Tickets went on sale last week for Le Sud, a political satire written by Dave Armstrong, which sold out its three performances in Wanaka and one in Clyde, as well as around the country since it premiered at the 2009 arts festival.
The play asks what if France colonised the South Island in 1839 and posits a wealthy independent French-speaking socialist nation, complete with a 30-hour working week and a popular womanising prime minister.
This is in stark contrast to the English-colonised North Island, which is in a state of perpetual recession, despite its residents working long hours, and which has poor race relations.
A trio of politicians from Le Nord travel to Le Sud to meet three southern counterparts in an attempt to persuade their rich neighbours to give them foreign aid and cheap power so the country can develop.
Thereby hangs a farce involving attempted seductions of various sorts and many jabs at the political, sporting, religious, racial and cultural values New Zealanders hold dear.
Festival co-ordinator Lindsey Schofield, of Wanaka, said organisers of the annual five-day arts festival were "dipping toes in the waters of Lake Wakatipu" by bringing the show to Queenstown and raising awareness of the Wanaka-based festival.
The Queenstown shows would also give Southern Lakes audiences a chance to see Le Sud again, fresh from a run during the Otago Festival of the Arts next month.
The 2011 Festival of Colour was set for April 12 to 17, with Queenstown events pencilled in for the first time and Glenorchy events organised for the second year.
The programme would be finalised in February, she said.
Le Sud will be performed in the Queenstown Memorial Hall, on Friday, October 15 and Saturday, October 16.
