag and comedy. Could you talk about how these different elements relate?
TB: I wrote a wee article for The Friends of The Court last week and I said if I were to have a brand it would be ‘the experience’ and ‘putting things into spaces that just don’t make sense’. That is what Buskers was about to me. We did stuff in tents, in pop up venues, the streets, we had full blown nudity and burlesque artists in the Christ’s College Assembly Hall!! We had 18,000 people come to a ventriloquist (yes, probably the most recognizable, but still- that is a HUGE number in ten days). That is kind of what I want this Festival to be and what the show I’m directing right after that, Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen, will also be. That’s what Buskers was for me. Anyone that saw The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition in 2025 knows that I am throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Sure, sure… there should be the more gentle subtle moments in life, but chaos is fun, bonkers is the best, stupidity is sensational and getting to escape is everything.
I learnt during Buskers and carry to this day that EVERYTHING is about the audience. If you put EVERY. SINGLE. DECISION you make with the audience at the front of your mind, you are rewarded. It seems obvious, but lots of people forget it or they get caught up in other factors that can distract from the main reason we do this. Again, Feeling Afraid is about the audience and creating an experience based world. We’ve got cabaret tables and chairs instead of the low seating, we are opening the house *really* early, raising the stage and putting a bar in the theatre, you can enjoy your pre-show hospo in the room, rather than the foyer. I am intrigued as to how this makes the show different and if people will be more relaxed during it.
When it comes to audiences and their experience – I remember when I programmed Butt Kapinski at Buskers Festival… everyone was nervous, the bookings for the run were low, we were talking less than ten a night. We filled the first night with sponsors, friends and others – it then exploded! People still talk about it to this day, it was DRAG! It was COMEDY! It was NOIR! The audiences couldn’t get enough of it. It was something so unexpected but I knew the people would love it. Ōtautahi loves the weird, the strange, the naughty and CAMP! That made me realize that I knew what worked (usually – I get it wrong occasionally), that inside this rubix cube of a brain I have there is a special super power of recognising things where you may not think you’re going to like it, but I know you’re going to.
EH: I will say that Butt Kapinki is one of the best things I have ever seen, in what was an amazing year for Buskers. I reviewed it and had the ticket to it stuck on my fridge for years after, so you were definitely on the money.
The last festival was a bit of a last hurrah for the old Court space at The Shed. Do you see any big changes to the festival with the change in venue?
TB: Having two spaces certainly helps – I don’t see much changing to be honest in the short term. We have noticed that this year the bookings are really strong already. I don’t think that is building related and more that it is embedded in the fact that we are now committed to this wonderful event and people know about it. The feedback from previous Festivals suggests that we have ‘done the work’ in creating a space, for the festival period, that people feel safe, encouraged and supported to be themselves in. It’s nice to see people returning to us for these shows and the ushers all excited when the Festival comes along. It will evolve, eventually, somehow – I know how it needs to, but that won’t be up to me now.
EH: If time, money, resources weren’t a problem, what or who would your Rainbow Festival dream act – or programme – be?
TB: Some people know this already and I actually got quite a long way down the track before my time with Buskers ended but it was Wanda Sykes. I also toyed with the idea of drag queens battling across the street from each other on The Court / Tūranga balconies. It should be over two weekends. Hannah Gadsby. A massive street party (not parade) that uses everyone on Gloucester street. A single piano performance by Lady Gaga in the foyer but no-one knows because we don’t tell anyone. Briefs Factory. An acting Masterclass with Laverne Cox and Michaela Jae Rodriguez. A standup set by Jennifer Coolidge. A big gay bus trip, no, train trip, with drag queens. AN ENTIRE YEAR OF RAINBOW CAMPERY, FUCKERY, STUPIDITY, JOY AND FUN!
EH: This is a huge amount of work – not just the practicalities of the events themselves, but all the invisible and social and emotional work that goes into creating art and community, the fact that it can be thankless and really wreck you. The question for all arts workers is ‘why’?
It doesn’t happen in a silo, it really takes the most insane amount of people to support, cheer and encourage you. The arts can be a really lonely place and you have to use the village around you. There have been hundreds of people that have given me the chance to do what I get to do. I don’t take that for granted. From the close friends, festival directors and co-workers right the way through to the single person who bought a ticket on a random Tuesday afternoon every single person has had an impact on ‘how I do this’.
What a lot of people don’t know is that I did summer camps in America for ten years, I would do ten months at The Court / Buskers and then over the two winter months, jump on a plane and go and work there. To this day, I carry the learning, skills and experiences of those times and combine it with the people and experiences here. It constantly came up during SpongeBob, so much so that I got a TimTam tattoo on my wrist to remember those learnings from that and other Junior productions that I was involved in. I still get messages of support and encouragement from people from when I was 18 – saying look at you go! They have had an impact and reason as to my ‘why’.
EH: Final important question then: what flavour TimTam??
TB: Chewy Caramel, but ya gotta slam it – the only time I drink a hot beverage… yep, I am weird.
Information on the Rainbow Theatre Festival 2026 can be found on the Court Theatre’s What’s On page here.
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