Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's national drama school. It was established in 1970 and is located in Wellington, New Zealand, in the Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre. Toi Whakaari offers training in acting, costume construction, set and props construction, performing arts management and design for stage and screen. Toi Whakaari has a roll of approximately 130 students annually, who study for up to three years.
Toi Whakaari is co-located at Te Whaea: National School of Dance and Drama Centre with the New Zealand School of Dance which moved into the premises in 1998, at the same time as Toi Whakaari.
Name Te Kura Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa: NZ Drama School is the official name of the school. The Māori portion of the name translates to "a place of learning (Te Kura), performing arts (Toi Whakaari), in (O) New Zealand (Aotearoa)". This title was gifted to the School in 1988 by Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry for Māori Development) 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 history. The book, titled Transitions, was written by Bill Guest, former Head of the Entertainment Technology Programme and 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 (Ngā Puhi) would be the new Director, after six months as interim Director.
The school had a number of ongoing sexual and emotional abuse allegations reported in 2021.
Notable alumni
James Ashcroft - director, actor, writer, producer
Tim Balme — actor, writer Nancy Brunning - actor, director, writer Alice Canton— actor, director Cliff Curtis - actor Marton Csokas — screen actor Kerry Fox - actor Miranda Harcourt — actor, director, coach Tanea Heke — actor, director, Kaiwhakahaere Rachel House -actor, writer, director Ahi Karunaharan — writer, director, actor Francis Kora — musician, actor Laughton Kora — musician, actor
Chris Parker - comedian Emily Perkins — novelist, playwright Maaka Pohatu — actor, musician Chelsie Preston Crayford — actor, filmmaker
Sophie Roberts - director of Silo Theatre Victor Roger — actor, playwright Louise Sutherland — filmmaker Alex Tarrant — screen actor
Leon Wadham — screen actor
References
External links Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School New Zealand School of Dance Tough Act Television Reality Series