May 13, 2025

Dr Kerryn Palmer’s speech at Parliament grounds Tuesday 13 May 2025

Dr Kerryn Palmer’s speech at Parliament grounds Tuesday 13 May 2025 Kia Ora e te whānau. He mihi mahana tēnei  ki a koutou katoa i tēnei. Ko Kerryn Palmer tōku ingoa. The arts are not ‘Nice to haves’. Nice to haves in my opinion are having more than one house to live in, owning a pool, or perhaps receiving more pay than your colleague, who is a woman, while doing the exact same work. The arts are not nice to haves. Performing Arts and Young People Aotearoa have been calling for signatures for our Reinstate The Creatives In Schools Programme since October 2024, after the government unexpectedly axed it, cancelling several projects already in progress, affecting many artists' livelihoods and denying 1000’s of children access to quality arts programmes.

April 13, 2025

24 YEAR OLD TAKES OUT NEW ZEALAND’S TOP PRIZE FOR A NEW PLAY

Playmarket is pleased to announce the winner of the ADAM NZ PLAY AWARD for 2025: Alex Medland for We’re Gonna Kill Billy. At just 24 years old, Alex is the youngest recipient of the award in its 18 year history. The Adam NZ Play Award recognises and celebrates the best in unproduced writing for the theatre. Playmarket Director/Tumuaki Murray Lynch announced the winners at Circa Theatre on 12 April.

April 11, 2025

Squeeze on arts education puts generation at risk

In 2024 the Government declared that arts in education are “nice to haves”. They did so while announcing new mandates of structured literacy and numeracy and delaying (again) a refresh of the arts curriculum. This was followed by further cuts to school arts programmes and the closure of several leading performing arts companies that create work for and with young people. In 2025 performing arts companies are reporting a drop in engagement with schools because they are squeezed for time as they grapple with the changes in the curriculum.

April 11, 2025

SILO THEATRE WELCOMES ITS NEXT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FOR A NEW ERA 

rom July 2025, Sophie will join Executive Director Tim Blake as a co-leader of Silo Theatre, steering the company’s next four years of programming and feeding into its new strategic direction. Henderson has a long history with Silo, starring in some of its most iconic productions, including The Writer, Belleville, Private Lives, Tartuffe, The Scene, and The Little Dog Laughed. She made her professional debut with Silo in The Ensemble Project in 2007 and has been part of the company’s creative fabric ever since.

April 8, 2025

Theatreview Dance Editor Nationwide – opportunity available

Theatreview is looking for a detail-oriented, part-time editor for an interim position from May until the end of July this year, to help us serve Aotearoa New Zealand’s dance performance community. As a key member of our team, you’ll manage reviews for diverse professional live dance performances, from emerging talents to established artists.

April 7, 2025

Renowned actor and theatre director Raymond Hawthorne dies aged 88

Actor and theatre director Raymond Hawthorne has died aged 88. Hawthorne became a member of the country's first major professional theatre company – the New Zealand Players – in 1955, and two years later he was granted a bursary to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

March 27, 2025

Dunedin Fringe Award Winners 2025

The Visual Art Award (sponsored by AJ & Adrian Woodhouse): Art at Heart: Kids Exhibition The Dance / Physical Theatre Award (sponsored by Dr Jane Malthus): Only Bones - Daniel Nodder The Comedy Award (sponsored by Inch Bar): Just Eat The Damn Sausage The Music Award (sponsored by Famously Fit Sports Nutrition): SPACE HOLE The Theatre Award (sponsored by WOW! Productions): Babyface Best Poster Award (sponsored by Better Creative): Ah, Jaysus! Outstanding Performance / Performer Award (sponsored by Penny Gwynne): Daniel Nodder (Only Bones)

March 27, 2025

VICTORIOUS PARTNERSHIPS

Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand (SGCNZ) needed a new partner when its previous one for 18 years was unable to continue to support its annual Shakespeare Festivals for rangatahi nationwide. How thrilled we were when Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Provost, Professor Bryony James, said that the University is delighted to take on sponsorship of this beloved and enduring annual event, saying, “The University is brimming with alumni of SGCNZ festivals, so this partnership is a natural fit.”

March 21, 2025

STELLAR CAST ANNOUNCED FOR THE END OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER

STELLAR CAST ANNOUNCED FOR THE END OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER  3 May – 7 June A historic moment for New Zealand theatre: The Court Theatre's grand opening In just six weeks, New Zealand theatre will witness an extraordinary milestone! The Court Theatre, the country’s largest producing theatre company, is set to open the doors to its brand-new home in Ōtautahi Christchurch. To celebrate this momentous occasion, the theatre will stage a classic Kiwi play by one of our most cherished playwrights, featuring a stellar line-up of talent eager to be part of this historic event.

March 14, 2025

NZ FRINGE 2025 AWARDS

NZ FRINGE 2025 AWARDS FULL LIST OF WINNERS Best in Fringe sponsored by Her Worship the Mayor: For You to Know and Me to Find Out

February 16, 2025

CatGPT reviewed by ChatGPT

Comment posted to Deb Rea’s review of CatGPT I was so astonished by the ChatGPT that I asked Deb how it came about. She replied: “I spent about a minute making sure it understood that I was talking about the show. Then it wrote one that I didn't like so I asked it to try to match L3NT1Ls personality more. Then it wrote one

February 12, 2025

Dunedin Theatre Awards 2025 – Finalists

In a statement this week, the Otepoti Dunedin Theatre Reviewers Collective announced the finalists for the 13th Otepoti Dunedin Theatre Awards, to be held on Monday, February 17, from 5.30pm at Te Whare o Rukutia, 20 Princes St.

February 12, 2025

The Wellington Theatre Awards

SEEKING TWO NEW JUDGES The Wellington Theatre Awards Trust is seeking expressions of interest for new judges to join our wonderful judging panel for 2025.  We are looking for 2 new judges to join the current panel this year, supporting the Wellington Theatre Sector. This is a volunteer position - looking for committed and reliable individuals to attend productions across Poneke and to contribute to the Wellington Theatre Awards Judging sessions.

January 18, 2025

From New Zealand: Dance in 2024

By Jennifer Shennan   It’s always a pleasure to mark the end of the year with a rear vision reminder of the dance highlights we saw. 2024 had the best of the old and the new, with RNZB delivering a triumphant trio of seasons. After some important readjustments into new directions in management, the Company’s year opened with Tutus on Tour’s national itinerary of small venues that Poul Gnatt established back in 1950s. In May, Russell Kerr’s pedigree production of Swan Lake was memorably staged with respect and sensitivity by Turid Revfeim.

December 9, 2024

Celebrating excellence: the Wellington Theatre Awards 2024

The Wellington Theatre Awards 2024 were a night to remember, celebrating not only the artistic achievements of individuals but also the collective spirit of the theatre community. The Opera House buzzed with excitement, laughter and heartfelt applause as winners were announced, stories shared and excellence honoured.

December 6, 2024

Whakaari Aotearoa Drama New Zealand Research Opportunity

Mahi Whakaari o Aotearoa – Drama New Zealand is committed to supporting kaiako in all sectors of drama and theatre education within Aotearoa. Whakaari Aotearoa Drama New Zealand along with our tertiary partners have acknowledged a gap in our understanding of current research directly related to Drama & Theatre in Education in Aotearoa. Drama New Zealand is therefore looking for a researcher to complete a literature review of theatre / drama in education research in a New Zealand context. The Literature review is to be available to kaiako and ākonga via our Whakaari Aotearoa, Drama New Zealand website.

December 4, 2024

Comments posted to review of Invisible:

Sarah Barham December 1st, 2024 And in an ironic twist, this reviewer misrepresented and trivialised these women’s traumatic stories thus underlining the point of the show! Sarah Barham December 3rd, 2024 Specifically -

November 24, 2024

PLAYMARKET ACCOLADES 2024

The Bruce Mason Playwriting Award was presented to Leki Jackson-Bourke at the Playmarket Accolades in Wellington on 24 November 2024.

November 23, 2024

The Wellington Theatre Awards 2024

It’s time to celebrate the drama. Announcing the highly anticipated 2024 Wellington Theatre Awards, Ngā Whakarākei O Whātaitai Award Nominations!

October 24, 2024

Comment posted to review of DAWN RAIDS

Kau Sandys October 24th, 2024 Honestly, the whole production team were awesome and amazing! They depicted everything my late father shared in terms of how he retold the dawnraid experiences, his own experience as well as other pacific islanders experiences he knew of. ...

October 17, 2024

Commennt posted to There Used to Be Magic, Once

Kia ora John, and thank you for coming along to the festival again! ... The festival has always aimed to expand the public understanding of improvisation, as well as push the boundaries of what improvised performance can encompass. This show in particular was a TTRPG live play performance - also known as Actual Play. ...

October 17, 2024

Comment posted to the review of “and the lochburns”

Yes indeed, John Marwick. I have it on excellent authority that the audibility issues referred to in my review were addressed and resolved. Delighted to read you corroboration.

October 17, 2024

Comment posted to the review of “and the lochburns”

Saw this excellent play last night. Agree with John Smythe’s review but there was no problem with audibility last night. John Marwick