Hannah Playhouse Photo: Nadine McGrath
1973 turns out to have been an important year in the history of theatre in Aotearoa. Three theatre institutions are celebrating 50th anniversaries this year.
Murray Lynch Photo: supplied
The first is Pōneke’s iconic Hannah Playhouse, built to house the late Downstage Theatre.
The second, national playwright agency and development organisation Playmarket - which began its life in a Downstage filing cabinet.
And the third institution? It's a person: Murray Lynch began his professional theatre career directing and acting at Whanganui theatre Four Seasons in 1973. He was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to theatre in 2021.
Today Lynch is chair of the Hannah Playhouse Trust and has been director of Playmarket for the last 13 years. Previously, he was a director of Downstage Theatre, which ran until 2013.
By 1974 there were nine professional regional theatres and Downstage was about to give the New Zealand play a big push forward.
“Everything was just poised to burst forth,” Lynch tells Culture 101’s Mark Amery, another former Playmarket director.
Playmarket is a licensing, development and promotional organisation for New Zealand playwrights, and key in supporting the rights of theatre artists in Aotearoa.
Hone Kouka's Waiora premiering under Murray Lynch's direction at Downstage in 1996. Photo: supplied
Lynch’s career itself reads like a history of modern Aotearoa theatre.
He went from the Four Seasons to the new Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North and then on to Auckland’s seminal Theatre Corporate and the Maidment Theatre.
He went on to direct Downstage Theatre at the Hannah Playhouse and to teach at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School in Wellington. He was founding director of independent Tantrum Theatre Company.
A 50th birthday cake for the Hannah Playhouse 2023 made by Stiletto Studio Photo: supplied
An eye-catching, award-winning Brutalist style building on the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace, Hannah Playhouse has recently been declared a category one historic place. It was the first purpose-built modern venue for a theatre company and is notable for its flexible seating arrangements.
40th anniversary celebrations 10 years ago for Playmarket at the Hannah Playhouse. Photo: supplied
The Hannah has recently been given a new lease of life as a performing arts development space, with multi-year funding support from Wellington City Council, which is a co-owner.
The theatre will see the premiere of New Zealand musical House on Fire from 11 to 26 November and comedy Waiting for Waiting for Godot, directed by Michael Hurst, is on from 28 November to 2 December, as part of its North Island tour.
