Theatre History Overview - Part 101 - New Zealander Theatre

Theatre got a late start in New Zealand. There is not much history given about it, but on July 31, 1843, Wellington housed its the first theatre built specifically for theatrical performances. The theatre was a plain, wooden, rectangular building known as Royal Victoria Theatre. Then in 1844, the Fitzroy was founded in Auckland. However, it is known that there was a theatre circuit in the second half of the 19th century. The two most successful plays of that time were 1876's Transported by Life by George Darrel and 1895's Land of Moa by George Leitch. In 1896, movies came to New Zealand and it was only around this time that the railway system started facilitating theatrical touring.

During the 1960s, many people in New Zealand thought that theatres only existed as a hobby for their members. In order to show that this wasn't true, The New Zealand Theatre Federation was founded in 1970. It aimed to advance the writing and performances of plays as well as to encourage theatrical workshops. While the New Zealand Federation was established for all of New Zealand, it also focused on Aotearoa. One of its founders, Alderman William Lyon, stated, "a theatre [was] a necessary concomitant of an advanced state of civilization."

The next year, on April 21, the Court Theatre in Christchurch gave its first performance. It was The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie which was based on the novel by Muriel Spark. The theatre performed in a variety temporary venues until 1972. It then used four different venues until 1976 and then moved to the former engineering school buildings at Canterbury University.

In 1992, The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards were established. These are for various theatre artists in New Zealand. They also recognize important artistic and community contributions. Theatre in New Zealand has remained active in New Zealand since 1990s.

The Court, despite having its facilities made unusable by a hurricane in 2011 and moving into an old grain silo, remains one of New Zealand's extremely active theatres. Besides mounting plays for the general public, it holds sensitive friendly plays for people with conditions such as autism. It also hosts "Scared Scriptless," which is improv every Friday and Saturday.

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