ABOUT THE ENGINE ROOM
AcustomisedresidencyatAucklandTheatreCompany.
The Engine Room programme is designed to support the training and development of early to mid-career theatre directors keen to develop their careers and broaden their directing experience.
Offering two theatre directors the opportunity to join Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) and work as Assistant Directors on three plays each across the 2025 season, the programme allows access to the inner workings of a large producing theatre company, and insight into its programming and producing processes, audiences, teams, venues and on-going core business.
Be part of the process of staging three theatre productions at the ASB Waterfront Theatre: from the design phase, planning, rehearsals, production week and opening through to closing night. Engine Room residents will engage with all departments at ATC to gain a holistic view of how they all feed into and support the making of our productions.
The programme will also include opportunities for networking with industry professionals and their peers, workshops, and forums. An external industry mentor will be available for discussions and consultation during the residency and for the debrief at the end of the programme.
“Thegreatestlearninghasbeeninfindingmyownartisticpointofdifferenceand theaestheticsI’minterestedinpursuingfurtherinmycareer.”
- Ahi Karunaharan (Engine Room participant, 2016)
PROGRAMME OUTLINE
The Engine Room Residencies are paid, full-time roles, offered on a fixed-term employment basis. There is a weekly salary, plus an hourly rate to cover preresidency design meetings, an introductory meeting and a group wrap-up at the end of the programme.
All rehearsals are at the Auckland Theatre Company studios in Balmoral and performance seasons are at the ASB Waterfront Theatre in the Wynyard Quarter.
The Residents will work alongside all departments at Auckland Theatre Company (artistic operations, marketing, finance, and ASB Waterfront Theatre venue team), and with key stakeholders, artists, contracted production staff, educators and our Youth Company The programme includes attending ATC Company meetings, Board meetings and Artistic Operations meetings as well as any script development workshops, readings, and external industry forums.
RESIDENCY DATES
Residencies are available for either:
The Engine Room One:
Prep week: Tuesday 21 January to Friday 24 January 2025
Residency Period: Tuesday 28 January to Sunday 15 June 2025
The Engine Room Two:
Prep week: Tuesday 3 June to Friday 6 June 2025
Residency Period: Monday 9 June to Sunday 2 November 2025
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are looking for two early to mid-career Theatre Directors
• Applicants should have had training and/or equivalent experience in Theatre Directing.
• Applicants need to be passionate and committed to directing as their chosen profession, with a track record of directing theatre productions.
• We are keen to work with Directors at a turning point in their career who are determined to develop their capacity to direct productions of scale in a company context
• We welcome diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities
• You need to commit full-time for the full residency period. This role includes regular evening and weekend work
• You will be required to be based in Auckland for the residency period. ATC cannot provide relocation, travel costs or living allowance A limited contribution towards expenses may be possible.
• You must have a right to work in New Zealand.
• As Auckland Theatre Company frequently works with young people, shortlisted candidates must undertake a criminal record check.
• Applicants must be aged 18+
WHAT WE OFFER:
• Fixed term, fulltime employment for roughly five months, immersed in Auckland Theatre Company
• The role of “EngineRoomAssistantDirector” on three ATC productions backto-back
• A schedule of ATC Company meetings, Board meetings and Artistic Operations meetings to attend
• Six sessions with an external mentor, with sessions scheduled before the residency, between each project, and at the conclusion of the programme
• Salary of $1,200 per week plus holiday pay, employer contributions to Kiwisaver. Salary based on CNZ’s Remuneration Policy for Artists and Arts Practitioners.
APPLICATION PROCESS
The Engine Room application process starts with an Expression of Interest, designed to be accessible with a view to respecting the time of all interested candidates.
If you’d like to submit an Expression of Interest in another way, or if you require further details about The Engine Room, please contact Head of Learning & Participation, Sam Phillips, sam@atc.co.nz
Round One: Expression of Interest video Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 20 November 2024
Round Two: Application and Interview
Round Three: Practical Workshop
Notified by: Monday 25 November 2024
Notified by: Monday 2 December 2024
Announcement of successful candidates Monday 9 December 2024
ROUND ONE: EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
We want to understand who you are and what you’re about, and how you meet the “WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?” criteria for The Engine Room.
Please submit a short (max 5-minutes) video to introduce yourself and answer the following questions:
1. Please introduce yourself.
2. Have you had formal or tertiary training as a Director? If yes, which course did you do and what qualification did you gain? If your training has been through another route (e.g. work experience), please tell us.
3. What professional theatre productions have you directed?
4. What steps are you currently taking to develop your career as a Director?
5. Are you available for full-time work based in Auckland on either:
a. DATE RANGE ONE: Tuesday 21 January to Sunday 15 June 2025 or,
b. DATE RANGE TWO: Tuesday 3 June to Sunday 2 November 2025
Video requirements:
Record and upload a short (max 5-minutes) recording as an unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link.
Please don’t worry about the video quality. Mobile phone quality will be accepted We just want to hear and see you; it’s the content of what you say that we’re interested in understanding.
Please email a link to your video (unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link) to:
Jonathan Bielski, Artistic Director & CEO, Auckland Theatre Company
Email: atc@atc.co.nz
Deadline for expression of interest: 5pm Wednesday 20 November 2024
Late applications will not be accepted
Candidates invited to apply notified by: Monday 25 November 2024
ROUND TWO AND THREE:
All expression of interests will be reviewed by the ATC team, to ensure they match the “WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?” criteria.
Candidates will be selected by the ATC team from the eligible Expression of Interests and will be invited to apply for the programme.
ROUND TWO: INVITATION TO APPLY
The full application process includes filling out an application form, submitting a full CV and participating in a one-hour in-person or Zoom interview.
Interviews will be with the ATC team, and an external Theatre Director.
ROUND THREE: PRACTICAL WORKSHOP
The final stage of the process is a 2.5-hour practical workshop with actors at ATC’s rehearsal room in Balmoral.
Application Timeframe
RoundOne
Deadline for expression of interest (video): 5pm Wednesday 20 November 2024 Late applications will not be accepted
Candidates invited to apply notified by: Monday 25 November 2024
RoundTwo
Interviews: week commencing Monday 25 November 2024
RoundThree
Practical Workshops: week commencing Monday 2 December 2024
Announcement of successful candidates by Monday 9 December 2024
Residency Timeline
December 2024
INITIAL GET TOGETHER (both participants)
Resident One: Tuesday 21 January to Friday 20 June 2025 (22 weeks)
From the first day of rehearsals of amixtapeformaladiesthrough to the opening night of EndofSummerTime
PREP WEEK: Tuesday 21 January to Friday 24 January 2025
a mixtape for maladies
By Ahi Karunaharan
Directed by Jane Yonge
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express
Adapted by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Shane Bosher
End of Summer Time
By Roger Hall
Directed by Alison Quigan
Rehearsal & Prod Week
Tuesday 28 January to Sunday 2 March 2025
Season Tues 4 - Sun 23 March
Rehearsal & Prod Week
Monday 17 March to Sunday 20 April 2025
Season Tue 22 April - Sat 10 May
Rehearsal & Prod Week
Monday 19 May to Sunday 15 June 2025
Season Tue 17 June - Sat 5 July
Resident Two: Tuesday 3 June to Friday 7 November 2025 (23 weeks)
From the first day of rehearsals of Romeo & Juliet through to the opening night of Tiri: te Araroa Woman Far Walking
PREP WEEK: Tuesday 3 June to Friday 6 June 2025
William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
Directed by Benjamin Kilby-Henson
MARY: The Birth of Frankenstein
By Jess Sayer
Directed by Oliver Driver
TIRI: TE ARAROA WOMAN FAR WALKING
By Witi Ihimaera, Reimagined in Te Reo Māori by Maioha Allen
Directed by Katie Wolfe
Rehearsal & Prod Week
Monday 9 June to Sunday 13 July 2025
Season Tue 15 July - Sat 9 Aug
Rehearsal & Prod Week
Monday 14 July to Sunday 17 August 2025
Season Tues 19 Aug – Sun 7 Sep
Rehearsal & Prod Week
Monday 29 September to Sunday 2 November 2025
Season Tues 4 – Sun 23 Nov
Other residency responsibilities: attending ATC Company meetings, Board meetings and Artistic Operations meetings as well as any script development workshops, readings, and external industry forums. Contribute to Youth Company activities. Attend design and production meetings
Late November 2025 FINAL GET TOGETHER/DEBRIEF (both participants)
At the conclusion of the programme, residents are expected to write a short report on their experience, documenting their outcomes and learnings. The report will be presented to ATC and the Friedlander Foundation.
We acknowledge The Friedlander Foundation as the Excellence Partner of Auckland Theatre Company Page 7 of 8
About Auckland Theatre Company
Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) introduced itself to the world in 1993 under the leadership of Simon Prast with the world premiere of David Geary’s Lovelock’s DreamRun , directed by Raymond Hawthorne at the Watershed Theatre. The company was led by Artistic Director Colin McColl from mid-2003 to 2021 who created an unprecedented 18 seasons during a highly productive period in which ATC established a permanent rehearsal base at Balmoral and set the scene for a theatre to call home.
In 2016, after a decade of dreaming, planning and fundraising, the company opened the ASB Waterfront Theatre in Wynyard Quarter, creating a new platform where theatre-makers could work at scale.
Over 200 productions later, in 2023 ATC celebrated 30 years of producing theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau. Now with an annual subscription season of 6-8 works, a thriving Youth Company, digital classroom and education programmes, new work in development, a suite of arts industry partnerships, rehearsal studios on Dominion Road and a 675-seat theatre to call home, ATC looks ahead to the next 30 years ready to embrace the new challenges of creating and presenting theatre for an ever changing audience in the context of Aotearoa’s largest multicultural city.
Our purpose of ’powerful storytelling that connects communities and enriches lives’ is manifested in five programme strands. We:
• Produce theatre of scale and ambition, presenting outstanding New Zealand and international work that thrills audiences and builds community.
• Develop new work by New Zealand theatre artists, reflecting the community of which we are a part and nurturing the next generation of New Zealand storytellers.
• Inspire and engage young people, through initiatives in which young people can participate through school and independently.
• Provide leadership for the performing arts sector, offering professional development and resources that nurture theatre workers.
• Programme ASB Waterfront Theatre to fulfil its potential as a cultural asset for the benefit of Aucklanders.