Massive Theatre Company

Last updated

Massive Theatre Company
TypeTheatre group
Artistic director(s)
Sam Scott
Website http://www.massivecompany.co.nz/

Massive Theatre Company, also called Massive or Massive Company, is a professional theatre company in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Founded by Artistic Director Samantha Scott MNZM in 1990, the Maidment Youth Theatre at the University of Auckland. [1] [2] was later renamed Massive Theatre Company - a fusion company of emerging and professional artists.

Massive is a professional physical ensemble company, creating new theatre with emerging and professional actors, directors and writers. Its work comes from real stories that reflect the rich diversity of Aotearoa.

Massive is also a leading company in developing both emerging and professional artists. Through access to free workshops and ongoing mentoring/training, emerging artists are able to become a part of the company from age fourteen and stay involved throughout their professional career. 

With productions like The Sons of Charlie Paora and 2015's The Brave, the company has "brought challenging topics affecting young Polynesians to the stage". [1] It has also provided career development for actors such as Anapela Polataivao and Beulah Koale. [1]

Production history

In 2004, the company took The Sons of Charlie Paora, written by Lennie James, to the Royal Court Theatre in London. [3]

In 2011, the company produced the world premiere of a commissioned play by Lennie James, Havoc in the Garden. The play, directed by Sam Scott, was performed at three Auckland venues, the Herald Theatre at the Aotea Centre, Māngere Arts Centre and Takapuna's Pumphouse. [4]

In 2017, the company's The Wholehearted was nominated for the Excellence Award in Ensemble Performance at the Wellington Theatre Awards. [5] The Wholehearted was created as a celebration of Massive Theatre Company's 25th anniversary in 2016. [6] The play was directed by Sam Scott and Scotty Cotter, and featured a cast of seven: Bree Peters, Renee Lyons, Kura Forrester, Pat Tafa, Denyce Su'a, Theo David and Villa Lemanu. [6] It played at Māngere Arts Centre, Q Theatre Loft and Herald Theatre in Auckland, Hannah Playhouse in Wellington and Iona College in Hawkes Bay between March 2016 and September 2017. [6]

In 2018, the company produced Sightings, written by Fiona Graham, Miriama McDowell and Denyce Su'a. [7]

Productions from 2019-2023 include: Half of the Sky (2019-23), Like a River (2019), Babble (2020), Te Whare Kapua (2021), What We're Made Of (2022), and Heart Go... BOOM! (2023).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globe Theatre, Dunedin</span> Theatre and theatre company in Dunedin, New Zealand

Globe Theatre is a theatre located in Dunedin, New Zealand, and the amateur theatre company that runs it. The theatre was built in 1961 by Patric and Rosalie Carey as an extension of their house. The building to which it is attached, at 104 London Street, was designed by architect William Mason as his own house and built in 1864. Ralph Hotere designed both sets and costumes for the theatre productions. The foyer area was also used for exhibitions, notably the Waterfall paintings of Colin McCahon, paintings by Michael Smither, and pots by Barry Brickell, Len Castle, and Doreen Blumhardt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Maunder</span> New Zealand filmmaker

Paul Allan Maunder is a New Zealand film director, playwright and cultural activist. He is best known for his 1979 film of the novel Sons for the Return Home by Albert Wendt, his 1983 play Hemi about the life of James K. Baxter, and his work in community-based theatre.

<i>Badjelly the Witch</i> 1973 book by Spike Milligan

Badjelly the Witch is a brief handwritten, illustrated story by Spike Milligan, created for his children, then printed in 1973. It was made into an audio and a video version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards</span> Annual theatre awards in Wellington, New Zealand (1992–2014)

The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards were the main theatre awards in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, from 1992–2014, and have been succeeded by the Wellington Theatre Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Rodger</span> New Zealand playwright

Victor John Rodger is a New Zealand journalist, actor and award-winning playwright of Samoan and Pākehā heritage. Rodger's play Sons won acclaim at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards (1998) and received the Best New Writer and Most Outstanding New New Zealand Play awards. In 2001, he won the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. Other plays include Ranterstantrum (2002) and My Name is Gary Cooper (2007), produced and staged by Auckland Theatre Company and starred a Samoan cast including Robbie Magasiva, Anapela Polataivao, Goretti Chadwick and Kiwi actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand.

Riwia Brown is a New Zealand playwright. She is the screenwriter of the popular and award-winning New Zealand movie Once Were Warriors (1994). The Once Were Warriors screenplay, adapted from the book of the same name by Alan Duff, gained Brown the Best Screenplay award at the 1994 New Zealand Film and TV Awards. Brown has written for theatre, television and films.

Stephen Sinclair is a New Zealand playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the co-author of stage comedy Ladies Night. In 2001, the French version won the Molière Award for stage comedy of the year. Other plays include The Bellbird and The Bach, both of which are prescribed texts for Drama Studies in New Zealand secondary schools.

Gary Henderson is a New Zealand playwright, director and teacher. Henderson's work has been produced both nationally and internationally with his play Skin Tight having travelled to Edinburgh, New York City and Canada. Whilst at the 1998 Edinburgh Fringe Festival it won the Fringe First Award. In 2013 Henderson received a $20,000 Playmarket Award, acknowledging his contribution to New Zealand theatre.

Eli Kent is a New Zealand playwright and actor. Kent holds a master's in scriptwriting from Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters.

Albert Alexander Amahou Belz is a New Zealand actor, writer and lecturer.

Kila Kokonut Krew is a theatre company and music producer in Auckland, New Zealand. They have produced 12 music albums, a web series, a TV skit series as well as theatre productions.

Mitch Tawhi Thomas is a New Zealand playwright, actor and drama teacher.

Catherine Patricia Downes is a New Zealand theatre director, actor, dramaturg and playwright. Of Māori descent, she affiliates to Ngāi Tahu. Downes wrote a one-woman play The Case of Katherine Mansfield, which she has performed more than 1000 times in six countries over twenty years. She has been the artistic director of the Court Theatre in Christchurch and the director of Downstage Theatre in Wellington. She lives on Waiheke Island and works as a freelance actor, director and playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māngere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku</span> Theatre and gallery space in Auckland, New Zealand

Māngere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku is an Auckland Council-owned and operated arts venue in the suburb of Māngere, in Auckland, New Zealand. The purpose-built facility was opened in 2010, and is considered by Auckland Council to be the home of Māori and Pacific visual art and performing arts in Auckland.

Miriama McDowell is a New Zealand actor, director and playwright. She is a graduate of Toi Whakaari.

Jason Te Kare is a New Zealand director, playwright and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David O'Donnell (actor-director)</span> New Zealand theatre academic and theatre director (1956- )

David John O'Donnell is a theatre director, actor and academic based in Wellington, New Zealand. He has been a full professor at Victoria University of Wellington since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanaki Prescott-Faletau</span> Tongan-New Zealand performer and director

Amanaki Lelei Prescott-Faletau is an actor, writer, dancer, choreographer, producer and director of Tongan descent, living in New Zealand. As a playwright, she became the first fakaleitī to have her work published in New Zealand with Inky Pinky Ponky. This play was awarded Best Teenage Script (2015) by New Zealand Playmarket. As an actor, she was awarded best performance at the 2015 Auckland Fringe Festival for Victor Rodger's Girl on the Corner. Her acting credits include The Breaker Upperers (2018), SIS (2020), The Panthers (2021), The Pact (2021) and Sui Generis (2022), in which she is also a writer for the TV series. Faletau competed as a dancer in the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in 2011 and has been a judge at the National Hip Hop Championships in New Zealand over several years.

Stacey Leilua is a New Zealand actress and producer. Since the early 2000s she has regularly acted in Pasifika theatre in New Zealand and was a founding member of the Kila Kokonut Krew. She played Ata Johnson, the mother of Dwayne Johnson, in the comedy show Young Rock from 2021 to 2023.

Leki Jackson-Bourke is a playwright based out of Auckland and is the first Pasifika playwright to win the Creative New Zealand Todd New Writer's Bursary Grant in 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lisa Warrington; David O'Donnell (2017). Floating Islanders: Pacifika Theatre in Aotearoa. Dunedin: Otago University Press. ISBN   978-1-98-853107-6.
  2. ↑ Maunder, Paul (2013). Rebellious mirrors : community-based theatre in Aotearoa / New Zealand. Christchurch, New Zealand. ISBN   978-1-927145-45-6. OCLC   861221640.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ↑ Laurie Atkinson; David O'Donnell, eds. (2013). Playmarket 40: 40 years of playwriting in New Zealand. New Zealand: Playmarket. ISBN   978-0-908607-45-7.
  4. ↑ "Havoc in the Garden – Intense emotional upheaval in five families from one community". www.theatreview.org.nz. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "New Zealand Theatre: theatre reviews, performance reviews – Theatreview". www.theatreview.org.nz. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "Production information – The Wholehearted". www.theatreview.org.nz. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "New Zealand Theatre: theatre reviews, performance reviews – Theatreview". www.theatreview.org.nz. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.