Equality: A Work in Progress is a musical about homosexual law reform in 1980s New Zealand. It is also New Zealand’s first musical created largely with artificial intelligence. The structure and lyrics are human-authored by Gareth Watkins, while the music, imagery, and production are generated using AI tools.
As the title suggests, both the musical and equality itself remain works in progress. As artificial intelligence evolves, the songs, styles, and lyrics may continue to change and grow. Click on the versions below to listen to the songs.
The human-authored lyrics and dramatic structure by Gareth Watkins are licensed under the CC BY 4.0 licence; reuse and adaptation with attribution are permitted and encouraged. See the full licensing statement.
Click on any of the versions to hear each song.
Act 1:
Act 2:
The musical launched on 8th March 2026, with new songs being released progressively online over the next few months. Version 1 utilises the following artificial intelligence tools: Suno (music creation), Songer (music creation), Landr (audio mastering), ChatGPT (image creation)
The musical uses fictional characters and dramatised situations to explore the history of homosexual law reform in New Zealand. While inspired by historical events, the characters themselves are not real people.
This musical is dedicated to all our queer ancestors who never got to experience today, and the freedoms we have, and the freedoms they fought for. And it’s dedicated to all the queers around the world who still don’t have those freedoms. And it’s dedicated to you - because there is still much to do!