In 1956 New Zealand, a married woman is expected to leave paid employment behind and dedicate herself to home and family. But Jean Parker can't afford to.

With her husband still studying medicine and her public service salary keeping the household afloat, Jean unexpectedly finds herself at the centre of a national fight for equal pay. Navigating political pressure, public scrutiny and the risk of losing everything, she discovers the courage to take her place in New Zealand history.

Inspired by true events, Mrs Parker is a compelling story of determination, justice and the women who helped change a nation.

Some stories just get at you, and for me Mrs Parker is one of them. On so many levels - political, work, education and family - there is a story to tell. This is the era our mothers and grandmothers grew up in. It was a dream to write with what happened in parliament recorded in Hansard (which is now online!) and also the chance meeting of a woman who worked with Mrs Parker in Dunedin. A historical true story which also reflects on what is happening now in New Zealand. A forgotten story that needs to be told.

I'm a novelist, scriptwriter and playwright trying to make things happen in the South.

When her mother dies, Teuila is left to piece together a life shaped by love, sacrifice and migration across Samoa and Aotearoa.

Guided by the voices of her inner child and grandmother, she journeys through memory, grief and healing, finding strength in the stories passed between generations.

Woven with poetry and song, My Mum Stitches is a powerful and deeply personal exploration of family, identity and belonging. Tender, lyrical and uplifting, it celebrates the threads that connect us to those we have lost and carry forward with us.

I am a Samoan poet, songwriter and interdisciplinary artist with a screen production and community radio background. As one of seven children, I was born and raised in Christchurch. Like many children of migrants, I grew up compartmentalised: very Samoan and Catholic at our home in Redwood
very palagi and Catholic at school. Before having my two children, I lived and worked in Samoa for a few years, strengthening my language, cultural identity and family connections. My art is where all facets of me can co-exist - the tension and harmony of it all. Much of my work is bilingual - my third natural language - and traverses the physical and spiritual realms, the ordinary and the extraordinary. I hail from the Samoa villages of Manono, Lealatele, Safotu, Lalomanu and Lefaga.

Fresh from recording his first stand-up special, a successful but deeply cynical comedian decides to celebrate with an experience he believes will be simple, transactional and entirely under his control.

Instead, his fledgling sobriety and recent autism diagnosis unravel into a funny, incisive and unexpectedly moving examination of desire, performance and human connection.

Blending stand-up comedy, drama and music, The Consummate Professional is a thought-provoking work about the stories we tell ourselves, the roles we perform for others, and what it costs to make a living entertaining an audience.

I'm a writer/theatre artist/filmmaker from Ōtautahi, who grew up in the US, and is also from Canada. I'm a little autistic weirdo with a deep passion for workers' rights, justice, and good craft, and I think that shows in my volunteer/political work with the NZ Writers Guild and my creative work at the Court Theatre and elsewhere.

I'm collaborating here with my partner Cathasaigh Ó Fiannachta, another Kiwi who grew up all over, who is a screenwriter/producer and retired sex worker, and who holds feminism and sex worker advocacy as two of their key passions. This script is a synthesis of our worlds, and it won the McNaughton South Island Play Award at the Adams last year, so clearly we're doing something right. But it requires more professional development before anyone with even a tiny amount of risk aversion will take it on...

A three-hour workshop for young writers aged 13 to 19, exploring scene-writing through both literary and theatre-making approaches.

Through a range of writing and performance-based prompts, participants will explore scene-craft from multiple perspectives. Drawing on both literary and theatre traditions, the workshop will focus on creating effective, engaging, and impactful scenes. Activities will take place both on participants' feet and at their desks, encouraging creativity, experimentation, and collaboration, with the goal of developing compelling ideas on the page.

Josiah Morgan is a poet, actor, drama teacher, performer, facilitator, reviewer, editor, and writer from Ōtautahi Christchurch. He is the co-playwright of Faust On Trial, alongside Stella Cheersmith and Jonty Coulson, and has written and devised numerous theatre works, including Rumpelstiltskin, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and O Que Iremos Fazer.
In 2026, he was the Visiting Writer in Washington State University's Creative Writing Program. He is the author of I'm still growing (Dead Bird Books, 2024), and his novella Road: A Postlapsarian Comedy won the Macmillan Brown Writers Prize in 2021. His work has appeared in The Spinoff, Landfall, Out Here, and numerous other journals, blogs, and magazines.

Learn the skills to get your work made, marketed and seen in this practical 90-minute workshop.

A practical and fun workshop on self-producing, pitching and promoting yourself and your work. For independent artists, theatre makers and emerging producers.

Tessa Waters is a multi-award-winning clown, comedian, theatre maker, producer, marketing guru and fully sick tour van driver. She has been self-producing and touring her unique work around Australia, NZ and the UK for nearly 20 years. There's nothing she doesn't know about selling and promoting your work to audiences, festival and venue producers alike.

Tessa Waters is a multi-award-winning clown, comedian and theatremaker “Queen of Physical Comedy” (TimeOut London) who has called Lyttelton home for the past three years. Having studied at the Gaulier School of Clown in Paris, she went on to make her solo show WOMANZ, which was the first to win 4 awards in one season at the Melbourne Fringe Awards and went on to tour internationally for 6years. Her show Fully Sik co-won best comedy at Adelaide Fringe alongside Hannah Gadsby’s Nannette and was filmed as an hour special for ABC TV in Australia, and she is one-third of Fringe Wives Club, whose smash hit feminist disco cabaret Glittery Clittery, a conSensual Party toured internationally from 2017-2020. And she has been running Feminist Clown Posse, teaching and creating performance opportunities for artists in Ōtautahi since 2023.

Turn great ideas into great theatre in this practical, hands-on 90-minute devising workshop.

After years of having ideas for shows but never finding the time to sit down and write them, Dan began using his improvisation skills to devise stories in the rehearsal room. This practical workshop will guide participants through techniques and craft skills for collaboratively creating narrative-based theatre.

Daniel Pengelly has been creating work as a theatre artist since 2004. He started as a Court Jester improvising, then went on and act and direct at The Court Theatre. He holds a Masters Degree in Theatre Arts from Toi Whaakari and Victoria University. He was Artistic Director of Centrepoint Theatre 2016-2019 and The Court Theatre 2020-2022. He specialises in the creation and performance of comedy theatre. 

What does it mean to make theatre in 2026? In a time of funding pressures, shifting audience habits, digital distraction, and global uncertainty, artists are finding new ways to create, connect, and tell stories. Join Dr Erin Harrington, Juanita Hepi, and Dr Pedro Ilgenfritz for a discussion on the realities of creating new theatre today. From artistic risk and audience engagement to training, sustainability, and keeping creative practice alive, they'll explore the challenges and opportunities shaping contemporary performance in Aotearoa and beyond.
The panel brings together a leading arts commentator and researcher, an acclaimed multidisciplinary storyteller and Indigenous arts advocate, and an experienced theatre director, educator, and scholar. Together, they'll consider what "new theatre" can be when the arts landscape sometimes feels a little like a hellscape.

Moderated by Lizzie Tollemache, Christchurch theatre-maker, producer, arts leader, and Creative Director of Rollicking Entertainment. 

Dr. Erin Harrington is a Senior Lecturer Above the Bar in English and Cultural Studies at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, and editor of the Christchurch arts platform Flat City Field Notes. An award-winning teacher, researcher, and arts critic, she is a familiar voice in Aotearoa’s cultural landscape, writing and speaking extensively about theatre, performance, media, and contemporary culture. She is also a trustee of WORD Christchurch and a passionate advocate for arts and critical discourse in Ōtautahi.

Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi, Moriori) is a multidisciplinary storyteller, performer, writer, director, researcher, and arts advocate based in Ōtautahi. Her work explores the intersections of race, class, gender, and Indigenous storytelling through performance, community engagement, and cross-cultural collaboration. A graduate and lecturer of Toi Whakaari, she has performed nationally and internationally, including at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and is co-founder of Te Whare Tapere, an Indigenous house of storytelling at Christchurch Arts Centre.

Dr Pedro Ilgenfritz is the Artistic Director of Hagley Theatre School and a theatre director, educator, and scholar with more than three decades of experience across Brazil and Aotearoa New Zealand. Formerly a Senior Lecturer in Performing and Screen Arts at Unitec for 18 years, he specialises in actor training, theatre creation, directing, and performance pedagogy. Pedro holds degrees from UDESC (Brazil), Toi Whakaari/Victoria University of Wellington, and the University of Auckland, where his doctoral research focused on the influence of Jacques Lecoq’s theatre practice in Aotearoa.

Lizzie Tollemache is a Christchurch-based theatre-maker, producer, and arts leader with extensive experience developing and supporting contemporary performance in Aotearoa. As a curator, mentor, and advocate for new work, she has championed emerging and established artists alike, helping foster a vibrant independent theatre scene in Ōtautahi. A maker who has toured eight countries, Lizzie is also the Creative Director of Rollicking Entertainment- creating and touring multi-award winning shows including Messy Magic Adventure and Kitchen Chaos (for kids), Mr and Mrs Alexander and The Dunstan Creek Haunting (for adults) and summer theatre hits The Complete Voyage of the RMS Titanic and The Lord of the Rings in 90 Minutes (for everyone).