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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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‘Prince of the Psychiatric System’ is a true-life story written by Dunedin resident Haki S Davis, a Dunedin playwright and poet, in 2021. The play highlights lived experience in the New Zealand mental health system. The first performance of the play was met with success, and it has now been revised and edited by Haki with substantial changes made based on feedback from the audience.

‘Prince of the Psychiatric System’ is a powerful, original stage play that explores the inner world of a patient navigating life inside a psychiatric ward in Ōtepoti. Blending lived experience with elements of surrealism and allegory, the play invites audiences deep into the mind of DeArk – a character experiencing schizophrenia, paranoia, religious delusion, and grandiose thinking – while confronting the stigma and side effects of mental health treatment.

Guided by the invisible presence of Pinocchio, an audible voice only he can hear, DeArk embarks on a profound psychological and spiritual journey. Pinocchio does not heal through pills, or diagnosis but through radical empathy, imagination, and challenge. He helps DeArk find pathways toward dignity, insight, and self-worth—not by erasing the illness, but by learning to live with it constructively.

With moments of absurdity, tragedy, and deep human truth, ’Prince of the Psychiatric System’ critiques the limits of conventional psychiatric care while honouring the resilience of those who endure it. The work confronts the uneasy balance between medical treatment and personal agency, asking timely questions about what it truly means to be well.

Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes

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As May is for the women and mums in our lives, Dunedin Comedy brings you Mum-umental Comedy, a fundraiser for Ōtepoti-Dunedin Whānau Refuge.

Featuring excellent local comedians Harriet Moir, Meg Hartigan, Jimmy James, Phil Plant, Book Ruffell, Caitlin Owen, and your MC for the evening, Nicola Brown.

So bring your mum, your friends, your date, even your date’s mum!

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You Won’t See Me on the Poster re-imagines the works of William Shakespeare through the lives of Shakespeare’s “minor” characters. Throughout this one hour solo show, created by Kate Low and Sarah Entwistle, we see what the star crossed lovers look like from the Nurse’s point of view in Romeo and Juliet; we muse over the wonders of life and death with the two Gravediggers from Hamlet; explore what happens when Feste the Clown lets go of his witty smile in Twelfth Night; meet the drunken Porter of Macbeth who might know a little bit more than he lets on and get to know characters from some of Shakespeare’s lesser known works, such as Constance in King John.

You Won’t See Me on the Poster invites us to explore the feeling of Sonder by bringing us into the lives of characters that are often perceived as existing simply to progress the central plot; devices rather than people with their own reality too. Through the notion of Sonder You Won’t See Me on the Poster encourages us to look at each character for who they are: a whole person with a whole story to tell.

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Returning 2026 – mark your calendars!

Octagon Poetry: 11/2, 11/3, 8/4, 13/5, 10/6, 8/7, 12/8, 9/9, 14/10, 11/11, 9/12
Femme: 14/2, 16/5, 22/8, 31/10, 12/12
Improsaurus: 24/4, 15/5, 29/5, 12/6, 28/8, 18/9, 2/10, 16/10, 30/10

Keep an eye out for dates to be confirmed, and mark your diaries 🙂