Beautiful, genuine, moving, and utterly touching. That’s What Friends Are For is a solid performance that celebrates, friendship, one of the most intimate human experiences.

In the space of an hour, it not only goes into the exposition of a predefined formula of friendship but it questions and constructs a shared concept. This ongoing process is done with the aid of the audience, who happily and gladly bond with the cast from start to finish.

The performance threads various stories of how friendship can be understood. One of the first sections contrasts the extent and limitation of friendship and family. It shows how both concepts, for all extents and purposes, can be legitimately equated when circumstances call for it.

Based on such a foundation, various stories throughout the show point to the tensions, breaking points and preconceived limits attached to friendship. Thus, the performance exposes various situations that test the boundaries of friendship and its true nature.

There is a considerable amount of participation from the audience. Both audience and cast sing along and bond from their seats (and maybe even beyond their seats for those brave who dare it).

A particular element throughout is the stories and personal accounts that background people’s views on the nature of friendship and how it plays a role in their lives.

The stage backdrop shows the Auckland City Mission and the Church, with which the audience has surprise involvement. Again, the cast does a wonderful and magnificent job of being very aware, sensitive and calibrated when interacting with the audience.

As if all of the above were not enough, WOSOSI (World Song Singers) lights up the stage with beautiful performances in which the cast and audience join. And it is with the fusion of the cast and the choir that the show ends on a very touching moment, bringing home the point which opened the performance itself.

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