Play Readings – next up Bert & Maisy Sat 6 June
In conjunction with our 50th birthday year, we are pleased to offer a series of rehearsed play readings on select Saturdays throughout the year. These gems have been selected from over 1,149 submissions (* up to 23 April 26), spanning from 1977 to 2012. Four of these plays are from New Zealand/Aotearoa. We are also proud to introduce two new additional plays for 2026.
‘Bert and Maisy’
By Robert Lord, directed by Katherine McRae
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
2pm Saturday 6 June
‘The Homecoming‘
By Harold Pinter, directed by Ross Jolly
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!
2pm Saturday 27 June
Image: Bruce Phillips and Perry Piercy
Tickets not yet on sale.
‘When the Sun and Moon Collide‘
By Briar Grace-Smith, directed by Carrie Green
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.
2pm Saturday 11 July
Tickets not yet on sale.
Image: Advert with Jamie McCaskill and Briar Grace-Smith
‘Peninsula‘
Written and directed by Gary Henderson
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.
2pm Saturday 8 August
Tickets not yet on sale.
Image: Michelle Amas and Laura Hill
‘Death of a Salesman‘
by Arthur Miller, directed by And
rew Foster
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.
2pm Saturday 19 September
Tickets not yet on sale.
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.
Tickets not yet on sale.
‘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?
Tickets not yet on sale.
