26 Jan 2026
Auckland Theatre Company has selected ten talented midcareer playwrights to participate in its 2026 Playwrights’ Masterclass.
The selected playwrights will take part in a three-day intensive workshop in February, led by acclaimed British Irish playwright Simon Stephens.
Simon is a prolific playwright, best known for his stage adaption of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (staged by ATC in 2016) and Blindness (presented at the 2021 Auckland Writers Festival). One of Simon’s recent works is An Ark, a mixed reality experience at New York’s The Shed. Viewers don virtual reality glasses to get the feeling that the actors, including Sir Ian McKellen, are speaking directly to them.
Aotearoa theatre artist Jason Te Kare (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui) has worked with Simon to co-design the Masterclass programme.
The Masterclass is intended for writers with an existing body of work who have a track record of writing plays for professional theatre. The ten selected applicants hail from across the mōtu and come from a range of backgrounds and experiences.
- Ana Scotney (Ngāi Tūhoe) hails from Te Upoko o te Ika Wellington and is a writer, actress, and film and theatre maker.
- Anders Falstie Jensen hails from Jutland, Denmark, and is co founder of The Rebel Alliance and the company’s main producer, writer and director.
- Ankita Singh is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright, producer and documentary filmmaker raised between Chandigarh and Kirikiriroa.
- Cindy Diver (Kāi Tahu) is an actor, director, writer and casting director with thirty years of experience across theatre, television and film, and owner manager of Ōtepoti based Theatreworks Ltd.
- Dan Bain is a multi-award-winning New Zealand playwright whose body of work spans mainstage, fringe and youth theatre.
- Karin McCracken is an award-winning writer and performer based in Pōneke and Co Artistic Director of EBKM, alongside Eleanor Bishop.
- Kathryn Burnett is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright and writing coach.
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Tainui Tukiwaho (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Whakatohea, Kāi Tahu) is an award-winning writer, director, producer and actor based in Tamaki Makaurau.
- Tawhi Thomas (Ngāti Maniapoto) is a multiple award-winning playwright, actor, director and educator based in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington.
- Victor Rodger ONZM is a multiple award-winning writer whose plays have been produced nationally and internationally.
The Playwrights’ Masterclass is part of The Masterclass Project, a programme designed to support Aotearoa theatre artists, teachers and emerging theatre talent.
Auckland Theatre Company is supported by Creative New Zealand’s Toi Tōtara Haemata programme.
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