Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Scottish, Chinese and Māori heritage.
New Zealand's Fortune Theatre laid claim to being the world's southernmost professional theatre company and sole year round professional theatre group in Dunedin, until its closure on 1 May 2018, citing financial difficulties. The company ran for 44 years. The theatre regularly produced local shows and hosted touring performances.
Channel 39, also known as Southern Television, is a regional television station operating in Dunedin, New Zealand. The channel is a division of Allied Press, who also publish the local daily newspaper Otago Daily Times.
The Meridian Mall is a large shopping complex in Dunedin, New Zealand designed by ASA Crone Architects, an Australian development company. At 16,000 m2 (172,222.6 sq ft) it is the largest retail mall in the southern South Island, and one of the largest in the South Island as a whole.
The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) (Māori: Whānau Mārama) is a film festival held annually across New Zealand throughout the latter half of the year, starting in Auckland in July.
Dudley Benson is a New Zealand musician and bar director from Christchurch, New Zealand. Benson released his debut album The Awakening in 2008, through his own independent label Golden Retriever Records, following this up with Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne in 2010 and Zealandia in 2018. In 2014 he won an Arts Foundation of New Zealand New Generation Award. Since 2020, Benson has been a co-director of Woof!, a cocktail bar in Dunedin.
Emily Tess Duncan is a New Zealand playwright. She is co-founder of Prospect Park Productions, an organisation aiming “to create and produce original New Zealand theatre and collaborative projects that reach into other art forms." Duncan held the 2019 Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She lives in Dunedin.
Aaron Garth Hawkins is a New Zealand politician who served as the 58th mayor of Dunedin, New Zealand from 2019 to 2022. He was elected as Mayor on 12 October 2019 with 54.54% of the vote, after two prior terms as councillor. He is endorsed by the Green Party. He unsuccessfully stood for re-election as mayor in 2022.
AotearoaNew Zealand Festival is a multi-arts biennial festival based in Wellington New Zealand that started in 1986. Previous names are the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, New Zealand International Arts Festival, New Zealand Arts Festival and New Zealand Festival of the Arts. The festival is produced every two years and runs across three weeks in venues in Wellington City and outreach programmes in the region. The festival features both international and national acts from performing arts and music with a literary programme also.
Craig James Hilton is a New Zealand artist and scientist known for his collaborations with Billy Apple.
The Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival is a literary festival held in Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. Since its inception in 2014, there have been in total six festivals, including a special Celtic Noir event in 2019. The event is based mainly at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery but utilises Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, the Otago Pioneer Women's Hall, the Dunedin Central Library and in 2021 the central live music venue Dog with Two Tails. Festival events include talks, book launches, workshops, a storytrain or storybus, and in some years the unveiling of a new plaque on the Dunedin Writers' Walk.
The Dunedin Writers' Walk is a series of 25 commemorative plaques in the upper Octagon area of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand.
The Dunedin Theatre Awards are annual theatre awards in Dunedin, New Zealand. The awards were established in 2010 by director and actor Patrick Davies, and the winners are selected by a panel of theatre reviewers. The winners are selected by the Dunedin Reviewers Collective.
Prospect Park is a theatre production company in New Zealand. It was formed in 2016 by Emily Duncan and H-J Kilkelly to foster new professional theatre-based work in the region. Duncan is a playwright and director and Kilkelly is a producer, both are from Ōtepoti Dunedin.
Lisa Jadwiga Valentina Warrington is a New Zealand theatre studies academic, director, actor and author. She has directed more than 130 productions, and established the Theatre Aotearoa database. In 2014 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Dunedin Theatre Awards, and was three times winner of a New Zealand Listener Best Director award, including one for Tom Scott's The Daylight Atheist.
Suitcase Theatre is a theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Martyn Roberts is a New Zealand lighting and set designer and photographer, and founder of the arts collective afterburner theatre productions. Roberts has won 14 theatre awards. The afterburner production Dark Matter, conceived and created by Roberts won Best of Fringe at the 2017 NZ Fringe Festival Awards.
Louise Durant Petherbridge, is a New Zealand actor, director, deviser, producer and lecturer.
Richard Huber is a playwright, actor and director based in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Louise Mary Potiki Bryant is a New Zealand choreographer, dancer and video artist of Māori descent. She has choreographed a number of award-winning performances, and is a founding member of Atamira Dance Company. She designs, produces and edits videos of performances for music videos, dance films and video art installations, and her works are frequently accompanied by music composed by her husband, musician Paddy Free. She often collaborates with other artists, including clay sculptor Paerau Corneal, singer-songwriter Ariana Tikao, scholar Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal and Canadian multidisciplinary artist Santee Smith. She was made an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate in 2019.
