Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School

Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School ‍We are Toi Whakaari. We stand tall alongside unique people like you, enabling you to express your true creative self. We are Toi Whakaari.

We stand tall alongside unique people like you, enabling you to
express your true creative self. In our creative village, your individuality and passion for the performing arts is shared, celebrated, and nurtured. We care deeply about you and your unique place in our whānau. To us, manaakitanga – care, respect and enhancing each other’s mana – really does matter. Our distinctive learning approach,

built on the mātauranga and tikanga of our whakapapa, enables our tauira to tell their, and our nation’s, unique story. As New Zealand’s premier school of performing arts, our legacy has always been to train the best performers, designers, and craftspeople from here and from around the world. Taught by renown experts and educators with broad industry and community connections, our prestigious qualifications are a mark of quality that opens doors to a successful career. And that’s why our talented alumni are sought after, in front of and behind the scenes, by the world’s leading productions. Being part of our kura is more than just gaining qualifications. Here skills are gained, perspectives are shaped, connections are made, and potential is revealed. We recognise all our students as future rangatira. They emerge from here - knowing who they are and where they stand - ready to add their value to Aotearoa New Zealand’s thriving performing arts community. If you’re a past, present or future tauira; a valued staff member, industry partner or funder; or a member of the many communities we’re part of, we stand with you. We’re proud to take this creative journey with people as unique as you.

WE'RE HIRING ✨Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School is inviting applications for the role of Kaitātaki Whakaari, Discip...
28/05/2026

WE'RE HIRING ✨

Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School is inviting applications for the role of Kaitātaki Whakaari, Discipline Specialist Acting, which is a permanent full-time position within our academic team.

This role contributes directly to the growth, development and excellence of our tauira as they train for careers within the Aotearoa performing arts sector.

To apply and find out more visit: www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/job

Step inside the rehearsal room of Animal Farm by Van Badham, adapted from George Orwell's classic, directed by Ahi Karun...
28/05/2026

Step inside the rehearsal room of Animal Farm by Van Badham, adapted from George Orwell's classic, directed by Ahi Karunaharan. There are under two weeks until our double bill shows open. Don't miss out on your tickets!

🎭 Animal Farm by Van Badham (Double Bill Season)
📍Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
📆 9-18 June, 8.30pm
🎟️ $15-40
🔗 www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/performance-season

Congratulations to Toi Whakaari graduate Sarah Lawrence, whose play EGGS has been shortlisted for the Playmarket and Auc...
28/05/2026

Congratulations to Toi Whakaari graduate Sarah Lawrence, whose play EGGS has been shortlisted for the Playmarket and Auckland Live PLAYWRIGHTS b4 25 award!

EGGS is a twisted fairytale fueled by whimsical anarchy, absurdity and rage. It is being presented next month at BATS Theatre! Find out more here: https://bats.co.nz/whats-on/eggs/

Playmarket and Auckland Live are stoked to announce the shortlisted plays for PLAYWRIGHTS b4 25:

- Count Down To Midnight by Aedan Ward
- Entertaining Angels Unaware by Penelope Hare
- Nervous System by Gemma Bennion
- Queen Bitch by Leroy Nurkka
- EGGS by Sarah Lawrence

The winner will be announced next week and will receive a cash prize of $1,500 courtesy of Auckland Live.

Congratulations to the finalists and thanks to all those who entered.

🎟️ We're excited to implement new ticketing names starting with our 2026 Double Bill season!Learn more about them and wh...
27/05/2026

🎟️ We're excited to implement new ticketing names starting with our 2026 Double Bill season!

Learn more about them and what they mean - then don't forget to book your tickets for an unforgettable double bill.

🎭 Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater & Animal Farm by Van Badham
📍Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
📆 9-18 June, 6pm & 8.30pm
🎟️ $15-40
🔗 www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/performance-season

Step inside the rehearsal room of Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater by Apirana Taylor with these BTS photos! 🎭 Whaea Ka...
25/05/2026

Step inside the rehearsal room of Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater by Apirana Taylor with these BTS photos!

🎭 Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater (Double Bill Season)
📍Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
📆 9-18 June, 6pm
🎟️ $15-40
🔗 www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/performance-season

Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School presents Animal Farm by Van Badham, as part of our 2026 Double Bill season.The animals of ...
21/05/2026

Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School presents Animal Farm by Van Badham, as part of our 2026 Double Bill season.

The animals of Manor Farm have had enough. They rise up, and build a new world on the promise that all animals are equal. But it won't last.

Van Badham's razor-sharp adaptation of Orwell's enduring fable drags the barnyard into the present tense, where the pigs have podiums, the sheep scroll and share, and the slogans change just fast enough that nobody notices. A darkly comic warning that has never felt more necessary.

Tickets on sale now!

🎭 Animal Farm (Double Bill Season)
📍Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
📆 9-18 June, 8.30pm
🎟️ $15-40
🔗 www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/performance-season

20/05/2026

🐛 Caterpillar is in Aotearoa NZ cinemas now!

When memory begins to fade, love is put to the test.

Three generations living under one leaky Wellington roof in 2003, all on the brink of transformation. Sixteen-year-old Cassie is all bravado and vulnerability, drifting into risky territory as she searches for validation in all the wrong places. Her mother Maxine, 52, a formidable single-mother filmmaker on the brink of a long-awaited breakthrough, is finally offered a greenlight - if she can just land a star.

A funny, emotional film about the big small things that shape us forever, and the love that must prevail.

We're excited to see Toi graduate Chelsie Preston Crayford's directorial debut, as well as other Toi graduates amongst the cast and crew.

Find out more: https://www.madman.co.nz/caterpillar/

Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School presents Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater by Apirana Taylor, as part of our 2026 Double ...
18/05/2026

Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School presents Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater by Apirana Taylor, as part of our 2026 Double Bill season.

Aotearoa, the 1840s. The land is fracturing, and one woman will do whatever it takes to survive. Whaea Kairau is dispossessed, displaced, and utterly without illusion as she navigates the chaos of the New Zealand Wars not with nobility, but with a cunning eye for opportunity.

Apirana Taylor's landmark Māori theatre classic is black-hearted and uncomfortably funny. A journey through colonisation's darkest chapters that refuses to offer easy villains, easy victims, or easy answers.

Tickets on sale now!

🎭 Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater (Double Bill Season)
📍Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
📆 9-18 June, 6pm
🎟️ $15-40
🔗 www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/performance-season

Rehearsals for double bill season kicked off last week! At the helm of these two productions are our amazing directors; ...
15/05/2026

Rehearsals for double bill season kicked off last week! At the helm of these two productions are our amazing directors; graduate and accomplished artist Ahi Karunaharan returns to direct Animal Farm, with our very own Kaitātaki Whakaari, Erina Daniels, directing Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater.

Enjoy some behind-the-scenes of the second-year Raranga actors, breathing life into these two powerful plays at the first read through.

Tickets are on sale now!

🎭 Double Bill Season
📍Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
📆 9-18 June, 6pm & 8.30pm
🎟️ www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/performance-season

Our Tumuaki and accomplished artist in her right, Tanea Heke, joined André Chumko on The Post’s Articulate podcast to kō...
13/05/2026

Our Tumuaki and accomplished artist in her right, Tanea Heke, joined André Chumko on The Post’s Articulate podcast to kōrero all things arts education.

You can watch/listen to full episode below!

Tanea Heke, tumuaki of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, discusses the tensions at the heart of arts education: structure and freedom, training and instinct, discipline and imagination.

Address

Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre, 11 Hutchison Road, Newtown
Wellington
6021

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+6443819215

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