Silo Theatre is a theatre production company based in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand established in 1997. In 2024 Silo Theatre's director was Sophie Roberts. Silo Theatre has produced plays featuring many well-known New Zealand creative people including

Toa Fraser Toa Fraser (born 1975) is a New Zealand born playwright and film director. His first feature film, ''No. 2 (film), No. 2'', starring Ruby Dee won the Audience Award (World Dramatic) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His second, ''Dean Spanley'' ...

, Tusiata Avia, Rachel House and Chris Parker.

Background

Silo Theatre started out as a 'boutique underground theatre' in a venue off Queen Street in central Auckland in 1997. Silo moved out in 2007 and this venue is now the home of The Basement Theatre. Shane Bosher was director from 2001 - 2013, while he was there he also directed over 12 productions. Some of the works programmed in this time include playwrights

Neil Labute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Fest ...

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

, Patrick Marber,

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

, and New Zealand authors Toa Fraser, Jodie Molloy and Jackie Van Beek. Whilst at Silo, Bosher was an 'Aucklander of 2005' and in 2007 included in the 'Most Influential People Under 40' list both by Auckland based ''Metro'' magazine. Sophie Roberts was appointed artistic director in 2014. Staff have included Jessica Smith (Executive Director) and Ahi Karunaharan (Associate Artistic Director). Silo Theatre produces an annual season of local and international work their work is presented in venues and spaces across Auckland, New Zealand and sometimes overseas. Their purpose is stated to: * Encourage the pursuit of excellence in Aotearoa New Zealand’s arts practitioners and stage craft * Foster greater inclusion and representation in storytelling and invigorate diverse audiences * Contribute to, and develop, the arts and the culture landscape of Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa

Programming

Some of the notable productions produced by Silo Theatre include ''Bare'' by

(1998) and ''Wild Dogs Under My Skirt'' by Tusiata Avia (2019), a co-production by Auckland Arts Festival. In 2021 part of their programme for Matariki was a participatory audio play, ''Mauri Tau,'' written and directed by Scotty Cotter featuring Nicola Kāwana, Rachel House, Tanea Heke and Te Kohe Tuhaka. This production came as a result of COVID-19 effects on creating live stage productions. Cotter collaborated with sound designers Fran Kora, Matt Eller, and Komako Silver for this streamed event. In 2015 Silo produced ''Hudson & Halls Live!'' a play about New Zealand TV cooks and personalities Peter Hudson and David Halls. It premiered at the Herald Theatre, Auckland and was directed by Kip Chapman starring Todd Emerson, Chris Parker and Jackie van Beek. Silo's development series ''Working Titles'' in 2017 included ''Modern Girls in Bed'' by Alex Lodge and Cherie Jacobson, ''The Defendant'' by Dan Musgrove and ''Burn Her'' by Sam Brooks. ''Every Brilliant Thing'' by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe was a solo play in 2020 about suicide and mental health that had two leads that alternated each night, Jason Te Kare and Anapela Polata’ivao. Words from Pacific Island poets was curated into a Silo production called ''UPU'', created by Grace Iwashita-Taylor and directed by Fasitua Amosa. It premiered at the Auckland Arts Festival and then was presented at the Kia Mau Festival in Wellington in 2021. Other events that Silo host include talks such as the one off ''Once in a Black Moon'' in 2022 created in partnership with Black Creatives Aotearoa with panelists Adorate Mizero, Keagan Carr Fransch, Michelle Mascoll Michelle Mascoll and Vira Paky. This was to accompany the play ''seven methods of killing kylie jenner'' by Jasmine Lee Jones at the Basement Theatre. The 2022 Silo production of '' The First Prime-Time Asian Sitcom,'' was the theatre debut of writer Nahyeon Lee presented at Q-Theatre and directed by Ahi Karunaharan. The play is a commentary on Asian representation in New Zealand. Lee, who is of Korean heritage, said of the play that it questions, "how we define ourselves in a system that doesn’t always have our best interests in mind, but has never predominately had Asian diaspora interests in mind until now". Reviewer Jess Karamjeet encouraged people to see it if, "you want to understand what it feels like to have none of the answers, and all of the rage." Sophie Roberts, the director, announced for 2023 that Silo Theatre would not stage any shows to focus on development of three plays and in a response to the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on the theatre company and the industry in Auckland and New Zealand. A full programme was announced for 2024. Four plays were programmed in 2024, ''ScatterGun: After the Death of Rūaumoko'' created and performed by Ana Chaya Scotney, ''Scenes from the Climate Era'' by David Finnigan, ''A Slow Burlesque'' created and performed by Freya Silas Finch, and ''Camping'' created and performed by Chris Parker and Tom Sainsbury with Kura Forrester and Brynley Stent.

Referand pes

{{authority control 1997 establishments in New Zealand Arts organizations established in 1997 Theatre companies in New Zealand