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NAT has an ever-changing line up; that’s the beauty of having an open-access theatre venue! See what your favourite performers are up to and discover new artists, by checking here regularly. NAT doesn’t pre-programme seasons, so this is where you can see what we have going on. We have a bar open from 1 hourish before the show, and you are welcome to take your drinks into the theatre (there’s no BYO!)

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Improsaurus Presents: Improv Busters! If there’s somethin’ strange going on on stage, who you gon’ call? Improsaurus!

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How many Davids is too many Davids? In this case we think we have the perfect number, former Poet Laureate David Eggleton, and former Burns Fellow David Howard – for one night only! – MCed by the inimitable Mac Macdonald.

Our October reading is a week earlier than usual, on Wednesday 7th at 7pm at the New Athenaeum Theatre.

Open Mic – please bring one poem if you wish to read, and see Mac on the night to sign up.

Attendance is FREE, but if you have the means please support our co-hosts by purchasing refreshments during the evening.

We are a hate-free zone and decry any bigotry, hate speech, transphobia, homophobia, or racism – bring only your creativity and community spirit.

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David Eggleton was a co-editor of Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand, published by Massey University Press in 2024. His Respirator: A Laureate Collection 2019 -2022 was published by Otago University Press in 2023; and his Lifting the Island: Poems was published in Pasadena, California by Red Hen Press in 2025. He received the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry in 2016 and was the Aotearoa New Zealand Poet Laureate between 2019 and 2022. His book The Conch Trumpet won the 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Poetry. He lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
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Born in 1959, David Howard co-founded the literary journal Takahē (1989) and the Canterbury Poets Collective (1990) in his home town, Christchurch. He was the editor of A Place To Go On From: the Collected Poems of Iain Lonie (Otago University Press, 2015), and the author of Rāwaho: the Completed Poems (Cold Hub Press, 2022).

His work has been supported by the Robert Burns Fellowship at Otago University (2013); the Otago Wallace Residency (2014); a UNESCO City of Literature Residency in Prague (2016); the Ursula Bethell Residency at Canterbury University (2016); the Writers’ House Residency, Pazin, Croatia (2017); the Robert Lord Writer’s Cottage Residency (2018), the Grimshaw Sargeson Residency (2018); and a UNESCO City of Literature Residency in Ulyanovsk (2019). He is currently collaborating with the Chinese composer Gao Ping on a chamber opera.
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Your Collective committee:
Jackson
Mac MacDonald
Jasmine Taylor
Nicola Thorstensen
Ben Wilmot
Sophia Wilson

[David Eggleton’s photo by A Hawkins]

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A collaboration between a poet, choreographer, dancer, and a composer, this show mines the depths of grief, faith, and growth. Rooted in place (Ōtepoti Dunedin) and in distance (between Ōtepoti and the home of a distant lover), this performance is about how sometimes the cost of profound connection is breaking open the heart like a summer fruit – in the dead of winter. The exploration is presented in the body, which is where these connections are born and reside: through dance, sound/music, and poetry.

Audiences can expect a profoundly emotional exploration of investment in the connections between people – lovers, family, friends. The show will begin outside of the theatre, a performative promenade in which the audience integrates and finds their seats in a collective river of movement.

Poetry: Kim Cope Tait
Music composition: Maddy Parkins-Craig
Choreography: Sofia Kalogeropoulou

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Pause. Breathing, looking, closing. Time passes in pieces. Forwards from behind. Forwards but never back. Do you remember? Do I remember? The Ouroboros continues to eat its tail… 1983. March. The second. Is it a dream or a memory? Or a conversation with the Other, where Other is Self. The voice heard in my head is my own, but not me. Not fully. The certainty of uncertainty. Always touching but never falling. Again? Again.

The latest installment of Richard Huber’s new series of plays is making its debut at TAHI Ōtepoti. Directed-designed by Jordan Wichman and performed by Moira Fortin Cornejo, Not Yet Named: Nicola #5 2/3/83 is a reflection on love, loss, life and what we make of it. 

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“Colombo’s honest character is charmingly comical” – Theatreview

Letdown is an intimate, sharp-edged theatre work exploring the postpartum experience as it is rarely portrayed: raw, funny, frightening, and deeply human.

Drawing on letters written by Marea during late-night breastfeeding sessions, the work weaves together personal reflection, feminist history, and cultural myth to ask what happens when joy and terror arrive in the same body at the same time. Through stand-up–style comedy, surreal storytelling, and moments of creeping psychological horror, Letdown explores exhaustion, identity loss, bodily vulnerability, and the unspoken expectations placed on new mothers.

Laughter sits beside dread; tenderness collides with rage.

This is not a gentle birth story. It is a love letter, a warning, and a survival guide – written in milk, sweat, and dark humour – for anyone who has given birth, supported someone who has, or wondered why we do not talk about this part of life out loud.

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★★★★★ “There can be few more accomplished raconteurs at the Fringe than James Nokise.”
— The Wee Review

★★★★★ “Nokise is a joy to have onstage.”
— The Scotsman

There’s three things you can count on this election year; Ministerial soundbites that age like milk, policy walk-backs hours after announcements, and James Nokise having hot comedic takes on the chaotic campaigns around the country.

One Night Rant returns in 2026 with a new hour of frenetic furious funny aimed at politicians across the spectrum. No Party or policy is safe as Nokise lets loose on the political powers that be.

Book early as this is the one show where the news cycle does half the research for a night of comedy, catharsis, and fist shaking, boot stomping fun.

“If you’ve long suspected Parliament might be a comedy of errors full of farcical characters, this show will bring receipts.” — James Nokise

You’ve seen him on TVNZ, heard him on RNZ, and read him on Stuff. Now he’s bringing the election to your town — for one night only.

Topp Prize winner 2024 · Fred Award 2019 · The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior — Best Documentary, 2025 NZ Radio & Podcast Awards

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And a few unsolicited character references:

“The cheapest hour of therapy you’ll get this election year.”
— A Ministerial Press Secretary, speaking anonymously (obviously)

“The funniest hour you’ll spend this election season.”
— Every Political Reporter in the Press Gallery, off the record

“He’s coming all this way to vent about politicians. Least you can do is turn up.”
— A Local Resident, speaking voluntarily (allegedly)

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THE DETAILS
New Athenaeum Theatre, Dunedin
Sat 24 October, 7.30pm. Doors 7pm.
Approximately 60 minutes, no interval.Adult themes, coarse language, and political satire throughout. Recommended 16+.

Full tour dates and more info at jamesnokise.com 

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Join us for the 17th volume of Femme, Halloween edition with not one but TWO shows! 7pm & 9:30pm showcasing an amazing lineup of local and travelling burlesque performers!

This is a show you won’t want to miss, and it’s bound to sell out fast! So gather your gals, guys, gays, and theys, and secure your tickets for the hottest show in town

Prizes for best dressed!
R18 (contains nudity, strong language, adult and horror themes)

Wheel chair accessible

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