The Engine Room

The Engine Room is Auckland Theatre Company’s professional development residency for early to mid-career theatre practitioners. It supports artists who are ready to expand their creative practice and step into company-scale work, offering structured opportunities to learn within ATC’s mainstage productions and collaborate across departments in a professional environment. 

In 2026, three residencies will be offered: 

  • Engine Room Resident: Design – working across Helen Clark in Six Outfits, Macbeth, and Cabaret 

  • Engine Room Resident: Direction – observing Helen Clark in Six Outfits, Sons of Vao, and Macbeth (including serving as Resident Director during the performance season of Macbeth) 

  • Engine Room Resident: Musical Theatre Assistant Director, supported by Auckland Live – observing Cabaret

The Engine Room is for early to mid-career theatre practitioners who are ready to expand their professional practice within a producing-company environment. 

  • Have completed training and/or hold equivalent professional experience in their field (design, directing, or musical theatre).
  • Be passionate and committed to their chosen profession and can demonstrate a track record of at least two professional productions relevant to their discipline.
  • For the Engine Room Resident: Musical Theatre Assistant Director, Auckland Theatre Company and Auckland Live are looking for a female identifying or non-binary theatre artist to address the under-representation of women and non-binary people in creative leadership positions in professional musical theatre.
  • Be positioned at a turning point in their career.
  • Be eager to develop their capacity to work on productions of scale within a company environment.
  • Commit fully to the residency schedule, which includes regular evening and weekend work during production periods.
  • We welcome diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities.
  • Residents will be required to be based in Auckland for the residency period. ATC cannot provide relocation, travel costs or living allowance. A limited contribution towards expenses may be possible.
  • Residents must have a right to work in New Zealand.
  • As Auckland Theatre Company frequently works with young people, shortlisted candidates must undertake a criminal record check.
  • Applicants must be aged 18+.

  • Fixed-term, paid, professional residencies embedded in Auckland Theatre Company's 2026 season.
  • The role of “Engine Room Resident” at Auckland Theatre Company
  • Six sessions with an external mentor, with sessions scheduled before the residency, between each project and at the conclusion of the programme.
  • Salary based on CNZ’s Remuneration Policy for Artists and Arts Practitioners.

Round One: Expression of Interest

Submit a short Expression of Interest, via this Form Link.
As part of the Expression of Interest, we ask that you:

  • Confirm your eligibility
  • Share two referees
  • Submit a short video (max 4-minutes) that introduces you and shows alignment with the 2026 residencies. 

Round Two: Invitation to Apply & Interviews

If you are invited to apply, you will submit an application form, full CV and participate in a 1-hour in-person or Zoom interview.

Round Three: Final Interviews

The final stage of the application is a series of interviews with the creatives you'll be working with, and a final interview with Jonathan Bielski, Auckland Theatre Company's Artistic Director and CEO.

 

Engine Room 2026 - Expression of Interest

Submissions close at 12:00 noon, Friday 28 November 2025.

Engine Room 2026 EoI Form

The Engine Room 2026 is supported by The Friedlander Foundation, an Excellence Partner of Auckland Theatre Company. 

The Engine Room Resident: Musical Theatre Assistant Director is supported by:

 

2025 Engine Room Residents

2025 Engine Room Resident

Nī Dekkers-Reihana

2025 Engine Room Resident

Katrina George

“I learnt so much from watching some of our country's absolute best and most experienced actors on the floor. Seeing all their processes, hearing their questions, watching them nut things out and find solutions... was a beautifully rich affair. ”

— Nī Dekkers-Reihana (Engine Room Resident, 2025)

“It has been an incredible joy and honour to work alongside three powerhouse directors as they expertly bring these enormous shows to port. I am emerging on the other side of the Engine Room Residency with a hunger to get on the tools, a deeper confidence in my voice as a practitioner and a great appreciation for our craft and all the incredible people who dedicate themselves to the wonderful challenge of theatre.”

— Katrina George (Engine Room Resident, 2025)