School Matinee Programme
Our School Matinees offer the chance to watch a performance, followed by a Q&A with the cast and creatives involved. Alongside School Matinees, we offer workshops that help students develop skills and gain a deeper understanding of a production.
In 2025 every school group booking includes a free recording of the production, and an education pack with curriculum linked resources.
Explore upcoming productions in our 2025 Creative Learning programme:
TIRI: TE ARAROA WOMAN FAR WALKING
by Witi Ihimaera
I am 185 years old. I was born on 6 February 1840.
185 taku pakeke 6 o Pēpuere 1840 taku rā whānau.
For the first time, Witi Ihimaera’s extraordinary play will be performed in both English and te reo Māori, with both versions capturing the enduring spirit of Te Ao Māori.
School Performances: Thurs 20 Nov 11am
Curriculum Connections: Theatre Aotearoa, Te reo Māori, Contemporary Māori performance, NZ Feminist Theatre, Monologue
Suitability: Year level 9-13
Advisory/Whakatūpato: Includes descriptions of violence.
Ākonga Tickets: $17
Kaiako Tickets: One kaiako free for every 15 ākonga. Additional adults $20. Teacher Aides are complimentary
Ratios: There must be one adult for every 15 ākonga booked
Equity Tickets: Complimentary tickets are available for members of the community who face social or financial barriers to attending theatre
Travel subsidies: Limited travel subsidies are available if costs are a barrier.
Content: Auckland Theatre Company productions may contain mature material, sometimes this cannot be confirmed until rehearsals commence. We offer a guide online and take all measures to inform you if the content changes prior to you viewing of the performance.
For more information, including pursual scripts, please reach out to Sam Phillips, Head of Learning & Participation: [email protected].
We will send an initial invoice for a Non-Refundable Deposit once we have processed your completed 2024 Booking Form. Payment of this invoice will secure your pencilled in bookings. Deposits are as follows:
- 10-39 tickets - $100
- 40-89 tickets - $300
- 90+ tickets - $500
Final confirmation of numbers is required at least eight weeks prior to each performance date. Once a booking is confirmed, no changes, refunds or exchanges can be made. With final number confirmed, a second invoice for the balance of each booking will be issued. Payment must be made within seven days of this invoice being issued to secure your seats.
- The booking is made on behalf of the school and the school accepts liability to make the payment by the due date.
- If a teacher leaves the school, it is their responsibility to inform the appropriate/replacement staff members of this booking agreement and details.
- Photographing, video recording or any other kind of recording during the performance is not permitted.
- Student duty of care remains the responsibility of supervising teachers
ATC's travel fund for 2025 has now been fully allocated. We are unable to provide travel subsidies for the remainder of this year.
For more information, please reach out to Sam Phillips, Head of Learning & Participation: [email protected].
Visit our School Bookings page.
School Group Bookings
In 2025 kaiako can book $17 group tickets on the School Group Bookings page
Workshops and Resources
ATC support kaiako to deliver their drama programmes with a full suite of curriculum-linked resources, post-show Q&As, and online and in-person workshops.
Youth Arts
SCHOOLS AND KAIAKO
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Past productions in our 2025 Creative Learning programme:
a mixtape for maladies
by Ahilan Karunaharan
When memory is both a gift and a curse.
Sweeping from 1950s’ Sri Lanka to modern-day Aotearoa, seventeen tracks on an old mixtape reveal bittersweet memories of a family’s resilience behind every song.
School Performances: Wed 12 Mar, Thurs 20 Mar 11am
In-school Workshops: Available from Mon 3 Mar to Fri 28 Mar
Curriculum Connections: Theatre Aotearoa, stories and histories from Sri Lanka, live music
Suitability: Year levels 11 – 13
Advisory: Includes themes of war and trauma
A collaboration between Agaram Productions, Auckland Theatre Company and Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival.
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express
adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig
One murder, eight suspects and a wild ride that’s about to go off the rails.
The classic whodunnit, cleverly adapted for the stage. All aboard Agatha Christie’s most thrilling murder-mystery. The classic whodunnit, cleverly adapted for the stage.
School Performances: Thurs 1 May, Wed 7 May 11am
In-school Workshops: Available from Mon 28 Apr to Fri 16 Mar
Curriculum Connections: Crime and mystery fiction, ensemble cast
Suitability: Year levels 11 – 13
Advisory: Includes references to the death of a child and suicide, depictions of death, gunshots and strobe lighting.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
An epic new production set in 1960’s Verona by director Benjamin Kilby-Henson
These violent delights have violent ends.
School Performances: Wed 23 Jul, Fri 25 Jul, Wed 30 Jul, Fri 1 Aug, Thurs 7 Aug 11am (Join Waitlist)
Evening Options: Schools' pricing available for Tues – Thur performances, 15 Jul – 9 Aug
In-school Workshops: Available from Mon 14 Jul to Fri 8 Aug
Curriculum Connections: Elizabethan Theatre
Suitability: Year levels 9 – 13
Advisory: Includes romantic/sexual content, violence (knife fighting), death, suicide, drug use, brief partial nudity, and haze.
MARY The Birth of Frankenstein
by award-winning kiwi playwright Jess Sayer. Co-created and directed by Oliver Driver
A terrifying re-imagining of the night Mary Shelley became the mother of horror.
A terrifying re-imagining of the night Mary Shelley became the mother of horror by award-winning kiwi playwright Jess Sayer. Co-created and directed by Oliver Driver (Amadeus).
School Performances: School groups welcome at evening performances, 19 Aug – 7 Sep
Curriculum Connections: Theatre Aotearoa, Gothic Literature, NZ Feminist Theatre
Suitability: Year level 13
Advisory: Includes offensive language, depictions of drug use, sexual content and violence