Theytriarchy?

James Penwarden brings their trademark autobiographical humour punctuated with catchy tunes and gentle, tongue-in-cheek charm to Auckland Art Gallery’s Pride Festival offerings.

Part gig, part stand-up, part diary-entry read aloud, James takes spectators on a chill field trip through life's transitions, navigating the complexities of identity, ethics, and self-discovery along the way. Expect jokes about veganism, Queer identity, ethics and self-discovery, all weaved together with original solo songs sung live by James with their trusty guitar. Join James for their brief but heartwarming ode to the beautiful contradictions that make us human, acknowledging that we are all doing our best in a world that is truly cooked. 

Sessions: 

Te Ātea | North Atrium:12-12.30pm 

Grey Gallery: 1-1.30pm

Bio

James Hilary Penwarden loves nothing more than dragging their trendy identity crisis to the stage. Penwarden lost their gender, found some new pronouns, and now milks their hot new identity for all it’s worth. A fresh face on the comedy scene, Penwarden is here to raise the flag for stand-up comedy that’s down with the patriarchy and here for the theytriarchy. Their debut comedy hour Them Fatale performed in the 2023 New Zealand International Comedy Festival to rave reviews and they're currently working on their next musical comedy hour, Vegan Fun Terror – a mooosical milktasia on national creams. This event is part of the 2025 Auckland Pride Festival. Theytriarchy? Is cosying up in the same space with Queer Yarns. Click on the Rainbow tag to see all our gallery Pride events or check out the full Auckland Pride Festival programme at aucklandpride.org.nz

Photo credit: Julie Zhu and Todd Karehana