Celebrating 50 years of Excellence in Theatre from New Zealand and Around The World

We proudly  present “SIX OF THE BEST” 

In conjunction with our 50th birthday year, on select Saturdays throughout the year, we are pleased to  offer a series of rehearsed play readings.  These gems have been selected from over 1,149 submissions up to 23 April 2026, and span from 1977 to 2012. Four of these plays are from New Zealand/Aotearoa.  

We start our celebrations with MIDDLE AGE SPREAD by Sir Roger Hall directed by Susan Wilson. The 25th April has been purposely selected because Circa’s official opening was the 23rd April 1976 which was picked as it is the same as Shakespeare’s birthday. We will be celebrating after the play reading with birthday cakes and drinks, as part of the performance. 

‘Middle Age Spread’, 2pm Saturday 25 April

First performed at the original Circa Theatre in Harris Street in 1977, directed by Michael Haigh, starring Dorothy McKegg, Grant Tilly, Jane Waddell, Ray Henwood, Donna Akersten and John Reid.  Three couples attend a dinner none of them wants to be at.
Middle Age Spread ran for 15 months in London’s West End, winning the Lawrence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year.  In 1978 it became a successful NZ film directed by John Reid. This brilliant and poignant tragicomedy still remains a very significantly relevant social commentary on New Zealand Society . . . what’s changed in Aotearoa in 50 years, and then again… What hasn’t?
Image: Grant Tilly and Dotty McKegg

‘Bert and Maisy’
By Robert Lord, directed by Katherine McRae
2pm Saturday 6 June

First performed at the original Circa Theatre in Harris Street in 1986, directed by Susan Wilson, starring Grant Tilly, Alice Fraser, Jon Brazier, Jane Waddell, Timothy Bartlett.

Bert, a retired carpenter, brings home a young stranger. He and his wife Maisy take on a jaunty new lease of life. But their unconventional behaviour is regarded with horror by the homely, status-conscious Shona and her up-and-coming husband in small town New Zealand.

Bert and Maisy by Robert Lord 1986_Starring Alice Fraser Grant Tilly Jon Brazier

‘The Homecoming’
By Harold Pinter, directed by Ross Jolly
2pm Saturday 27 June

Harold Pinter’s most iconic play The Homecoming unfolds around the dynamics of a dysfunctional family. The play explores themes of power, sexuality and  a toxic family  feud.  Verbal and physical conflicts explode and Pinter  manipulates language and silences to craft a challenging atmosphere of menace  and  unease…

First performed at the original Circa Theatre in Harris Street in 1992, directed by Ross, starring Michael Haigh, Brian Sergent, Peter Vere-Jones, John Wright, Bruce Phillips and Perry Piercy. Homecoming is a unique, powerful  theatrical experience which is indeed emblematically…. PINTERESQUE! Boasting Bitching and Bullying…. a fine, feral, family reunion!

Image: Bruce Phillips and Perry Piercy

‘When the Sun and Moon Collide’
By Briar Grace-Smith, directed by Carrie Green
2pm Saturday 11 July

First performed in Circa Two in 2004 (11-26 June) with Toby Leach, Jamie McCaskill, Olivia Robinson and
Angela Green.

Isaac runs a tearoom in the middle of nowhere where he watches life and cars pass by his window each day. When two of his customers share a chance meeting, he finds himself embroiled in something very sinister.

Image: Advert with Jamie McCaskill and Briar Grace-Smith

‘Peninsula’
Written and directed by Gary Henderson
2pm Saturday 8 August  

First performed in Circa One in 2012, starring Michele Amas, Laura Hill, Paul McLaughlin, Phil Vaughan and Jason Whyte.

Michael Hope is ten years old and sleeps on a volcano. But not all volcanoes are extinct. Not everything is above ground.

Image: Michelle Amas and Laura Hill

‘Death of a Salesman’
by Arthur Miller, directed by Andrew Foster
2pm Saturday 19 September

First performed in Circa One in 2006 starring George Henare and Jennifer Ludlam. 

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a quiet storm of a play—an intimate portrait of a man chasing success in a world that’s quietly slipping out of his grasp. Its poetic realism and haunting human truths still resonate today.

Image: George Henore and Jennifer Ludlum

Two new plays for 2026:

‘Dirty Minded Little Girls’
Written and directed by Lori Leigh
2pm Saturday 10 October

Fact blurs with fiction in this imagined reunion of two estranged women, once infamous.  As death nears, a reclusive hermit confronts a celebrated crime novelist, unearthing truths, myths and the price of reinvention.  Inspired by one of Aotearoa’s most sensational crimes – the Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme case.

‘Significant Others’
By Evangelina Telfar, directed by Lia Kelly
2pm Saturday 14 November

Queer best friends, Freddie, Lennon & Connolly, have never had any interest in dating.  When one of them unexpectedly dives into a romantic relationship, they are forced to ask if they will be able to hold onto their Significant Others, or will this pull them apart?