Message from the President

Theatre New Zealand is our national body, and I am sure I speak for us all when we offer support to those individuals, families, societies and communities adversely affected by cyclone Gabrielle. Please contact us to co-ordinate support for any theatre group that has had a significant setback, and any community suffering loss. Our thoughts are with you.

A Thought
Thousands of people work, by contributing their time in a voluntary or paid capacity, in theatre societies, schools, youth theatres and other organisations throughout Aotearoa-New Zealand; while diverse in needs, these individuals groups share a common voice.

Theatre New Zealand stays focused on the following:

• To engage, inspire and champion New Zealand theatre.
• To encourage high standards in all aspects of Theatre, including performance, production, staging,  costumes and props, creativity, technical theatre, directing, design and writing.
• To foster the appreciation and study of Theatre in all our communities – especially groups those with indigenous members, Māori, including diversity, and rainbow communities.
• To act as a national consultative and advisory body in all aspects of Theatre.
• To facilitate, conduct or arrange courses, workshops, festivals or competitions on any element of Theatre.

How do we give performing arts a voice?

Theatre New Zealand helps communities build connections, promote and strengthen involvement and contribution.

At critical times in history, and always in the fringes, and mainstream, during catastrophe, and in times of healing, the arts make a difference in many ways. Community theatre uniquely brings people of diverse backgrounds together, building a better understanding of who we are and who we interact with daily. As Theatre New Zealand, we believe our yearly festival (TheatreFest and Showcase) fills this need, and our regular workshops help societies to focus on new directions. Where there is a need, a gap in the knowledge, skills and attitudes, we can be there to help.
 
How can does education fill this gap and further our voice?

Perhaps some  schools don't have a budget that supports a robust performing arts programme, so students may miss the opportunity to explore and grow. Community theatre initiatives allow these groups to perform, often to a wider and  larger audience. 

 As times are changing, Community Theatre prospers by offering a diverse range of performance genres that meet the dynamic expectations of our audiences by supporting adult, youth and junior programmes (Education). For theatres to thrive, we need to offer a safe environment for all participants to learn, build and develop creative skills: “give it a go”

Why do we support Junior & Youth Theatre?

As these times change, young people, more than ever, seek a place to be understood, to express, and to experiment.  There is also a need for a place to polish skills and to extend and develop many talented people. Where and when can we give rangatahi, a creative process that offers youth prominence? So, how do we as practitioners, provide thespians (of all ages) a space for their voices to thrive in a performance?  How can we support the new emerging talents? 

A unique contribution of Community Theatre is the development of our societies with creative thinkers, who have developing innovative skills, and can create a more confident, independent and supportive  future for us all. As a group, we can explore initiatives to ensure that Theatre is available to all, no matter the situation, whether within the normal, new-normal, or abnormal. 

My feeling is that perhaps a true essence of theatre and the arts is to be found within the coordinates of society and history. Our insistence on creating, making, and re-interpreting Theatre leads to the birthing of new forms, ways of doing, and strategies for engaging our communities and the wider public. Sharing our experiences with children, youth and adults in Aotearoa-New Zealand, will future-proof societies and consolidate our cultural existence.

Beyond the fulfilment and validation that theatre practitioners  gain in providing creative spaces and platforms for all, we can view our work in the Theatre as a positive response to the needs of personal development. We look to the promise of the future: Theatre as a meaningful and effective means of cultivating the potential of our community, practitioners, and what may follow. The value of our vision,  which provides opportunities for adults, children and youth,  looks to our collective development and participation, especially during crises and emergencies.

So, Theatre New Zealand is committed to the development of Junior and youth development, and to this end, we are seeking to fill the role of a Development Officer to assist us in this area. Please contact Paul Percy with any suggestions or ideas. 

As COVID and movement restrictions have now been lifted, I hope we will again be full of activity and entertainment. The TNZ executive continues to govern, strategise, operationalise and act, as we plan, re-plan and stay focused on supporting these objectives and continue to tautoko support Community Theatre in NZ. 
 
Please don't hesitate to reach out! With your support and TNZ's commitment, we will advance the community ethos in all aspects of Theatre throughout New Zealand. 

“Our community is essential to who we are and why we try”

PAUL PERCY - BA MFA (CP) 
President - Theatre New Zealand
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

 News from National Executive

• Did you notice that Backchat has gone digital? Our computer guru Mark Perry has set up an address list in Mail Chimp. Let us know what you think. 
• Mark is also putting together a new cloud service on Google Workspace. Associated with that every member of National Executive will have a new Theatre New Zealand email address linked to their role. 
• Membership 2023/2024: the subs for groups and schools for the coming year will revert to $100. Individual membership remains at $40. Renew you membership  directly – see box at the end of this page. 
• There’s a new form for the Guarantee Against Loss for workshops under Resources on the website 
• We are looking at renewing our Associate Membership of AITA/IATA (International Amateur Theatre Association) which was established in Belgium (1952) and has world wide membership. It promotes international understanding and education through amateur theatre. They regularly organise festivals and participants apply to take part from all over the world.  Their next festival and General Assembly is to be in Debrecen, Hungary 19 – 25 June and President Paul is hoping to attend. This will be 40 years since Margaret Robertson represented NZTF at the Festival and GA in Calgary, Canada.
• President Paul has written in support of Dunedin theatres in their appeal to the Dunedin City Council for better theatre facilities.
• We’ve advertised TheatreFest (at no cost) in the first Drama NZ newsletter of the year. This informative newsy bulletin goes out regularly to teachers of drama in schools. 
• Local TheatreFest Costings: Very few local festivals have been making a profit. It has been decided that TNZ will pay the $75 adjudication for all entries. To this end the entry fee to TheatreFest will be raised to $120 and this will go towards the cost of adjudications at all levels; a user-pays system. 
• This year TheatreFest entrants, on application, are entitled to an hour’s on-line advice/tuition on such things as directing,scenography, devising, costuming, touring, creating websites. 
• Adjudicators for TheatreFest 2023; Shannon Tubman will adjudicate the two North Island Regionals and Lara MacGregor will adjudicate the two South Island ones. David Chambers will adjudicate the National Final TheatreFest ShowCase.  

 On The Boards

February, March and April 2023

 To be included in this list send information to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

 Playmarket Scripts

7 Short plays on Climate Change by Angie Farrow 

Lucifer (1m) Winner of the 2022 PANZ 10 minute play competition. The play is set on a Pacific Island where Gavin, the protagonist, has been assigned to write a report about the effects of rising sea levels. His girlfriend Airini, an islander, joins him to connect with her family. However, conflicts build between Gavin and Airini’s family who want him, not just to report on the climate catastrophe, but to do something about it. 

Disobedience (1f) Melanie, a young nurse, has never been disobedient. All that changes, however, when she attends a Climate Action demonstration and makes headline news while being carried off by police. When everyone finds out about her disobedience, nothing is ever the same again.

Door-To-Door by Angie Farrow (2f, 1 any) Two volunteers spend their days going door-to-door in an effort to save the wetlands. Evie is deeply in love with her older colleague Meru but when the latter disappears after meeting a rich sponsor, everything falls apart. The rich sponsor may have saved the wetlands, but at what cost? And does everyone have their price?

Mad Meg by Angie Farrow (1f, 1m, 1 any) Victor finds his elderly wife, Meg, at the top of a 40-foot ancient tree. He has been looking for her all night and, as a respectable man of the community, he is appalled at what he sees.  We discover that Meg is saving the tree from the council chainsaws but has no memory of climbing it. Even so, now she is up there, is there any good reason to get down?

Poverty by Angie Farrow (2f) Bo is a young activist and brilliant public speaker who has been invited to Berlin to speak at a large international Climate Change conference. She wants her mum, Leila to join her, but Leila is less interested in her daughter’s growing fame than the poor conditions in which she lives. 

Saving the World by Angie Farrow (1f, 1m) Alpha is saving the world. Beta joins him. Amongst other things, they manage to rebuild the forests and stop the seas from rising. Everything seems to be working well until Beta decides to have children. When Alpha says he’s too busy saving the world to have kids, Beta leaves him and his overwhelming grief creates a whole new climate scenario.

The Thing by Angie Farrow (2 any gender) There is a thing outside. It’s raging. It is huge and fearsome and every minute it gets more scary. When ‘The Thing’ threatens their very existence, Li and Lo know that they can’t spend any more days and months and years pretending. It is time to act, but how?

Feel-Good Comedies

Timberrr…! by Damon Andrews and Matt Chamberlain 
(3-15 any gender) Full Length. 1940, Taranaki. Competitive axeman and war hero, Ned Murphy’s life is turned upside down by the arrival of the flamboyant Billy, who claims to be his son. Ned invests in Billy, training him to compete in the national wood chopping championship, unaware Billy is hiding a secret...

The Good Deed by Louise Proudfoot 
(3f, 4-6m, 1 any) Full Length. Retired lawyer William inherits the management of his recently deceased wife’s Community Charity shop and thinks it’s all a bit below him. This is reinforced when he meets the dysfunctional staff ––the sweet peacemaker Sylvie, the community choir enthusiast bookkeeper Malcolm, and the sarcastic, rude 83 year old, Margaret. What begins with an awkward introduction quickly escalates to a crisis, when the staff discover a package of marijuana in a box of donated goods and inadvertently conceal it in William’s briefcase. 

Wondrous Pantomimes

Pinocchio – The Pantomime by Simon Leary and Gavin Rutherford 
(2f, 5m) Whale watching, a topsy-turvy parliamentary circus, and toys and treats for all the family. Jump inside a fantastical storybook adventure with Pinocchio and friends as they fight fake news and discover what it means to be a real person. An original pantomime featuring all your favourite Pinocchio characters and pantomime players, contemporary songs, high energy dance, and shape-shifting design.

Puss in Boots The Pantomime by Paul Jenden 
(1f, 3m, 2-6 any) This play is ready to be adapted to your area. A poor widow woman, Mrs Miller and her son Arthur live in a run-down shack and dream of winning the Big Wednesday Lotto and moving to the posh part of town. Arthur finds he has been left a cat in his father’s will. He and his mother are deeply disappointed but it turns out that the cat happens to be the wily, clever Puss in Boots!!! Follow their exciting adventures as they set out to seek riches and come across a down-on-his-luck King, his feisty daughter and some marauding trolls! Will they find fortune? Will they outwit the wicked trolls who want to destroy the town? Will they live happily ever after? (Michael Nicholas Williams music available, but can be staged using pop music.)

Epic Dramas

Morningstar by Albert Belz 
(2f, 4m) Full Length. Set a year after Eden was first created, when Lucifer returns to Heaven to the likes of angels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Lucifer, to find his family fractured. Archangels Michael the Protector and Lucifer the Light Bearer, are battling to divide heaven leading to a conflict so great that the birth of hell results. Dad’s gone off and started a second family; now he’s come back to his first family but, in his absence, things have changed and there’s conflict. 
“Morningstar offers an enjoyable, provocative and intriguing retelling of an ancient story” - Theatre Scenes, 2018

The Battalion by Helen Pearse-Otene 
(2f, 6m, 9-30 any) Full Length. A moving story about friendship, loyalty, madness and redemption – seen through the eyes of Paora Matene, a war veteran, and relayed to his wayward charges Rimini and George. Sent back to their Whānau in the ‘one-cow town’ of Tamariri, Rimini and George aren’t interested in any of the locals or their family history – they just want to get back to the city. It was the same for five young men in 1939. Drawn in by the excitement of war, they run away to the army and join the 28 Māori Battalion. Thus begins their adventure of a lifetime ...
Extensive educational resource available. Can be performed by as few as 17 actors or as many as the company decides to use in its Chorus / Kapa haka group. Published

With a subscription to Playmarket, most manuscripts of plays are available for free download from our website. A subscription costs only $45 annually for full access to download unlimited different scripts: Subscribe here. 

To request any plays and/or musicals, contact Isaac Martyn Script Coordinator / Kaiwhakahaere Whakaari: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

 Playwrights Association of New Zealand (Inc)

PLAY COMPETITIONS 2023

Enquiries and submissions to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: newzealandplaywrights.wordpress.com

RULES:

1. Only members of PANZ may enter the competitions. Membership is open to any person who lives in New Zealand or is a New Zealander.
      The annual membership fee is:
            Aged 23 and over: $25
            Aged 22 and under: $15
      To join, see: https://newzealandplaywrights.wordpress.com/join-us/

2. There is no additional entry fee for the competitions.

3. A member may submit two scripts in the 5-Minute Play category and/or two scripts in the One-Act Play category (10 to 30 minutes running time).

4. The name of the author(s) and/or their contact details must not appear anywhere on the script.

5. The play must not have been performed in front of a paying audience before the play was submitted.

INSTRUCTIONS:

5-Minute Play category
      Entries open 1 April 2023 and close 30 April 2023.

One-Act Play category (10 to 30 minutes)
      Entries open 1 August 2023 and close 31 August 2023.

Send entries to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the script as an attachment and the category (5-Minute Play or One-Act Play) in the header.

PRIZES:

5-Minute Play       1^st prize: $100
                           2^nd prize: $50

One-Act Play        1^st prize: $200
                          2^nd prize: $100

Winning and commended plays will receive a reading on Zoom.

All entries will receive brief feedback.

COMPETITION REGISTRARS:

5-Minute Play - Brian Johnston
One-Act Play - Kerrie Anne Spicer

Adjudicators to be confirmed

Looking for a Repertory Theatre Company

Brian Johnston winner of Playwrights Association New Zealand’s 2021 One Act Play is looking for a repertory theatre company to consider producing and entering his latest play A New Georgy Girl into this year’s Theatre New Zealand TheatreFest.

Please direct any enquiries to Brian at email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SYNOPSIS
The play revolves around a transgendered woman in her 70’s who has recently moved to a small rural town. She has always lived as male and although she would now be able to live as the woman she is, she is hellbent on self-destruction through excessive drinking. She is bitter and angry. Her next door neighbor, a seventeen-year-old, befriends her and the play focuses on his unerring positivity and her seemingly unshakable pessimism.

 TheatreFest 2023 News Flash

February 2023

Welcome all theatre groups and schools to the New Year.

By now, many of you will be getting underway with theatrical productions for the coming year and Theatre NZ is no different as it prepares for this year’s TheatreFest.

The aim of TheatreFest is to present, via a variety of diverse performances, with subsequent adjudication and workshops to a wide representation of community theatre in New Zealand and to encourage encounters, participation and growth within our community.

A reminder of the STRUCTURE of TheatreFest - TE RAUPAPA

The three levels to TheatreFest: - Local – Regional – National ShowCase

Local TheatreFest: Following performances the adjudicator recommends which performances will advanced to the regional level. At the locals, teams will receive an on-stage adjudication, a private greenroom discussion on the presentation and a written report.

Regional TheatreFest: The North Island and the South Island Regional TheatreFest adjudicators will recommend those theatrical productions to perform at TheatreFest ShowCase. At Regionals, teams will receive an on-stage adjudication, a private greenroom discussion on the presentation and a written report.

National TheatreFest: At the TheatreFest ShowCase, teams will receive an on-stage adjudication and a written report but no private green room discussion.

Conditions of Entry

• Performances must include a minimum of two actors on stage.
• Running time of a performance is to be 50 minutes or less. (Please note there is no minimum time.)

Full Conditions: https://www.theatrenewzealand.co.nz/index.php/theatrefest/conditions-of-entry

Cost of entry

• Each group/school entering TheatreFest must be a member of Theatre New Zealand (TNZ) – the Membership Fee is $100.
• TheatreFest Entry Fee: This is $120 per theatrical production. 
• Your entry fee pays for adjudication at all three levels. It also includes one hour’s free guidance online on a subject of the groups choosing eg directing, scenography, devising, costuming, touring, creating websites. 
• (A group or school can enter multiple theatrical productions for one membership fee, but each entry costs $120)

Special circumstances

• If a Local TheatreFest is not being held, then a group may enter a TheatreFest in another area but only with the consent of TheatreFest National Coordinator, or they may have their theatrical production adjudicated as a single entity or a “Side Show” and be considered for selection to a Regional TheatreFest.
• Where a group or school finds the costs of membership or entry prohibitive TNZ will consider subsidies on application. 

Where there is a need, a gap knowledge, skills and attitudes, then we can be there to help.
This year groups participating in TheatreFest are offered one hour’s free guidance online on a subject of their choosing i.e. directing, scenography, devising, costuming, touring, creating websites. “Give it a go” Help is at hand.

For further clarification please contact me at:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on 027 4288491

Dates and venues of our Local, Regional and TheatreFest Showcase

Ewen Coleman
Your: TheatreFest National Co-ordinator

The National Executive at work

The Theatre New Zealand Executive Strategic Management Meeting this weekend. So much experience and knowledge around one table!! Great plans for 2023-2024.

Going around the table clockwise, from the top is: Margaret Robertson - Secretary, Bryan Aitken - Vice-President, Paul Percy -  President, Steven Arnold - Treasurer, Ewen Coleman - National TheatreFest Co-Ordinator, Blaise Barham - Executive, Adrienne Hurley - Executive, David Chambers - Executive, Tama Smith - Executive.

Not in the photo is: Jake Hansen - Executive, Te Rau-o-te-Rangi Winterburn - Tikanga, Mark Perry - Website & Cloud (behind the camera).

Thanks to Wellington College, New Zealand for your support.

Jake Hansen and Tama Smith attended the Drama NZ National Conference 2022 in Ōtepoti on behalf of Theatre New Zealand, 2nd October 2022.

 Membership Renewal

Membership forms for the 2023 year are now online!

By joining Theatre New New Zealand you are supporting the growth of Community Theatre.

TNZ is an umbrella organisation so you will have access to a wide range of theatre expertise from advice on funding avenues and copyright to advice on technical issues associated with theatre. A nation-wide TheatreFest is held annually, giving you the opportunity to receive informed adjudications that will help directors and actors alike.

Quarterly, you will receive Backchat a newsletter that will keep you up to date as to what members are doing around the country.

By clicking here you can find the membership forms for Individuals and Groups.