Community Theatre

The foundation of all my theatre and music work is seated in community theatre. It is by some seen as a little cousin to professional theatre, but I have always found a home in the Community and people of extraordinary talent and passion.

Group of people of various ages raising their arms inside a large multi-purpose room.

Glass Ceiling's Community Theatre Company Production of The Village of 12 Nights, Nov 27, 28, 29, Freemans Bay Community Centre, 2025

Glass Ceiling Arts Website

Swamp Treasures

A group of performers in lion costumes and masks on a stage with dim, warm lighting and a jungle backdrop, posing together.

There is a euphemism in the theatre world—‘community theatre’; it is both slightly patronising and an apt description. I have created performances with so many different groups of people, many aspirational and intrepid, and some troubled and in need of medicine of the spirit. Drama and all its associated potentials of self-discovery, affirmation, and social bonding have given witness to personal and communal transformations. It has been a joy and a gift.

A good example of this kind of project is Swamp Treasures, 2006. The long-lamented FUEL Festival commissioned me to create a large-scale community theatre event, to be staged at the Meteor Theatre.  I dreamt up a structure that would have coherence and focus for the cast of 90. I approached a number of community arts groups and invited them in. A teenage theatre company, a youth orchestra, a dance company, aspiring puppeteers and mask makers, a playwright, and composers.  Our work was a lament for the Waikato Wetlands and an awareness-raising exercise. I gave the performing groups 15 minutes of stage time each and an aspect of the theme to work on. I would visit rehearsals to keep everything going in the same direction, and then we had two days in the theatre to run it all together. The outcome was quite an achievement, with 90 people committing their craft and effort to articulate a concern. It was political and artistic and brought a distinct community together for a brief and energetic time.

This is a link to a published paper: Aesthetics and Didactic Intention: Community Theatre and its Modal interface with Common Beauty.

Person wearing a mohawk hairstyle, orange pants, and a dark jacket walking barefoot outdoors at night, with colorful lights illuminating the scene.
A humanoid figure with a head resembling a frog or lizard, wearing a beige jacket and holding a black item, standing in front of a yellowish background.
An elderly woman and a young man with a cap raising their hands in celebration or victory indoors, with colorful gym equipment in the background.