Tēnā koutou katoa.
Welcome to Auckland Theatre Company’s Creative Learning programme for 2023.
The March 1993 world premiere of David Geary’s Lovelock’s Dream Run, directed by Raymond Hawthorne at the Watershed Theatre, heralded the arrival of the newly minted Auckland Theatre Company.
In the 30 years since, Auckland Theatre Company has told stories across Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa. Now, in 2023, Auckland Theatre Company celebrates 30 years of storytelling. In 2023, we take you from Te Tairāwhiti to Elizabethan England, from Middlemore Hospital all the way to Poland. Our season includes works by three New Zealand playwrights; two of them are world premieres.
We start Term One in contemporary Tāmaki Makaurau with Yes Yes Yes, a theatre piece for young people about sex, consent and fostering healthy behaviours in relationships. We are proud to present Eleanor Bishop and Karin McCracken’s contemporary, warm and wonderful documentary theatre piece, which explores building positive, equitable and supportive relationships.
After two years of disruptions, we finally bring you our new production of Witi’s Wāhine (Term Two) by the late, beloved Nancy Brunning, in a collaboration with Hāpai Productions, and Things That Matter (Term Three), Gary Henderson’s brilliant stage adaptation of David Galler’s memoir.
The centrepiece of our year will be a return to the work of William Shakespeare, marking both Auckland Theatre Company’s 30th birthday and 400 years since the First Folio. The great Michael Hurst will climb the mountainous challenge of King Lear (Term Two) in a production to be co-directed by Benjamin Henson and Michael. Performed at the ASB Waterfront Theatre with an innovative stage configuration and design, this is to be a certain sell-out.
Thank you to our education community for your continued support and collaboration. We celebrate our wonderful schools who have been with us ever since the days of Auckland Theatre Company’s ‘Education Unit’.
Thanks to Auckland Council, Creative New Zealand and Foundation North for their ongoing support. Thank you also to Auckland University of Technology (AUT) for its support of the Acts of Imagination programme.
I invite you and your students to join us in 2023 as we look to the stage, to consider our past and to imagine our future.
Ngā mihi nui e hoa mā. Mauri ora!
Jonathan Bielski Artistic Director & CEO
• Book an Acts of Imagination matinee A dedicated performance for school groups during the school day
• Attend a public performance
Schools are welcome to make group bookings for public performances of any production.
• Book accessible performances Education group prices are always available for accessible performances, including NZSL-interpreted and audio-described performances.
Our schools programme relates to the practical knowledge, understanding context and developing ideas strands of the New Zealand Curriculum from levels 5 to 8. It also has direct relevance to many of the NCEA achievement standards at all three levels.
All secondary school Drama students (Years 9 to 13) should be experiencing live theatre as a part of their learning to develop understanding of the arts in context. Curriculum levels 6, 7 and 8 require the inclusion of New Zealand drama in their courses of work.
NCEA external examinations at each level (Level 1 – AS90011, Level 2 –AS91219, Level 3 – AS91518) require students to write about live theatre they have seen. Students who experience fully produced professional theatre are generally advantaged in answering these questions.
Term One: Yes Yes Yes by Eleanor Bishop & Karin McCracken | 28 Feb – 1 Mar
Term Two: Witi’s Wāhine by Nancy Brunning | 2 – 20 May King Lear by William Shakespeare | 13 Jun – 1 Jul Term Three: Things That Matter by Gary Henderson adapted from the memoir by David Galler | 11 – 26 Aug
The New Zealand Herald
ASB Waterfront Theatre
Term 1 28 Feb – 1 Mar
Direction: Eleanor Bishop
Jamie and Ari like each other. Karin and Tom do too.
They might be at two separate parties but their stories are identical. Until they really aren’t.
Part documentary, part confession, part open conversation, Yes Yes Yes is a theatre show created specifically for young adults. Exploring the knotty and necessary topics of healthy relationships, desire and consent, it blends audience interaction with captivating solo performance.
Featuring in-depth interviews with Aotearoa’s teenagers, Yes Yes Yes is empathic empowering and engaging for youth audiences and carers alike.
The result is a funny, generous and innovative piece of contemporary theatre that speaks directly to one of the most pressing issues young people face today, and holds its audience at its heart.
“International research tells us the most effective way to support young people to have happy, healthy relationships is to talk about the good stuff – desire, attraction and most importantly, consent, and what it looks like. Young people actually already have the skills but they haven’t always been taught to use them in sexual or romantic contexts.”
– Karin McCracken, co-creator and performer of Yes Yes Yes
Performances of Yes Yes Yes are supported by resources for Health and Drama teachers, as well as a pre-viewing document and full show video.
Workshops with the creators of the show can be arranged on request and tailored to suit your curriculum. Past focuses have included verbatim theatre, documentary theatre and devising from personal material.
Yes Yes Yes is supported by Creative New Zealand. Originally commissioned by Auckland Live and produced by Zanetti Productions.
Teachers Workshop: 4 – 5pm, Mon 13 Feb Week 3, Term 1 (free workshop on Zoom)
School Matinees: 10.30am and 1.30pm, Tue 28 Feb, Wed 1 Mar (Week 5, Term 1)
In-school Workshops: Available from Mon 20 Feb to Fri 10 Mar (Weeks 4 – 6, Term 1)
Duration: 60 minutes, followed by a 15-minute post-show forum; no interval Suitability: Recommended for 16+ Year levels 12 – 13
Themes/Content: Social practice, healthy relationships, consent
Drama Connections: Post-dramatic theatre, documentary theatre, New Zealand theatre, solo performance
Health Connections: Well-being, sexuality education, skills and attitudes that enhance relationships with others
Advisory: Discusses sexual violence.
“… funny, thoughtful and entirely relatable… I can’t recommend this highly enough; it should be a must for teens and their caregivers.”
ASB Waterfront Theatre
Term 2 2 – 20 May
Direction:
“... I remember, three generations of women bending and culling through the scrub, the steam curling off their work clothes as they ascended the hills.”
The phenomenal women of Witi Ihimaera’s writing, including The Parihaka Woman, The Matriarch and Pounamu Pounamu, take focus and lead us powerfully through the universe of Rongopai (the wharenui at Waituhi) to reveal that which lies deep behind the veil of a world we think we know and occupy.
You are invited into a story crafted by Nancy Brunning. Ultimately, it is her love story: a tribute with powerful commentary, unflinching reality, sensitivity and warm affection that places wāhine, whenua and Māori wisdom centre stage. It is a story yearning to be told and it will now be shared with Tāmaki Makaurau.
Witi’s wāhine are distinct from one another, where time, situation and context overlap into a single thread: a cord that draws sustenance from the whenua, from onamata – the past. This wisdom anchors us in the inamata (present), looking towards an unknown anamata (future).
Witi’s Wāhine draws from the following titles:
• Short story: I’ve Been Thinking About You, Sister
• The Parihaka Woman
• The Matriarch (and the sequel, The Dream Swimmer)
• Bulibasha
• The Whale Rider
• Pounamu Pounamu
A collaboration between Hāpai Productions and Auckland Theatre Company.
Advisory: Includes described violence.
Teacher Workshop: 2 – 5pm, Mon 24 Apr (Week 1, Term 2)
School Matinees: 11am, Thu 11 May, Thu 18 May (Weeks 3 – 4, Term 2)
In-school Workshops: Available from Mon 1 May to Fri 19 May (Weeks 2 – 4, Term 2)
CONTENT INFO
Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes, no interval
Suitability: Year levels 9 – 13
CURRICULUM INFO
Themes/Content: Mana wāhine, Toi Māori, te reo Māori, waiata
Drama Connections: Contemporary Māori performance, monologue, ensemble work, revisiting stories, feminist theatre
English Connections: Witi Ihimaera’s short stories and novels
“[Nancy Brunning] has brought forth from Witi’s work the inherently Māori style of oral tradition… punctuated with tears, laughter and song.” – The Gisborne Herald
Ngapaki & Teina Moetara
An uplifting love song to the women of the East Coast who inhabit Witi Ihimaera’s celebrated writing.BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
When power and privilege are put to the test.
KING LEAR: “So young, and so untender?”
CORDELIA: “So young, my lord, and true.”
– Act One, Scene One
ASB Waterfront Theatre
Term 2 13 Jun – 1 Jul
Direction: Michael Hurst & Benjamin Henson
“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.”
Having built an empire, the ageing Lear is poised to abdicate his crown. When he challenges his children to compete for his land, his favourite refuses to play the game. Civilisation is thrust to the edge of chaos and Lear, broken by his own vanity, will be forced to confront who he is for the very first time.
Tender, violent, moving, humbling, King Lear navigates the complexities and contradictions of human nature like no other piece of storytelling. At a time when we are all reconsidering the role of monarchy, Shakespeare’s great meditation on succession, family and country couldn’t be more potent.
Michael Hurst, one of Aotearoa’s greatest exponents of Shakespeare, takes the crown. Renowned for his boldly theatrical contemporary productions, this iconic artist will be joined by a large ensemble cast and a celebrated design team. Using the full majesty of the ASB Waterfront Theatre, they’ll bring to life this poetic and powerful masterpiece. Expect everything.
“Who is it that can tell me who I am?”
Advisory: Contains depictions of violence, stage blood and weapons, smoke/haze, and themes of suicide.
Teachers Workshop: 2 – 5pm, Mon 29 May (Week 6, Term 2)
School Matinees: 11am, Tue 20 Jun, Thu 22 Jun, Tue 27 Jun, Thu 29 Jun (Weeks 9 – 10, Term 2)
In-school Workshops: Available from Tue 6 Jun to Fri 30 Jun (Weeks 7 – 10, Term 2)
CONTENT INFO
Duration: TBC Suitability: Year levels 10 – 13
Themes/Content: Youth and truth, monarchy and power, old age and family, nature and humanity, kingship and the court
Drama Connections: Elizabethan theatre, traverse staging, chorus and ensemble
One of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, starring acting royalty Michael Hurst.Bookings for King Lear include a full show recording, which will be available in Term 4
Aotearoa’s healthcare system has a much-needed check-up.
– Review of Things That Matter: Stories of Life & Death by David Galler, Elisabeth Easther, New Zealand Listener
ASB Waterfront Theatre
Term 3 11 – 26 Aug
Original Direction: Anapela Polata’ivao
Remount Direction: Troy Tu’ua
“Right now, somewhere out there in the real world, on a road, in a house, maybe, someone is in real trouble. At risk of dying. An ambulance has been called.”
Today, Middlemore Hospital is full, at 107% capacity. Babies are being moved to other hospitals; patients are being treated in corridors. In Emergency, there are already 50 people waiting for beds. Doctors are pulling double shifts, there are nursing shortages and the Gingernuts are being rationed.
Adapted from Dr David Galler’s best-selling memoir, Things That Matter is a love letter to resilience, to our healthcare system, to its patients and to the essential workers, who treat every life as valuable. Galler’s life as a doctor is artfully contrasted with tender stories about his Polish-Jewish family. Award-winning playwright Gary Henderson and director Anapela Polata’ivao have joined forces for this compassionate, insightful and vividly theatrical new work. It’s a perfect Venn diagram of the emotional, the spiritual, the moral and the physical.
What could a truly healthy Aotearoa look like? How do we want to live? The prognosis is yours to determine.
Things That Matter was commissioned and developed by Auckland Theatre Company with generous support from the ATC Patrons Group.
Advisory: Includes occasional strong language; discusses topics related to and displays images from the Holocaust.
Teacher Workshop: 2 – 5pm, Mon 31 Jul (Week 3, Term 3)
School Matinee: 11am, Thu 17 Aug (Week 5, Term 3)
In-school Workshops: Available from Mon 7 Aug to Fri 25 Aug (Weeks 4 – 6, Term 3)
CONTENT INFO Duration: 2 hours, no interval
Suitability: Year levels 11 – 13
CURRICULUM INFO
Themes/Content: Contemporary New Zealand health and welfare system, social inequity, hauora, the Holocaust, family and community ties, resilience
Drama Connections: New Zealand theatre, changing social perspectives, cross-cultural issues
“It’s as if a poet had been commissioned to write an episode of ER.”
A tender and articulate account of the compassion and change needed in New Zealand’s health system.
We recommend these plays as having appeal for a youth and school audience. School group tickets are available for evening performances.
Heartbreak
by Aidan Fennessy
14 Feb – 4 Mar | Term 1
Duration: 2 hours, including interval Advisory: Contains coarse language, mature themes, references to sexual assault and references to suicide.
Effervescent, hilarious and big-hearted, this is a comedy that makes a big noise.
There’s been a bit of drama in the local choir. Splintering off from the original group, a small band of oddballs has gathered in a quintessentially country town hall to begin again. It’s cold, it’s musty and the heater is on the blink. But they have a new name, they have their voices and they have one another. All they need now is a song to sing.
by Ankita Singh
11 – 23 Jul | Term 3
Duration: 90 minutes, no interval Venue: Q Theatre, Rangatira Advisory: Contains strong language.
In the neon-lit streets of futurist Aotearoa, an ex-MMA fighter discovers you can’t ever really escape the past.
Set in an alternate reality where ethnic dietary staples, like rice, are banned as a result of crop disease and closed borders, Basmati Bitch transports us to a heightened reality of contested borders, exploited migrant workers and a crumbling empire.
This self-aware, neo-noir action-crime-comedy is full of whacky fourth-wall-breaking characters, slick dance and stage combat.
Nightclubs double as fight clubs, dairies have rice bunkers and Aunties scheme away in their mahjong dens.
Strap in, it’s gonna be a wild ride.
Switzerland by Joanna Murray-Smith 19 Sep – 7 Oct | Term 3
Duration: 1 hour 35 minutes, no interval Advisory: Contains strong language, smoking and offensive views.
A pitch-perfect thriller, this is underpinned with cunning twists and a knockout performance by the great Sarah Peirse.
What starts as a simple game of cat and mouse becomes a breathtaking battle of wits as Patricia Highsmith and her visitor interrogate identity and the art of creation.
Playwright Joanna MurraySmith has dazzled audiences with her robust plotting and lacerating wit. As it dances with the very idea of fiction, Switzerland proves itself as a truly novel experience.
Our accessibility programme provides audio-described and New Zealand Sign Language-interpreted performances to ensure our productions are accessible to blind/low-vision and Deaf/hard-of-hearing patrons. Our staff can accommodate your needs.
ASB Waterfront Theatre has eight seats and three wheelchair spaces centrally located in the auditorium, reserved for customers with special access requirements. There is step-free, level access to all tiers of the building and to seating in the stalls. Wheelchair-accessible toilets are located on the ground floor; accessible parking is available on Madden Street and other accessible parking spaces are within 150 metres of the theatre.
The theatre has a T-Loop radio frequency system to amplify the sound of the performance. If you don’t use a hearing aid or your hearing aid does not have a T setting, there is a listener unit available on request from the box office.
NZSL-interpreted performances feature a trained interpreter from Platform Interpreting New Zealand, who appears on stage to interpret the show for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons in the audience. The trained interpreters carefully translate the play’s script prior to the performance and work closely with the cast and crew to incorporate the vision into their final interpretation.
The Heartbreak Choir Sat 25 Feb, 8pm
Witi’s Wāhine Sat 20 May, 8pm
King Lear Sat 24 Jun, 8pm
Basmati Bitch Sat 22 Jul, 7pm
Things That Matter Sat 26 Aug, 8pm Switzerland Sat 30 Sep, 8pm
Single tickets to NZSL-interpreted and audiodescribed performances are $20 for Deaf/hard-ofhearing and blind/low-vision patrons. One companion ticket per theatre-goer is also available for $20.
Assistance dogs are welcome at the theatre. We can find a seat that’s comfortable for you and your dog or arrange for the theatre staff to look after your dog during the show.
Audio-described performances provide a live audio commentary by professionals from Audio Described Aotearoa, who describe key visual elements of what is happening on stage, slipped seamlessly between portions of dialogue. This commentary is relayed to blind and low-vision patrons via earpieces which are provided at no extra charge to those booking accessibility tickets.
Taking place 90 minutes before the audiodescribed performance, the touch tour is a free experience where patrons can walk through the set, touch props, feel costumes and familiarise themselves with visual and sensory materials in the performance. Touch tours are for visually impaired patrons and their companions only.
The Heartbreak Choir Sun 26 Feb, 4pm
Witi’s Wāhine Sun 14 May, 4pm
King Lear Sun 25 Jun, 4pm
Basmati Bitch Sun 23 Jul, 4pm
Things That Matter Wed 23 Aug, 7pm
Switzerland Sun 1 Oct, 4pm
Education group prices are always available for accessible performances.
Acts of Imagination is Auckland Theatre Company’s education programme for schools and kura.
The Acts of Imagination programme includes workshops, Q&A forums with artists, education packs and digital resources.
Find out more about each play and work alongside our teaching artists to unpack the play for your students.
A pre-show workshop to prepares students to see each play.
In 2023, our productions take place at Auckland Theatre Company’s home, the ASB Waterfront Theatre in Wynyard Quarter. After each Acts of Imagination performance, there is a 15-minute Q&A forum with the creative team.
A post-show workshop digs deeper into each production.
These resources include recordings of key scenes, education packs and digital resources.
Teachers Workshops take place at the Auckland Theatre Company rehearsal studios and online. Find out more about each play and work with teaching artists to unpack the production for your students.
Observe rehearsals, hear from the creatives at the heart of the production, and unpack the play for the classroom.
Yes Yes Yes
Mon 13 Feb, 4 – 5pm Week 3, Term 1 (free workshop on Zoom)
Mon 24 Apr, 2 – 5pm Week 1, Term 2 King Lear Mon 29 May, 2 – 5pm Week 6, Term 2 Things That Matter Mon 31 Jul, 2 – 5pm Week 3, Term 3
Witi’s Wāhine
$60
Includes a complimentary double pass to a preview performance so you can see the play before you bring your students to the theatre. The workshop for Yes Yes Yes is free, delivered on Zoom.
Teachers are invited to meet the makers in online conversations with directors, designers and other creative or backstage personnel, hosted by our friends at Drama New Zealand.
Yes Yes Yes
Tue 7 Feb, 4 – 5pm Week 2, Term 1
Tue 4 Apr, 4 – 5pm Week 10, Term 1 King Lear
Witi’s Wāhine
Tue 9 May, 4 – 5pm Week 3, Term 2 Things That Matter Tue 25 Jul, 4 – 5pm Week 2, Term 3
Free for Drama New Zealand members; find out more at drama.org.nz
In Acts of Imagination workshops, students and teachers enrich their encounters with our plays.
Student workshops take place in school with students who are attending a performance. Workshops are 50 minutes in duration and designed to fit into your timetable.
Each workshop builds upon the other and you can book one or both sessions.
Pre-show workshop to prepare students to see the play:
• Is aligned to NCEA exam specifications
• Introduces the world of the play and key features
• Offers opportunities to explore creative processes
• Connects directly to what they will see on stage
Post-show workshop to dig deeper into each performance:
• Helps students to recall key scenes and moments
• Explores the use of elements, techniques, and conventions
• Offers opportunities to explore creative processes further
• Facilitates discussion of technical/design elements
In-school Student Workshop Schedule – Available Dates
Yes Yes Yes Mon 20 Feb – Fri 10 Mar (Weeks 4 – 6, Term 1) Witi’s Wāhine Mon 1 May – Fri 19 May (Weeks 2 – 4, Term 2)
King Lear Tue 6 Jun – Fri 30 Jun (Weeks 7 – 10, Term 2)
Things That Matter Mon 7 Aug – Fri 25 Aug (Weeks 4 – 6, Term 3)
$100 per workshop
Looking for an artist to Zoom into your classroom? Bespoke online workshops are available to book. Contact us to discuss your requirements. Email our Participation Coordinator, Sam Phillips, on sam@atc.co.nz
Education Packs contain valuable information about each show, from synopsis to production background, key themes, design elements and the director’s vision. They include full-page production images.
You can explore the Acts of Imagination productions in greater depth online, with the support of the free digital resources on our website.
Filmed interviews, rehearsals and scenes in the performances are available online.
Auckland Theatre Company offers free revision resources for our Acts of Imagination productions.
• Arrive at the theatre. Our teaching artist team will greet your students before the play starts • Take a seat and enjoy the show. Matinee performances are followed by a 15-minute Q&A forum with key creatives
Auckland Theatre Company productions may contain mature material but sometimes this cannot be confirmed until rehearsals commence. We offer a guide in this brochure and take all measures to inform you if the content changes prior to your performance. If you require further information, please contact our Participation Coordinator, Sam Phillips, on sam@atc.co.nz
Find the online booking form for our school matinees and workshops on our website: atc.co.nz/creative-learning
Once
Final numbers are confirmed six weeks prior to each performance date. We will send you an invoice for the balance.
Student tickets $17
Teacher tickets $20 (One teacher ticket per booking is complimentary)
There must be one adult for every 15 students booked.
Teacher Workshops $60 per teacher
In-school Student Workshops $100 per workshop
The workshop for Yes Yes Yes is free, delivered on Zoom.
After your booking request, we will send an initial invoice for a non-refundable deposit. Payment of this invoice will secure pencilled booking for you. Deposits are as follows:
• 10 – 39 tickets $100
• 40 – 89 tickets $300
• 90+ tickets $500
Deposits must be paid within 14 days.
Tickets are available for members of the community who face social or financial barriers to attending theatre. For more information, or to access tickets for yourself or your community group, please contact Auckland Theatre Company Participation Coordinator, Sam Phillips, on sam@atc.co.nz
Transport, parking and logistical information to ensure a relaxing and safe visit for you and your students.
Buses approach the theatre from the Beaumont Street end of Madden Street and passengers disembark at the Madden Street bus parking area.
When you arrive at a school matinee, our Front of House staff will meet and greet your group, guide you to the venue and liaise with your driver about post-show pick-up.
Bus signage: To assist Front of House, we ask that you clearly display your school name on your bus.
ASB Waterfront Theatre
138 Halsey Street, Wynyard Quarter
Please arrive at the theatre at least 30 minutes before the performance starts.
We know the show running time is key. Estimated running times are listed; however, these may change during rehearsal so please check the Auckland Theatre Company website for the exact duration closer to the performance date. If in doubt, contact Auckland Theatre Company Participation Coordinator, Sam Phillips, on sam@atc.co.nz
Your best location for parking is the Downtown Car Park. Once you have parked you can walk to the ASB Waterfront Theatre by crossing Te Wero Bridge (next to the Viaduct Events Centre).
An alternative option is the Jellicoe Street Car Park, from where it is a short walk along Madden Street to the theatre.
Please note: Te Wero Bridge is a drawbridge which is raised to allow small boats out of the Viaduct Harbour. The raising and lowering process takes about five minutes. Please ensure you give yourself plenty of time, in case you are held up by the bridge. Please see the map for location details.
Viaduct Harbour Te Wero Bridge
We’re looking for rangatahi to join Auckland Theatre Company for 2023 as Youth Associates. Join us for a smorgasbord of skills workshops, masterclasses with lead artists, and chances to mix, mingle and meet with other like-minded young people.
Youth Associates will join Auckland Theatre Company for a year of ‘open day’ workshops and free tickets to all our 2023 productions. You’ll be greeted, welcomed and fed (creatively... and lunch is provided).
Youth Associate Open Days
Auckland Theatre Company Balmoral, 10.30am – 4.00pm on: Sat 18 Feb, Sat 6 May, Sat 17 Jun, Sat 15 Jul, Sat 12 Aug, Sat 23 Sep. Final open day is in December. View the full schedule at atc.co.nz/ youth-arts/youth-associates
We’re looking for actors aged from 18 to 25 years old to join the 2023 Youth Company.
Youth Company is an intensive training ensemble with artists eager to explore the world of theatre, cultivate the craft and create new work.
Participate in performances, workshops and masterclasses, and have opportunities both on and off the stage. Youth Company is completely free!
Company members meet weekly across 2023 to:
• Connect with the Auckland Theatre Company whānau and the creative industry, and participate in the working life of ATC.
• Cultivate craft through year-long, part-time training, in-house studio plays and a final public production.
Open Auditions for Youth Associates and Youth Company Mon 23 Jan – Sat 28 Jan | Last week of Summer Holidays Open Auditions are fun, playful, skills-based and mana-enhancing. Find out more and register for auditions now: atc.co.nz
Youth Company is proudly supported by the Youth Company Supporters Group.
Come closer to the action with Backstage Story. Join us inside the rehearsal room and have a glimpse backstage. Watch the director work with the actors in an open rehearsal and be part of the process of making great theatre. With sneak peeks into the design, glimpses of the script and a taste of the actors’ work, this is the perfect event for viewing behind the curtain. Backstage Story is free and open to everyone to attend at Auckland Theatre Company studios, 487 Dominion Road, Balmoral.
Stay on after the performance for a special guest speaker, who delves more deeply into the world and themes of the play. Enrich your theatre-going experience with a thought-provoking discussion and gain insight into the wider context of the work. Come intrigued; leave inspired. Sunday Forum takes place in the theatre immediately after the performance concludes and is free for anyone to attend.
If you’ve never been to the theatre before, there’s no excuse not to try. There’s a bit of a vibe and a lot of fun. And yes, you can literally pay what you wish.
Explore more at atc.co.nz
Auckland Theatre Company hosts public events across the year. Dive into the world behind the curtain and enrich your experience by attending a special event.
At AUT we know that an influential lecturer, a conversation with a student mentor, or an experience inside or outside the classroom can provide clarity, answer questions and open up new possibilities. For Monique Cooper, it was talking to a lecturer that inspired her to use her engineering degree to make a positive impact on the world. Now a Rhodes Scholar, Monique is one of our great graduates sharing the story of how their time at AUT helped them find the greatness within them.
aut.ac.nz/alumni
Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Eleanor Bishop and Karin McCracken form an awardwinning duo of theatre-makers, who have been presenting work together since 2017. They make high-quality, socially minded, formally innovative contemporary theatre for a range of audiences in New Zealand; they develop their work through extensive research and in consultation with audiences, social agencies and academics. Eleanor Bishop is a director/ writer and Karin McCracken is a writer/performer. Their award-winning works include: Body Double (co-created with Julia Croft, BATS STAB commission, Auckland Arts Festival/Silo Theatre, Wellington Theatre Award Production of the Year), Jane Doe (New Zealand touring, Edinburgh Fringe, Wellington Theatre Award for Most Original Production); Yes Yes Yes (Auckland Theatre Award Excellence in Production, Wellington Theatre Award Excellence in Theatre for Social Change & Outstanding Performance); and Aliens & Anorexia (forthcoming 2024, winner Dean Parker Adaptation Award: Adam NZ Play Awards).
Witi’s WāhineTe Whanganui-a-Tara
Hāpai Productions’ vision is to produce manaenhancing Māori theatre productions whilst upholding Māori values.
Hāpaingia te kaupapa Māori me te mana Māori, mā te auaha a ngā whakaari Māori me ngā mahi a te mātauranga Māori – Upholding Māori philosophical practices, prestige and the pursuit of Māori knowledge through the creation of Māori theatre.
Nancy Brunning (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tūhoe) and Tanea Heke MNZM (Ngāpuhi nui tonu) worked together for years (way back in the late ‘90s). They decided to combine forces in 2013 and created Hāpai Productions.
The wahine Māori voice is important for establishing a balanced perspective of the Māori world view. Hāpai’s key focus is in creating more opportunities for wahine representation on stage and behind the scenes.
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Michael Hurst has worked in theatre, film and television as both an actor and a director. After two years as a trainee at Christchurch’s The Court Theatre, he spent three further years with Auckland’s influential Theatre Corporate, where he received training and invaluable experience as a member of that company.
Michael has been celebrated widely as one of New Zealand’s leading theatre actors with scores of roles to his credit, ranging from Hamlet to The Widow Twanky. He is also known for his innovative and compelling productions of Shakespeare, and, more recently, for his solo work in plays such as No Holds Bard, The Daylight Atheist and An Iliad.
In 2010, he directed a wildly successful production of Cabaret for the Auckland Theatre Company and followed this, in 2013, with an equally outrageous production of Chicago, starring Lucy Lawless. His own adaptation of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata in 2015 played to full houses and was received rapturously by critics. Highly regarded as a television director, he has pursued this aspect of his career for more than 20 years, working on shows such as Spartacus, Westside and The Dead Lands.
In 2003, he was made a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate and, in 2005, he was appointed as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to theatre. Michael is a proud member of Equity New Zealand.
Benjamin is one of New Zealand’s busiest theatre directors, forging a diverse career, spanning form, scale and medium, including original works, scripted premieres and opera. Prior to working in New Zealand, Benjamin worked for one of the UK’s largest youth arts organisations, leading participatory projects primarily for at-risk youth, including taking six productions a year to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for nine consecutive years. Ben later trained in theatre direction at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London, while continuing to direct for
London Fringe and the cabaret circuit. Following projects in Germany and France, Ben was director in residence at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford. In New Zealand, Ben teaches in Auckland’s drama schools and is on the board of The Actors’ Program. The year of 2019 marked the inauguration of The Directors’ Program, the country’s only course of its kind, which has been developed and created by Ben and a team of industry advisors. Under theatre collective Fractious Tash, Ben has received critical acclaim for Earnest, Not Psycho and Titus, which was then remounted for a sell-out season at the Pop-Up Globe (featuring Beyoncé covers by New Zealand’s only steelpan band no less). Benjamin was one of two directors to engage in The Engine Room: a fast-track initiative between Auckland Theatre Company, New Zealand Opera and The Fortune Theatre. As a result, Ben featured in Peer Gynt [recycled] for Auckland Theatre Company and directed Twelfth Night for Fortune Theatre, winning production of the year at the Dunedin Theatre Awards. Also, he assisted Sara Brodie on the Auckland Arts Festival production of Nixon in China before taking what he had learned to direct Oreste for Auckland Opera Studio at Mercury Theatre. Ben opened Auckland Theatre Company’s 2018 season with the New Zealand premiere of Red Speedo by American playwright Lucas Hnath. The awardwinning production of Last Tapes’ Valerie is currently touring New Zealand, following dates in Australia and Edinburgh, adding to its accolade, the coveted Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Gary Henderson’s work is regularly staged throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. His most-travelled play is Skin Tight, whose original cast won a Fringe First Award in Edinburgh. A French translation by Xavier Mailleux, Te Tenir Contre Moi, was produced in Montréal in 2016. In 2017, Ruia Taitea Creative produced E Kore A Muri E Hokia, a te reo Māori version of Gary’s incendiary 1996 play Mo & Jess Kill Susie. Other work includes Sunset Café, Tigerplay, An Unseasonable Fall of Snow, Lines of Fire, Peninsula, Home Land and Shepherd, and radio plays The Moehau and News Bomb. Gary teaches theatre writing at Unitec and Victoria University of Wellington, and often works as a script advisor alongside other writers. He has held residencies at the Robert Lord Writers Cottage in Dunedin and the Michael King Writers Centre in Devonport. In 2013, Gary received the Playmarket Award acknowledging his significant artistic contribution to New Zealand theatre.
Samoan born, Anapela Polata’ivao is from the villages of Vailoa and Vaiusu in Upolu, and Fagae’e and Safune in Savai’i. After graduating from Toi Whakaari in 2000, she and her partner Vela Manusaute created the South Auckland theatre collective Kila Kokonut Krew; this garnered them a New Generation Arts Laureate after producing the landmark Pasifika musical The Factory. Anapela gained international acclaim for her performance in the short film Night Shift (2012) and won Best Actress in the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards for her role in Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, which she also directed. Anapela made history in 2020 as the first Samoan woman to have directed a show off-Broadway when Wild Dogs Under My Skirt made its New York debut and was subsequently named the winner of the Fringe Encore Series at the SoHo Playhouse.
Troy Tu’ua is a multidisciplinary artist and was one of the first-ever graduates of the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts (2009). After graduating, Troy made his professional theatre debut in New Zealand Opera’s La Bohème and starred in Auckland Theatre Company’s Pollyhood in Mumuland in 2011, A Frigate Bird Sings in 2012, Badjelly The Witch tour in 2013 and Sons in 2014. In 2014, Troy was part of the cast of New Zealand’s first-ever Pasifika musical, The Factory for Kila Kokonut Krew, which toured Australia and Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Most recently, Troy directed Lalelei, Mirror Mirror and Wizard of Ōtāhuhu, which won prestigious Auckland Theatre Awards in 2017 and 2018.
Troy is also the artistic director of Pacific theatre dance collective, Sau E Siva Creatives. The collective’s recent two sell-out seasons of Rosalina and Fa’asinomaga / Identity were headlining acts at Tempo Dance Festival in 2019.
Auckland Theatre Company presents an annual season of theatre alongside extensive participation and new work development programmes.
Founded in 1992 by Simon Prast, Auckland Theatre Company opened our first production at the Watershed Theatre in 1993, the world premiere of David Geary’s Lovelock’s Dream Run, directed by Raymond Hawthorne ONZM. From 2003 to 2021, the Company was led by acclaimed Artistic Director Colin McColl ONZM and, in 2016, we opened our new home, ASB Waterfront Theatre, in the Wynyard Quarter. Since 2021, we have been led by Artistic Director & CEO Jonathan Bielski. In 2023, Auckland Theatre Company celebrates 30 years of storytelling.
The backbone of our programme is new work by New Zealand playwrights. In 2023, we are delighted to be collaborating with SquareSums&Co to commission Basmati Bitch by Ankita Singh, and to present the world premiere of Things That Matter by Gary Henderson. Recent new work we have developed includes: The Made by Emily Perkins (2022), The Haka Party Incident by Katie Wolfe (2021), Yang/Young/ by Sherry Zhang and Nuanzhi Zheng (2021), Black Lover by Stanley Makuwe (2020), Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee, adapted by Pip Hall (2018), Rendered by Stuart Hoar (2018), Shortland Street – The Musical (2018) and Still Life with Chickens by D.F. Mamea (2017).
Vivien Sutherland Bridgwater MNZM (Chair) Karen Fistonich Isaac Hikaka Katie Jacobs Derek McCormack
Graeme Pinfold
Artistic Director & CEO: Jonathan Bielski
ARTISTIC
Associate Artist (Interim): Benjamin Henson
Youth Company Co-Leaders: Keagan Carr Fransch, Matthew Kereama, Sam Phillips, Gabrielle Solomona
Director, Artistic Operations & Deputy CEO: Anna Cameron
Producer: Philippa Neels
Participation Coordinator: Sam Phillips Company Coordinator: Eliza Josephson-Rutter Tautai Oceania Intern: Seluvaia ’Iloahefaiva
Director, Marketing: Joanna O’Connor
Marketing Manager: Kate Shapiro
Graphic Designer: Wanda Tambrin
Marketing Executive: Camila Araos Elevancini
Ticketing Manager: Gary Barker
Ticketing Administrator: Bruce Brown
Box Office Team Leader: Gary Hofman
Ticketing Assistants: Molly Curnow, Lucas Haugh, Jake Parsons, Talia Pua, Sophie Roberts, Sophie Watson, Rachael Yielder
Accountant: Reena Mudliar
Head of Strategy: Natasha Pearce Development Coordinator: Natalya Mandich-Dohnt
atc.co.nz/creative-learning
Sam Phillips | sam@atc.co.nz | Participation Coordinator
If you have questions regarding booking, please contact the Ticketing team at boxoffice@atc.co.nz
Auckland Theatre Company 487 Dominion Road, Mt Eden, Auckland 1024 (car park and entry off Brixton Road)
ASB Waterfront Theatre 138 Halsey Street, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland 1010
@TheATC
@aucklandtheatreco
@asbwaterfronttheatre @akldtheatreco
atc.co.nz | asbwaterfronttheatre.co.nz
Director, ASB Waterfront Theatre: Sharon Byrne
Venue Technical Manager: Johnny Chen
Senior Venue Technician: Dom Halpin
Technical Team: Nathaniel Bristow, Tayla Brittliff, Rafferty Dobson, T.J Haunui, Zach Howells, Michael Keating, Max Manson, Steve Morrison, Joseph Noster
Front of House Supervisors: Lucas Haugh, Sofi Issak-Zade, Sania Jafarian, Dario Kuschke, Rachael Yielder
Front of House: Cara Allen, Ivy Alvarez, Billy Blamires, Joshua Bruce, Ruben Cirilovic, Jack Clarkson, Izzy Creemers, Mia Crossan, Molly Curnow, Eva Fulco, Mary Grice, Jackson Harper, Kirsty Leggett, Prakritik Mal, Tobias Mangelsdorf, Pearl McCracken, Sam McRae, Kate Meere, Carla Newton, Jake Parsons, Fraser Polkinghorne, Talia Pua, Sophie Roberts, Ailsa Scott, Anushka Sequeira, Emily Smith, Joshua Tan, Sophie Watson, Ming Wei Cheong, Kate Wicks, Theo Younger
Our Youth Company is proudly made possible by the generosity of the Auckland Theatre Youth Company Supporters Group under the leadership of Peter Macky and Joan Vujcich.
We thank AUT for its support of the Acts of Imagination programme.
Additional Brochure photography: Camila Araos-Elevancini, Megan Goldsman, Becki Moss, Sam Phillips
Creative Learning Brochure design: Wanda Tambrin Proofreading: All About Words
