Toi Whakaari


Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's foremost national drama school. It is located in Wellington, New Zealand, at a purpose built facility: Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre. Toi Whakaari offers training in acting, costume construction, performing arts management – and design for stage and screen.
Toi Whakaari caters to around 130 students annually, who study for up to three years.
The school produces up to six productions of various types a year, largely performed, crewed, designed by students.
Toi Whakaari is the sister school of the New Zealand School of Dance.

Name

Te Kura Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa: NZ Drama School is the official name of the school. The Maori portion of the name translates to: a place of learning, performing arts, in New Zealand.
This titled was 'gifted' to the School in 1988 by Te Puni Kokiri in recognition of the School's bicultural work.

History

Toi Whakaari was established in 1970 by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, as the New Zealand Drama School, with Nola Leigh Millar 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 turbulent 40-year history. The book, titled Transitions, was written by Bill Guest, former Head of the Entertainment Technology Program & 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 would be the new Director, after six months as interim Director.

Qualifications offered

The school offers the following tertiary qualifications:
New qualifications from 2019, pending NZQA approval
On average, 200+ acting students audition for the school each year from around the country. Of these, about 50 are invited for a recall audition and further questioning before the panel selects the 20–24 first year entrants.