OUR COMMUNITY IMPACT
A great performance makes a difference.
Since early 2020, most of our live productions were cancelled (as for all other performing arts organisations) due to lockdown, audience limits and on-going fallout from the pandemic.
Despite these setbacks – and thanks to the efforts of our tireless team and the support of our donors and funders – we are back on stage! We presented three major productions in 2022, and we continue to work towards achieving our purpose of inspiring children and young people of all backgrounds and abilities to be confident and creative through theatre.
As the following figures show, the impact of this can truly be life changing.
The numbers say it all – our impact in 2022:
25,000 children and their teachers, parents, grandparents and caregivers attended our three professional productions over 155 performances across 5 venues across Tāmaki Makaurau.
755
young people enrolled in our Youth Theatre programmes including our free entry programme at the Māngere Arts Centre.
5,875
children enjoyed a life-enriching experience at our productions, thanks to Gift a Seat™.
177
autistic and neuro-divergent children and teenagers enrolled in our Extraordinarily Creative drama classes.
20
Mary Amoore Gift a Seat™ Youth Theatre scholarships were provided for children and teenagers to attend Extraordinarily Creative.
18
students took part in a collaborative project with Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education and Creatives in Schools to empower Deaf students to perform.
24
different accessible performances were offered to cater for impaired, disabled and neuro-diverse audiences.
921
children and adults accessed NZ Sign Language, Audio Described and Sensory Relaxed performances.
* 2022 impact as at 22 December, 2022
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Performing through a pandemic.
Recent times have certainly been challenging, but as you’d expect of a theatre company, we got creative. Here are some of the many ways we kept the theatre alive for our audiences…
A Christmas Celebration
After an absence of three years, the company was thrilled to deliver a three week, nearly sold out season of The Santa Claus Show by Tim Bray in 2022.
Greedy Cat – Online
As a response to the pandemic, we developed online, pay-per-view films as a way to provide children, who could not come to a live performance, a chance to experience professional theatre. Our first show, Greedy Cat – Online, with accessible options, was released to the public and schools in 2021. Further shows will be added to the Online Library in 2023.
Creating lockdown adventures
We teach our students to bring their creativity and imagination and have been on some exciting and unique adventures in the drama room. During the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 our Youth Theatre tutors cleverly created ways to keep their drama students engaged via online lessons.
LOOKING AHEAD
New shows, new initiatives, new audiences.
2023 Season
We are excited to finally be presenting shows that were cancelled (due to the pandemic) in 2020, 2021 and 2022 – The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch (by NZ-born Ronda Armitage), The Magic Faraway Tree and Roald Dahl’s The Twits – along with our Christmas celebration, The Santa Claus Show ‘23.
5,875 seats gifted in 2022
As well as our paid audience, 5,875 children (from 30 schools across Auckland) enjoyed Badjelly the Witch, The Whale Rider and The Santa Claus Show ’22 for free through our Gift a Seat™ outreach programme for schools and early childhood centres that applied for support. For some, it may have been their first school excursion in over two years.
A ‘roarsome’ online show
Our online shows continue to enable children to experience the magic of live theatre. We’re working on our second online film, A Lion in the Meadow and Other Stories, and will add new titles as schedules allow. All films include activity sheets and curriculum-based Teachers’ Resource Guides, as well as a full range of accessible options.
Youth Theatre back on stage
Our Youth Theatre programme continues to flourish, including weekly drama classes, holiday programmes, bespoke workshops and other community events. In 2021 and 2022, we arranged in-school workshops for schools attending our shows in their local area, allowing students to explore storylines and concepts within the play. These were funded by Due Drop Events Centre, Manukau.
Getting very creative in schools
We collaborated with Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education and teachers to create a performance where students were inspired entirely by deaf culture. Funded by Creatives in Schools, the show enabled students to take charge of their own creativity, build confidence, develop leadership skills, celebrate their own culture, and learn to express themselves. We collaborate with Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education again in 2023, thanks to Creatives in Schools.
Inspiring through inclusivity
Across everything we do, we’re committed to providing equitable access to disabled audiences and welcome disabled performers as part of our company of actors. We’ve also worked on optimising our website and social media platforms to work with screen readers and other accessibility tools.
A very impactful award
In May 2022, we were thrilled to receive the NZ Sign Language in the Arts award from Deaf Aotearoa for our commitment to providing NZSL access to the D/deaf community. Although proud of our work to date, we continue to work towards providing a more inclusive theatre experience for all children in Aotearoa.
Making an extraordinary impact
In 2022, we expanded our Extraordinarily Creative (EC) drama classes for children and teens with autism or other neuro-diversities to a second venue at the Te Oro Music and Arts Centre in Glen Innes.
These classes use drama to help students navigate social, academic and personal challenges, so they can thrive in a world that does not often understand them.
While student/tutor ratios mean classes remain small compared to our neuro-typical classes (limited to 8 in each class with two tutors), we’re thrilled to report that our EC students are thriving.
What some of our parents say…
“My daughter is loving her Extraordinarily Creative drama sessions! They are carefully run by caring staff, who provide a safe space where she can be herself and have fun with her peers. And as a parent, I can relax knowing that she is in good hands and is being cared for by people who understand her, in an environment that is tolerant and welcoming.”
– Nicole B, EC parent of 12-year-old, March 2022 (Te Oro)
“The teachers are amazing, supportive, genuine and caring, the other kids are great and it is a neat environment to chat to the other parents without any judgment and feel a sense of belonging. We absolutely recommend the classes and would love to thank everyone involved for the way they welcomed and encouraged my son.“
– Caprice S, EC parent, March 2021 (Meadowood)
Your impact
Tim Bray Theatre Company is a registered charitable trust that relies on the generosity of others to do our life-changing work. The more support we receive, the more children we can reach across Aotearoa New Zealand, building their confidence and enriching their lives.
If you’d like to make our impact even greater, please support us – you’ll be helping us to transform the lives of children and young people through the power of theatre.
