The Pantograph Punch was born out of a deep and dorky love of the arts. When we first launched, Joe was one of the best music writers in the country (and definitively the best student writer), Rosabel was spending all her spare time risking respiratory disease in underventilated theatres and dusty secondhand bookshops, Matt had just finished editing the largest student magazine in the country and Hayden was touring the Americas with Lawrence Arabia and Crowded House. Music, theatre, literature, film, visual art, immature GIF collages: We were rapturous about it, transformed by it, spent far too much of our student loans on it, and so it's with great pleasure that we're collaborating with Metro magazine and Q Theatre to present The Briefing.

Launching next Wednesday the 11th June, The Briefing is a tasting platter of the best arts and culture happening in Auckland. It's a genuine effort to take the pulse of Auckland, circa mid-2014, and present them to you alongside brief interviews, conversations and debate. It's our publications come to life, and this month we're delighted to present:

Guy Williams and Guy Montgomery

You've seen nearly all of Guy Williams on the cover of June's Metro, but we've got him - all of him - in the flesh. The meteoric young comedian and 2012 Billy T Award winner will be chatting with this year's winner of the Billy T and former U Late presenter, Guy Montgomery.

A Brief History of Silo Theatre (the Bosher years)
When Shane Bosher took the helm at Silo Theatre 14 years ago, he inherited the keys to a small dirty room that sat underneath a porn theatre. There was a lot of work to be done - he came during a time that's now referred to as 'the dark ages' - but when he retired in April this year, he left behind a company that's widely known for its sexy, smart, contemporary shows, featuring some of the country's best theatrical talent.

Over the past few months, we've worked with filmmakers Curtis Vowell and Gareth Williams to chronicle Shane's time at Silo, capturing a candid, behind-the-scenes look at all he's achieved with the company, and what we can look forward to next.

Verbatim
We're also going to be presenting an excerpt from Verbatim, the searing modern classic of NZ theatre that turned violent offenders and victims' testimony into a spellbinding and sobering one-person play. Last year we interviewed its writer Miranda Harcourt and on Wednesday we'll also be chatting to the company who are about to take it through New Zealand's prisons and schools.

We'll also be presenting an excerpt from New Zealand Opera's season of Verdi's La Traviata, which opens in Auckland on June 19th, as well as hosting a performance by the Jubilation Choir and rounding out the night with folk singer Eli Driftwood, whose album Lies Your Momma Told Me was released in January.

THE BRIEFING

Wednesday 11 June
Rangatira, Q Theatre, 7.30pm
Buy your tickets here!