Ko Te Pou Whakamahara a Māui Tikitiki a Taranga te tohu o te kaha, o te kōrero, o te whakapapa o tēnei wāhi, o tēnei whare.
Nau mai e te tī, e te tā ki te whare kōrero, ki te whare whakaari o ASB ki te tahatika o te moana.
Mauri tau, mauri ora!
Pouwhakamahara a Māui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga
The Memorial Post of Māui the Topknot of Tāranga
Robert Jahnke ONZM (Ngāi Taharora, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rākairoa o Ngāti Porou), 2016
Laminated tōtara and Corten steel
Proudly commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company for ASB Waterfront Theatre
The symbols of support, of strength and of guardianship stand fast and proud.
The waters of Waitematā ebb and flow against the shores here at Waikōkota, the land upon which we stand.
The pou of remembrance to Māui Tikitiki a Taranga stands tall as a beacon of courage, of stories passed down and of the history that connects us all to this place and to this space.
We welcome you all from near and far to this house of stories, to the ASB Waterfront Theatre.
AV Design – Bradley Gledhill, Rachel Marlow, Talia Pua, Sophie Roberts, Dan Williams
PRODUCTION
Stage Manager – Chiara Niccolini
Head of Staging – Molloy
Head of Sound – Sandy Gunn
Technical Operator – Ella Madsen Brough
Production Assistant – Keira Howat
Audio Mix Engineer – Joel Orme
Set Construction – Grant Reynolds, Zorp Creative
Technical Assistant – Rob Larsen
Pattern Cutter – Fiona Fong
Hair & Make-up Artist – Stef Knight
Additional Voice Coaching – Perry Piercy
Teaching Artists –
Jessica Bennett, Isabella Temm
Publicity – Bridget de Launay, de Launay Enterprises
Photography – Andi Crown, Simon Devitt, Tony Drayton, Rachel Sung
Videography – Daryl Wong
SOUND RECORDING
Mixing & Recording – Abraham Kunin
Audio Production Support – Jacob Rush
Percussion – Eric Renick
Violin – Peau Halapua
Viola & Violin – Kali Halapua
Cello – Callum Hall
Bass & Cello – Tim Shacklock
French Horn – David Kay
Helen Clark in Six Outfits, written by Fiona Samuel and commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company, is the third production in Auckland Theatre Company’s 2026 season. This production began previews on Tuesday 7 April and premiered on Thursday 9 April at ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland. This production is one hour and fifteen minutes long with no interval. It contains haze and strong language. It is definitely not authorised by Helen Clark.
Please ensure all mobile phones and noise-emitting devices are switched off.
Photography is strictly prohibited, except during the curtain call.
Haere Mai
I commissioned this play because we are committed to backing our playwrights to write new stories about Aotearoa. I chose the subject of Helen Clark because she has led a big life. In the theatre, we should examine big lives. Lives that have touched us all for better and worse. Lives that laid a path. That changed the way we think and live. Clark is all of that and more.
From rural beginnings to progressive politicisation in the crucible of the University of Auckland of the early 1970s to the ninth floor of the Beehive and the top tier of the United Nations, Clark has achieved success in Auckland, in New Zealand and on the world stage. But that success came at a price. Helen Clark endured gendered abuse that had nothing to do with her politics.
It is playwright Fiona Samuel MNZM who has found the way to see beyond the public façade to the personal, the dilemmas, the compromises, the friendships, the battle scars, and most poignantly, the tender early years. Samuel frames the life of Clark through six outfits and wittily satirises the public obsession with her appearance.
We see a kaleidoscope of a person: the ideological differences with her parents, the non-conformist streak, the personal pain at having to suppress her own values to meet political
expectations, the enduring friendships. What emerges is a complex picture of a driven person who pursued the levers of power to achieve what she believed in.
Our two actors approach this mountainous task from different ends of their professional and personal lives. This play asks a great deal of the actors, and we are blessed to have Jennifer Te Atamira Ward-Lealand CNZM and Lauren Gibson embodying Clark at either end of her life.
Director Sophie Roberts makes her debut with our Company with a thrilling vision for how to bring this play to the big stage. I am indebted to Sophie for her theatrical brilliance and the marvellous creative team she assembled.
Whatever we may each feel about Helen Clark, her brand of progressive politics and the decisions she took, what is undeniable are her achievements, her steely determination to see off the challengers and her effective use of the power she gained.
While Clark may have ice-axed her way through the glass ceilings and achieved success, I am left with a disquieting question – today, is the path up the mountain any easier for women who want to step forward into leadership?
Jonathan Bielski Artistic Director & CEO
Note from the Playwright
It was an intriguing phone call.
Jonathan Bielski of Auckland Theatre Company invited me to his office, with the words: “I have a proposition for you.” Who can resist a proposition? Reader, I went there. It turned out that the carrot he was dangling was a commission: he asked if I’d like to write a play and added that he had a subject in mind. His two-word provocation could not have surprised me more. He said:
“Helen Clark.”
That was it – no strings and no direction. And I had no clue where it would take me. This can be a fantastic way to start a creative journey, as long as something emerges from the mysterious region where ideas take shape and as long as there is that essential piece of grit that might make a pearl.
The piece of grit came to me as I researched the heck out of my subject. I was struck again and again by the astonishing barrage of criticism she copped while going about her business.
If Helen was the protagonist, then here was the antagonist – the oppositional force that every drama needs. But what would the form be? Who were the other
characters? Was it comedy or tragedy? I waited, knowing this whatever-it-was wouldn’t emerge if I looked at it too closely –I pretended not to be thinking about it. I prevaricated. I swam. I went to the movies.
And then it came, like a huge golden fish rising up out of deep water: “It’s the clothes!” And, suddenly I knew some things – there were two Helens, and there was a mountain… I was on my way.
Thank you, Jonathan, for that phone call, and thank you also to my mother. I was staying with her as I devoured my stack of Helen Clark books, hoping inspiration would strike. Every morning, we played Scrabble and, every morning, we had this conversation:
Mum: Well? Have you got it yet?
Me: No.
Mum: (shaking her head) I just can’t see it. It’s so… (searching for the word) unlikely.
Me: You have to stop saying that.
After the huge golden fish came to me, I told her what it was going to be. She loved it.
I hope you do, too.
Playwright Fiona Samuel
Fiona Samuel MNZM is a multiaward-winning writer and director for television, theatre, radio and film, an Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate, a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to television and theatre, and the 2025 recipient of the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship.
As a creator, she has made a body of work that puts the female experience front and centre, starting with her groundbreaking drama series The Marching Girls, featuring ten young female leads, and continuing through her acclaimed Sunday Theatre dramas Piece of My Heart and Bliss: The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield.
As a playwright, her works for theatre include The Wedding Party, Lashings Of Whipped Cream: A Session with a Teenage Dominatrix and The World’s Wife, a stage adaptation of UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy’s whip-cracking collection of the same name.
More recently, Fiona has focused on translating complex and controversial reallife stories into compelling drama, with her screenplays for telefeature Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story and feature film Pike River, starring Melanie Lynskey and Robyn Malcolm. Released in October 2025, the film won critical acclaim and large audiences around the country.
Her latest work, Helen Clark in Six Outfits, is another true-life story featuring an iconic New Zealand woman as she has never been seen before: in a comedy about gender, power and climbing mountains.
Note from the Director
It’s been a great privilege to be part of the team that Jonathan and Fiona put together for this production and to spend the last month exploring and making shape of the themes of this play: how our values are formed, the cost of leadership and, crucially, the ongoing horror show of occupying public space as a woman.
I really believe in the civic function of theatre as a space for public debate and reflection. As our communal spaces shrink and our media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented and automated, theatre becomes an even more essential tool for the ways in which we build our social, relational and emotional intelligence. Great intergenerational discussion and learning have played a central role in this kaupapa, much like those that are alive in the play. It’s been a gift to be in a rehearsal room with such a range of views and experiences of feminism, gender, politics and performance. These moments of challenge were made fruitful by everyone’s openness, honesty and kindness with one another.
While, throughout this process, I’ve been mindful of where a theatrical exploration of a politician veers into political propaganda, I have so much admiration, respect and gratitude for the formidable women in this story. As an artist who trained during Helen Clark’s government, I’ve directly benefited from her historic cultural recovery package for the arts, the likes of which we have not seen since. I graduated from the national drama school into a well-supported cultural landscape that looked very different from the one young artists are stepping into today. That foundation is absolutely the reason I have a career 20 years later; it allowed me to make choices that I wouldn’t be able to afford to make if I were starting out today. I often think about young artists whose work we are missing out on as a very direct result of receding support for the arts over the last couple of decades.
A big ngā mihi to Jonathan Bielski for conceiving of this work and platforming Aotearoa voices and female voices. That’s leadership!
Director Sophie Roberts
Sophie Roberts has been a director and theatre-maker for 20 years and has created work for theatre companies and venues across Aotearoa and internationally.
Her directing credits include Mother Play: a play in five evictions, Taniwha, Camping, ScatterGun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, Live Live Cinema: Night of the Living Dead, The Writer, Break Bread, The Blind Date Project, The Wolves, Hir, Here Lies Love, Peter and the Wolf, Boys Will Be Boys, Perplex The Events The Book of Everything, Sunday Roast Midsummer The Pride and
Sophie was Artistic Director of Silo Theatre from 2014 to 2025. During her 11 years as the artistic leader of the company, she focused on the development and creation of new work from Aotearoa and centring queer and female-driven storytelling within her programming and leadership.
As an arts leader, she is passionate about the centring of rigorous artistic practice within an organisational context.
Her credits as a writer and dramaturg include D.R.A.G (Dressed Resembling a God), Taniwha Peter and the Wolf, Break Bread Hudson & Halls Live!, Wolf’s Lair Broken China
Her awards include four Wellington Theatre Awards and four Auckland Theatre Awards for Excellence.
Sophie is a graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School and the Future Auckland Leaders programme.
Cast
LAUREN GIBSON
Helen Clark the Younger
TRAINING:
Diploma in Acting, The Actors’ Program (2012); Bachelor of Arts, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington (2011).
FOR ATC:
The Haka Party Incident; Sons; The Heretic; Anne Boleyn.
OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES:
A Slightly Isolated Dog: The Trojan War (Australia Tour); Jekyll & Hyde (Australia Tour).
Circa Theatre: The Body Politic; The ACB with Honora Lee; August: Osage County. The Court Theatre: Exit the King; When the Rain Stops Falling.
Other Theatre: Be Longing; Lesbos; Revolution; The Harrowing; Hunted; The Generation of Z; Luncheon; Jumpy.
SCREEN INCLUDES: Lost in Paradise; Tinā; Creamerie 2; The Brokenwood Mysteries.
Lauren won the 2011 Most Promising Female Newcomer of the Year at The Wellington Theatre Awards, for her performance in August: Osage County and in 2023 received a nomination for Outstanding Performance for her role in The Haka Party Incident. She returned home in 2020 after five years living and working in London.
JENNIFER TE ATAMIRA WARD-LEALAND
Helen Clark the Elder
TRAINING:
Theatre Corporate Drama School (1982).
FOR ATC:
King Lear; Grand Horizons (as Director); Two Ladies; The Seagull; Six Degrees of Separation; Mrs Warren’s Profession; Lysistrata; The Heretic; Poor Boy; August: Osage County; Le Sud; Oliver; My Name is Gary Cooper; Twelfth Night; The Talented Mr Ripley; The Bach; The Graduate; Into the Woods; The Herbal Bed.
OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES:
Silo Theatre: Here Lies Love; The Book of Everything; Brel; That Face; The Threepenny Opera.
NZ Opera: The Unruly Tourists.
Other Theatre: In Other Words; Between the Sheets; Madame Butterfly (as Director); Rita and Douglas; Luncheon; Copenhagen; Creditors; Decadence; Falling in Love Again; Assassins; The Rocky Horror Show; Cabaret.
SCREEN INCLUDES:
TV: Baddies; Double Parked; Tākaro Tribe; My Life is Murder; The Brokenwood Mysteries; The Ring Inz; Dirty Laundry; Xena: Warrior Princess; Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; Full Frontal. Film: Disrupt (as Director); Vermilion; Dead; Fracture; Desperate Remedies; The Footstep Man.
OTHER:
Jennifer was a founding board member of the Watershed Theatre and The Actors’ Program. She is currently President of Equity New Zealand, Patron of Q Theatre, Theatre New Zealand and Howick Little Theatre, and serves as a trust board member of the Actors Benevolent Fund. In 2023, she was appointed as a Board member of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori –The Māori Language Commission. Jennifer is a fully qualified Intimacy Coordinator (Intimacy on Set, UK) and has worked on over 85 productions, spanning TV, film, theatre and opera. She teaches masterclasses for actors, singers and choirs.
AWARDS:
ONZM for services to Theatre and Community (2007); SPADA Industry Champion (2018); CNZM for services to Theatre, Film and Television (2019); Westpac Women of Influence Award, Arts & Culture (2019); Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year (2020).
DAN WILLIAMS Set Design
TRAINING:
Bachelor of Performance Design, Massey University and Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School (2006).
FOR ATC:
Romeo & Juliet; The Effect; When Sun & Moon Collide; Filthy Business; Enlightenment; Boys; The Seagull.
OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES:
Silo Theatre: D.R.A.G (Dressed Resembling a God); Mother Play; Taniwha; Camping; The Writer; Here Lies Love. The Court Theatre: Strictly Ballroom The Musical; The King’s Speech; Something Rotten!; The Girl On The Train; Once; Little Shop of Horrors.
Designs for other theatre: Downstage; Circa Theatre; BATS Theatre; Basement Theatre; Fortune Theatre; The Conch; Taki Rua Productions; Massive Theatre Company; TAPAC; Q Theatre; The Actors’ Program; World of WearableArt; Summer in the Square; Auckland Live Cabaret Festival.
SCREEN INCLUDES:
Happiness; Workmates; Whina; The Legend of Baron To’a; The Letter for the King.
OTHER:
Award for Set Designer of the Year, 2023 Wellington Theatre Awards.
FILAMENT ELEVEN 11
Lighting Design
RACHEL MARLOW
TRAINING:
Victoria University of Wellington (2007); Royal Holloway, University of London (2006).
FOR ATC:
BRADLEY GLEDHILL
TRAINING:
Diploma of Performance Technology, Unitec (1999).
Production Design: a mixtape for maladies; Hyperspace; Things That Matter; Basmati Bitch; Scenes from a Yellow Peril.
Lighting and Video Design: The Made; The Resistance (co-pro with ATYP); Little Shop of Horrors; My Name is Gary Cooper; The Wife Who Spoke Japanese in Her Sleep.
Lighting Design: Romeo & Juliet; Girls & Boys; Black Lover; 48 Nights on Hope Street; Single Asian Female; Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead; Red Speedo; My Own Darling; Sons; Kings of the Gym; Well Hung; RED; The Twits; Stepping Out; Design for Living; The Female of the Species; The Tutor; The Talented Mr Ripley; The Shape of Things; Play 2 & Play 2.0; The Thirty-Nine Steps. Video Design: Who Needs Sleep Anyway?; Calendar Girls.
OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES:
Production Design: Court Theatre: Next to Normal. New Zealand Opera: The Monster in the Maze; The Strangest of Angels. EBKM: Heartbreak Hotel. Silo Theatre: Taniwha; ScatterGun; The Writer; Every Brilliant Thing. FFC: The Savage Coloniser Show; Tropical Love Birds. Red Leap Theatre: Wrest. Touch Compass: White Noise
Lighting and Video Design: Red Leap Theatre: Dakota of the White Flats.
Lighting Design: Silo Theatre: The Writer; Night of the Living Dead; Peter and the Wolf; The Blind Date Project; Wild Dogs Under My Skirt; Here Lies Love; Mr Burns; Boys Will Be Boys; Tartuffe. The Court Theatre: The King’s Speech; 9 to 5 The Musical. Red Leap Theatre: Owls Do Cry; Dust Pilgrim.
SCREEN INCLUDES:
Lighting Design: Topp Class: Tribute to the Topp Twins; Stand Up Aotearoa; Class Act.
OTHER:
Rhythm and Vines festival (2022 – present); Elemental Nights (2020 – 2023 Auckland Town Hall – Live Nation); Teeks –One Night Only; Home Brew and ABC for Tom Scott (2018 –present); Silver Scroll Awards (2018 – present); Pacific Music Awards (2017 – present); Fat Freddy’s Drop (Aotearoa shows 2020 – 2024); The Rock 2000 (2020 – present); SIX60 (2016-2019, 2024 – present).
KIRSTY CAMERON
Costume Design
FOR ATC:
On the Upside Down of the World; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES:
Silo Theatre: A Slow Burlesque; The Book of Everything.
Douglas Wright: The Kiss Inside.
SCREEN INCLUDES: Tenzing; East of Eden; Pike River; Went Up the Hill; The Power of the Dog.
LEON RADOJKOVIC
Dalmatian, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā
Composer & Sound Design
FOR ATC:
Mary: The Birth of Frankenstein; Scenes from the Climate Era; Amadeus; Jesus Christ Superstar.
OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES: Siblings; Taniwha; Live Live Cinema: Night of the Living Dead; Every Brilliant Thing; My Heart Goes Thadak Thadak; Mr Burns; Peter and the Wolf; Boys Will Be Boys; Medea; Angels in America; Hui; Brel; The Only Child; Live Live Cinema: Little Shop of Horrors; Live Live Cinema: Dementia 13; Live Live Cinema: Carnival of Souls; Essays in Love; The Deliberate Disappearance of My Friend, Jack Hartnett.
SCREEN INCLUDES:
Shortland Street; Baby Done; Filthy Rich; Jelly Tip Jimmy; Reservations; The Mordavian Truth.
MUSIC PROJECTS INCLUDE: Fortress Europe; Dr Colossus.
KIRSTIE O’SULLIVAN
Voice Coach
TRAINING:
Voice Studies, The National Institute of Dramatic Art (2006); Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School (1999).
FOR ATC:
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express; King Lear; Basmati Bitch; Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead; Red Speedo; Amadeus; The End of the Golden Weather.
OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES:
Agaram Productions: Boom Shankar. Massive Theatre Company: Sightings; Chance to Ignite; The Wholehearted; Havoc in the Garden; Whero’s New Net. Silo Theatre: A View from the Bridge; Midsummer; Angels in America; When the Rain Stops Falling; Holding the Man. Pop-up Globe: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Romeo & Juliet; Hamlet; Julius Caesar; Much Ado About Nothing; Merchant of Venice; Twelfth Night; Measure for Measure; The Taming of the Shrew; Emilia.
SCREEN INCLUDES:
The Dead Lands; Shortland Street; TVC Dialect Coaching; Broadcast Screen Presenter Coaching.
OTHER:
The Voice Practice: HighPerformance Voice Coaching; The Actors’ Program: Head of Voice (2012 – 2019); Unitec Institute of Technology: Voice Lecturer (2007 – 2011).
AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frances Valintine CNZM (Chair)
Bronwyn Bradley
Karen Ferns
Gabriel Kirkwood (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti
Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, Waikato Tainui, Ngāi Tūhoe)
Tony Larsen
Derek McCormack
Graeme Pinfold
LEADERSHIP
Artistic Director & CEO: Jonathan Bielski
ARTISTIC
Artistic Associate & Casting Director: Benjamin Kilby-Henson
Technical Team: T.J. Haunui, Luuk Heijnen, Keira Howat, Mathew Illek, Amanda Joe, Michael Keating, Max Koenig, Dario Kuschke, Max Manson, Louis McKendry, Dave McSmith, Patrick Minto, Aaron Mitchell, Nick Mulder, Joseph Noster, Sho Okumoto, Finlay Pinkerton, Mitchell Rayner, Benny Sarten
Front of House Supervisors: Ella Blake Brislen, Billy Blamires, Nat Dolan, Lucie Everett-Brown, Gary Hofman, Sofi Issak-Zade, Vena-Rose Lennane, Pearl McCracken
Front of House: Ella Blake Brislen, Eloise Cain, Cedric Charles, Ruben Cirilovic, Molly Curnow, Merlia De Ridder, Nat Dolan, Taylor Finley, Shannon Freeman, Eugene Garry, Mary Grice, Lara Grozev, Shayla Hann, Amy Henwood, Winston Katoanga, Kirsty Leggett, Vena-Rose Lennane, Emre Logan, Michaela MacFarlane, Isla Mayo, Carla Newton, Joseph Noster, Katie Peacock, Finlay Pinkerton, Talia Pua, Tema Pua, Manunui Rainey, Zoe Ritchie, Maya Schuman, Ailsa Scott, Emily Smith, Mandy Smith, Mikaela Stroud, Toby Swann, Hanah Tayeb, Geo Tughushi, Sophie Watson, Tom Webster, Xanthe Werder, Jessica Winkle, Daphne Zondag
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Auckland Theatre Company would like to thank the following for their help with this production: Judy Callingham, Maggie Eyre, Beatriz Garcia, Catherine Grealish, Sophie Hambleton, Rachel House, Jennifer Ludlam, Murray Lynch, Carmel McGlone, Elizabeth McRae & the McRae family, Brit O’Rourke, Noeline Pengelly, Marko Radojkovich, Glenys Roberts, Queenie Samuel, Kacie Stetson, Olivia Tennet, Amanda Tito, Judith Tizard
Composer & Sound Design Shadowing – Ben Larom Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School Placement –Steffany Silva De Lautour Engine Room Mentors – Jason Te Kare, John Verryt
Brian Edwards, author of Helen: Portrait of a Prime Minister Denis Welch, author of Helen Clark: A Political Life
Thank You
Auckland Theatre Company Supporters
ATC PATRONS GROUP 2026
Co-Chairs The Hon Anne Hinton KC and Lady Dayle Mace MNZM
Patrons Margot & Alastair Acland, Margaret Anderson, Betsy & Michael Benjamin, Louise & Mark Binns, Patrick Bourke, Stephen Brown, Barbie & Paul Cook, Jacqui Cormack & Matthew Olde, Jane & Tiff Day, Annette & Kim Ellis, Jan & Trevor Farmer, Antonia Fisher KC & Stuart Grieve KC, Virginia Fisher & Stephen Fisher QSO, Ruth Foreman, Sir Michael Friedlander KNZM, Andrew Gelonese & Michael Moore, Anna Gibbons, Dame Jenny Gibbs DNZM, Stephanie & Michael Gowan, Joséphine & Ross Green, Sue Haigh, Georgiana Harper & Tim Olphert, The Hon Anne Hinton KC & Peter Hinton, Julie & Rod Inglis, Sally Jackson, Katie Jacobs & Chris Aughton, Stella Johnston, Judy Jordan & Trevor Bayly, Heather & Len Jury, Anita Killeen & Simon Vannini, Philippa Smith Lambert & Chris Lambert, Margot & Paul Leigh, Antonia & Tim MacAvoy, Lady Dayle Mace MNZM & Sir Chris Mace KNZM, Peter Macky & Juma Maya, Charlotte & Ian McLoughlin, Pip Muir & Kit Toogood KC, Christine Nolan & Derek Nolan KC, Heather Pascual, The Hon Dame Judith Potter DNZM, CBE, Robyn & Malcolm Reynolds, Fran Ricketts, Julie & Russell Tills, Louise & Karl Von Randow, Joan Vujcich, Susan Walker & Gavin Walker ONZM, Lynne Webber & Priscilla McGirr, Ian Webster, Dona & Gavin White
YOUTH COMPANY SUPPORTERS 2026
Co-Leaders Peter Macky and Joan Vujcich
Saints Aaron Boonshoft, Cynthia Braithwaite, Peter Macky & Juma Maya, Joan Vujcich, Ray White Grey Lynn
Angels Andy Eakin & Paul Boakes, Dame Jenny Gibbs DNZM, Ian Webster
Cherubs Graham Astley & Keiko Pulin, Sarah Fay, Irene Norbis, Maree & Colin Reynolds, Fran Ricketts, Anonymous (1)
Friends Brenda & Stephen Allen, Margaret Anderson, Alix & Erich Bachmann, Jonathan Bielski, Susan Buckland, Rosey Eady & David Nicoll, Ron Elliott & Mark Tamagni, Virginia Fisher & Stephen Fisher QSO, Kristen Flannery, Sarah & Martin Gillman, Alexandra Goldkorn & Craig Birch, Sally Jackson, Len & Mary Jean (USA), Michael Kavanagh, Tony & Melissa Larsen, Margot Leigh, Lesley & Philip Lindesay, McKegg family, Brian McKibbin, Tim Melville, Helen & Hamish Neal, Louise Pagonis, William Peake, The Hon Dame Judith Potter DNZM, CBE, Vaughan Smith, Swinburn family, Kerry Underhill & Daan van Gulik, Joanne & Rob Wills, Sarah Yates, Anonymous (3)
30TH ANNIVERSARY FUND
Visionary Dame Jenny Gibbs DNZM, Jan & Trevor Farmer
Lead Nicole & Guy Domett, Prue Olde & Family
Ensemble Barbie & Paul Cook, Andrew Gelonese & Michael Moore
SUPPORTING ACTS
Standing Ovation Cynthia Braithwaite, Sandy & Alan Bulmer, Dame Jenny Gibbs DNZM, Rosemary Langham, Sue & Murray Lee, Peter Macky & Juma Maya, Liz & Ray Payne, Anonymous (1)
Curtain Call Shirley Bollard, Shane & Richard Compton, Joy Keith, Mindy & Mark Levene, Caroline List, Bev & Geoff Pownall, Deb Shepherd & Paul Clarke, Pam & Brian Stevenson, Anonymous (1)
Take A Bow Dale Bailey, Greg Fahey, Deborah Gelin & Jane Mandelbaum
Sylvana Whyborn, Anonymous (9)
Auckland Theatre Company Partners
ASB Waterfront Theatre Supporters
Accessible Theatre
We believe theatre should be for everyone. Our accessible performances and services make it easier for all audiences to share in the magic of live performance. Our team is here to ensure your visit is welcoming, comfortable and enjoyable.
Audio Described Performance and Touch Tour
Sunday 19 April Touch Tour 2:30pm
Audio Described Performance 4:00pm
Audio described performances feature live commentary from Audio Described Aotearoa. They provide detailed visual descriptions through earpieces to blind and low-vision patrons.
Touch tours, held 90 minutes before the show, allow blind and low-vision patrons and their companions to explore the sets, touch props and costumes, and meet actors. Supported by:
Service Dogs
Service dogs are welcome at the theatre. We can find a seat that’s comfortable for you and your dog or arrange for staff to look after your dog during the show.
Hearing Assistance
The theatre has a T-Loop radio frequency system to amplify the sound of the performance. If you don’t use a hearing aid or your hearing aid does not have a T setting, there is a listener unit available on request from the box office.
Relaxed Performance
Tuesday 21 April 7:00pm
Relaxed performances are inclusive, welcoming environments for neurodivergent individuals or anyone seeking a less formal theatre experience. They offer a flexible approach without changing the show. Audiences can expect pre-show resources, an open attitude to movement and noise, and breakout space. An optional pre-show demonstration shares lights, sound and surprises so patrons know what to expect from the show. All are welcome.
NZSL Interpreted Performance Thursday 23 April 7:00pm
NZSL interpreted performances feature trained interpreters from Platform Interpreting New Zealand, providing live interpretation for Deaf patrons. We reserve great seats for interpreter viewing. Supported by:
Wheelchair Access
ASB Waterfront Theatre has three wheelchair spaces and eight companion seats in the auditorium. There is step-free, level access to all levels of the building and to seating in the stalls. Wheelchair-accessible toilets are located on the ground floor; accessible parking is available on Madden Street.
HOW TO BOOK ACCESS TICKETS
Access tickets for Deaf and disabled patrons are available for $20. One companion ticket per theatre-goer is also available for $20. To find out more and for Deaf and blind/low-vision-friendly booking options, contact us:
At Box Office – visit ASB Waterfront Theatre at 138 Halsey Street, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland
Audio Described Performances – Audio Described Aotearoa Ltd
NZSL Interpreted Performances – Platform Interpreting New Zealand
Deaf Community Engagement Advisor – Rachel Walker
Relaxed Performance Consultants – Stacey Francis, Gabby Hogg, Christopher Michael
Thanks to Katie Querin and Arts Access Aotearoa for your support and guidance.
Sign up to receive news about the accessibility programme: atc.co.nz/ticketing-info/accessible-theatre
Have you ever noticed this?
Some unique features of our theatre:
• For intimacy’s sake, the auditorium is wider and shallower than a typical theatre, and curved, with no centre aisles.
• The seats are differently coloured so that the auditorium looks full to the actors.
• The tiered flooring is timber, which amplifies the sound of foot-stomping during ovations.
• The wide stairs outside the auditorium are inspired by sheep runs. The balustrades are lines of vertical timber rather than glass: a tactic to make people feel safe and to reference the weatherboards of the once-typical New Zealand house.
Support the theatre industry. Please give today.
The New Zealand Actors Benevolent Fund is a not-for-profit charity that exists to help entertainment professionals when they need it most. The fund is being grown to provide assistance to past and present industry professionals living with injury, illness or disability. So, if you appreciate the work that the storytellers do and wish to see them do more, please show your appreciation and make a tax-deductible donation, using the QR code below. Many thanks.
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