Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's national drama school. It was established in 1970 and is located in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, in the Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre. Toi Whakaari offers training in acting, costume construction, set and props construction, performing arts management and design for stage and screen. Toi Whakaari has a roll of approximately 130 students annually, who study for up to three years. Toi Whakaari is co-located at Te Whaea: National School of Dance and Drama Centre with the

New Zealand School of Dance The New Zealand School of Dance was established in 1967 and is a tertiary educational institute in New Zealand that teaches Contemporary dance, contemporary dance and ballet. It started as the National School of Ballet, and after contemporary da ...

which moved into the premises in 1998, at the same time as Toi Whakaari.

Name

''Te Kura Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa: NZ Drama School'' is the official name of the school. The

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

portion of the name translates to "a place of learning (Te Kura),

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

(Toi Whakaari), in (O) New Zealand (

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

)". This title was gifted to the School in 1988 by

Te Puni Kōkiri Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK, also called in English the Ministry of Māori Development) is the principal policy advisor of the Government of New Zealand on Māori people, Māori wellbeing and development. Te Puni Kōkiri was established under the Māor ...

(Ministry for Māori Development) in recognition of the School's bicultural work.

History

Toi Whakaari was established in 1970 by the

Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...

, as the New Zealand Drama School, with

Nola Leigh Millar Nola Leigh Millar (18 February 1913 – 20 January 1974) was a New Zealand librarian, theatre director, critic and administrator. She was born in Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-wes ...

as its first director. In 2005, its first year students were the subjects of a reality TV show, ''Tough Act''. 2010 saw Toi Whakaari celebrate its 40th anniversary. This also coincided with a book launch of the school's history. The book, titled ''Transitions'', was written by Bill Guest, former Head of the

Entertainment Technology Entertainment technology is the discipline of using manufactured or created components to enhance or make possible any sort of entertainment experience. Because entertainment categories are so broad, and because entertainment models the world in ...

Programme and Associate Director. Annie Ruth, one of the first acting graduates of the school, was Director of the school from 1998–2011 when she was succeeded by Christian Penny, who left in 2018 to take up a role with High Performance Sport NZ. In June 2019 it was announced that Tanea Heke ( Ngā Puhi) would be the new Director, after six months as interim Director. The school had a number of ongoing sexual and emotional abuse allegations reported in 2021.

Notable alumni

* James Ashcroft - director, actor, writer, producer * *

Tim Balme Timothy Guy Balme (born 18 January 1967) is a New Zealand actor and screenwriter. He's most well known for his roles on the long-running soap opera ''Shortland Street'' and ''Mercy Peak'', as well as lead roles in the cult film ''Braindead'' an ...

— actor, writer *

Nancy Brunning Nancy Brunning (1971 – 16 November 2019) was a New Zealand actress, director, and writer who won awards in film and television and made a major contribution to the growth of Māori in the arts. She won the best actress award at the New Zealand ...

- actor, director, writer * Alice Canton— actor, director *

Cliff Curtis Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born July 27, 1968) is a New Zealand actor and film producer. After working in theatre, he made his film debut in Jane Campion's Academy Awards, Oscar-winning film ''The Piano'' (1993), followed by a breakout role ...

- actor *

Marton Csokas Marton Paul Csokas (, ; born 30 June 1966) is a New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with his native country, and often portr ...

— screen actor *

Kerry Fox Kerry Lauren Fox (born 30 July 1966) is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie '' An Angel at My Table'' directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and ...

- actor *

Miranda Harcourt Dame Miranda Catherine Millais McKenzie ( Harcourt; born 1962) is a New Zealand actress and acting coach. Harcourt's acting career began playing boy characters on Radio New Zealand in the early 1970s. She is best known for her role as Gemma in ...

— actor, director, coach *

Tanea Heke Tanea Jane Heke is an actor, director and producer of theatre in New Zealand. In 2019 she was appointed as /Director of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. Career Heke is a 1997 graduate from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and was appointed dire ...

— actor, director, Kaiwhakahaere *

Rachel House Rachel Jessica Te Ao Maarama House (born 20 October 1971) is a New Zealand actress and director. She is best known for her roles in the films of Taika Waititi. She has received numerous accolades including an Arts Laureate, NZ Order of Mer ...

-actor, writer, director *

Ahi Karunaharan Ahilan Karunaharan is writer, director, actor and producer of Sri Lankan descent from New Zealand. He is a recipient of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, New Zealand Arts Laureate Award. Background and Education Ahi Karunaharan was born in ...

— writer, director, actor * Francis Kora — musician, actor * Laughton Kora — musician, actor * * * Chris Parker - comedian *

Emily Perkins Emily Jean Perkins (born May 4, 1977) is a Canadian actress, known for her roles as Crystal Braywood in the TV series ''Hiccups'', young Beverly Marsh in '' Stephen King's It'', and Brigitte Fitzgerald in '' Ginger Snaps''. Since the late 1980s ...

— novelist, playwright * Maaka Pohatu — actor, musician *

Chelsie Preston Crayford Chelsie Florence Preston Crayford (born 1987), sometimes credited as Chelsie Florence, is a New Zealand actress. Early life Preston Crayford was born in Wellington to film maker Gaylene Preston and musician Jonathan Crayford. Apart from appeari ...

— actor, filmmaker * *

Sophie Roberts Sophie Roberts is a theatre director and actor of New Zealand. She is the artistic director of Silo Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. Career Roberts graduated from Toi Whakaari the national New Zealand drama school in 2007. After graduating un ...

- director of

Silo Theatre Silo Theatre is a theatre production company based in Auckland, 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 includin ...

* Victor Roger — actor, playwright * Louise Sutherland — filmmaker * Alex Tarrant — screen actor * * Leon Wadham — screen actor

References

External links

Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School

New Zealand School of Dance

Tough Act
Television Reality Series {{authority control Schools in Wellington City Vocational education in New Zealand Drama schools in New Zealand 1970 establishments in New Zealand Education in Wellington