Massive Theatre Company at 35

You probably wouldn’t expect that down a non-descript driveway in Grey Lynn, amongst a chiropractor, a branch of CaterStation and a boutique gym, sits the home base for a critically acclaimed theatre company who is training the next generation of actors, directors and theatremakers. For 35 years, it has woven both discipline and play into the theatre landscapes, providing platforms for artists and adding the links that allow for sustainable, consistent careers. It’s a history that covers the breadth of Tāmaki Makaurau, and the diversity present within the city.

Massive Theatre Company has had some pretty, well, massive names attached to it over the years. Arts Laureate Miriama McDowell, Billy T winner Kura Forrester, Bree Peters, Beulah Koale, and Scotty Cotter to pick out a few. The company regularly premiers critically acclaimed shows, and has regularly held workshops in places that, for many years, were not included in the performing arts scene, particularly West and South Auckland. This educational work is not supplementary to their professional work, it exists in constant conversation and flow. Pathways at Massive flow massively upstream.

Despite the company’s enshrinement in today’s Auckland theatre landscape, the genesis of it didn’t start off in the city of sails, but in Whangārei.Artistic Director Sam Scott had been working at Northland Youth Theatre in Whangārei, a long-running company, for five summers when Pip Sheehan, the then-director of the Maidment Arts Centre (RIP) asked if she would be interested in starting something similar in Tāmaki Makaurau.

“I didn’t have a good enough answer to say no,” Scott jokes. “I was sick and tired of seeing bad youth theatre. I was sick of seeing what I felt was young people, rangatahi, being really compromised onstage.” She says she wanted young people to be “worked hard, because they wanted to be worked hard”. 

That question led to the establishment of the Maidment Youth Theatre at the University of Auckland in 1991. From the beginning, it was clear that they didn’t want to do imported stories from the UK or USA, they wanted to make new work. They devised or commissioned the likes of Gary Henderson, Suzanne McAleer and Willy Davis. “I just wanted it to be of a really high standard so people would come to it, watch it, and really love it like they would love any other kind of good theatre” says Scott.

From that first season, summer shows, led to mid-year shows, and then to  classes. “Like everything at Massive over the years, the ask came from the young people. We started what we called a masterclass – quite a highfalutin term there – on a Saturday morning that was a three hour class,” says Scott.

The company stayed at the  on-campus Maidment Theatre for seven years, but Scott wanted to develop the company beyond the venue. In 1999, they were offered the opportunity to be housed at the Aotea Centre, and along with that a name change into what they are now known as: Massive. “We wanted to change our name because at that point we were working professionally, with both emerging artists and professional artists,” says Scott. Importantly, many of the professionals came up through Massive itself, and the company was beginning to develop their “older young people”.

Sons of Charlie Paora was “the show that took us into becoming Massive,” says Scott. Written by playwright Lennie James, the show centred on a rugby coach struggling with the relationship between his biological sons. It was a particular success for Massive, who performed it at  the prestigious Royal Court Theatre in London, as the first New Zealand company to perform there. The show ended up touring for five years. The company hasn't let up steam one bit since then. It most regularly presents work in Tāmaki Makaurau, their home base, with tours to much of the North Island, and has consistently toured internationally with the likes of The Brave, The Whole-Hearted, The Island and Half of the Sky.

Artists and audiences who see a Massive show know a Massive show from the first few seconds. These shows are uniquely playful, uniquely physical, often with a shared vocabulary of movement. While the text may be loose, as devised work can be, the performances are tight, disciplined and drilled.

“How and why we want to work together and what our expectations are is owned by everyone in the company,” Scott explains. “No matter who is teaching you or directing you, you’re going to be hearing the same language and be asked the same things that are key to us – the playfulness, the le jeu, the complicite, the desire to work for excellence.”

Unlike many Massive company members, Miriama McDowell came to the company after training at Toi Whakaari. “I was about 25 at the time, and knew I’d found my home. I loved the irreverence alongside the discipline,” she says. “In Massive, these aren’t oxymoronic, they are essential to our work and our way of working.” She has since worked as an actor, director, tutor, writer and even an admin assistant for the company, who developed ways to support her to evolve as an artist. “That has meant the difference between me being an actor that has to find work in between jobs, and an artist that is always working.”

A lot of the major turning points for the company focus around education and incubation, the flow of teaching downstream, the flow of incubating upstream. These include foundational workshops teaching the basics of acting, clowning and devising, right through to development for professional artists, like the Director’s Lab, which has run since 2015.

The ask for that particular incubator also came from within the company, from the likes of McDowell, Forrester and Cotter. “They were starting to get into directing and wanted something that could mentor them, could give them training.”.

Denyce Su’a is one of the artists who has come through multiple generations of Massive, from attending a foundation workshop back in 2012, to joining the Massive South Ensemble, and coming through the Director’s Lab incubator. “That’s where I found my people, I found my joy and love for devising and really started to give the storyteller in me some time and attention”, she says. “It’s trained me as a performer and allowed me to fall in love with working hard.” She is directing the company’s upcoming show at Te Pou Theatre, Home Made.

Su’a believes that the company consistently training, making, and creating throughout its lifespan is a feat. “Massive feels generous in what it has to offer. The arts scene is all the richer for having any kind of space that allows that to happen.”

Scott says much of what Massive does, and how, has come about because of “the ask”. Another example is the Massive Nui Ensemble, a group of 16-30 year old theatremakers which is described as the “heart” of the company, that started out as smaller ensemble groups from all around Tāmaki. “It came from people who had been doing our foundation workshops and they wanted all-year-round training. It was Miriama who said, ‘Why don’t we have just one? Why do we have to have these geographical centric groups? Why don’t we have just one emerging artist company?”

“A lot of why we’re here now, 35 years on, is because of that continual development. We have all these people who don’t call themselves alumni, they call themselves company members, who are a part of Massive in a variety of different ways.”

One recent turning point for Massive was acquiring a permanent space in Grey Lynn in 2023. For much of its life, the company has operated like many independent theatre companies, without a space to its name. Their offices and rehearsal rooms were often in different places, and the company would hire out various church or community halls to work in. This new space allows Massive to do all of the work they need to do in the same location, as well as being able to run workshops, host their monthly industry morning tea gatherings, and be a hub for their artists.

For McDowell, it is a complete game changer to have a place to gather in. “The mauri of the company has changed, got stronger and more alive because we have a whare.”

The thing that Scott is most proud of is that she’s been able to keep many of Massive’s offerings “free”, including classes for rangatahi, the Director’s Lab and teaching training. She believes that accessibility  is what allows them to maintain the diversity that they’ve always had within the company. “I would hate for that to disappear, and I think it would disappear if we were suddenly charging fees for things. It’s so often said by people, both adults and young people, that this has allowed them to be doing what they’re doing. I’m incredibly proud of everyone in the company, everyone who makes up the company, they’re really wonderful human beings.”

It might sound a bit trite, sure, but it’s in the company name: Massive is massive, 35 years on.

Home Made plays at Te Pou Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau from July 22 through to July 25, then Whangārei at ONEONESIX Theatre from July 29 through to July 31. 

A note from the team at Massive

Since this article was written, Massive Theatre Company has learned that its annual investment from Creative New Zealand has been reduced from $230,000 to $95,000 — a reduction of almost 60%.

We recognise that Creative New Zealand has had to make difficult decisions within a constrained financial environment, reflecting the funding settings determined by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. Even so, this is a devastating outcome for an organisation that has spent more than 35 years creating pathways for young people, nurturing generations of artists, enriching Aotearoa's cultural life, and contributing to the substantial economic benefit the arts sector provides our country.

Our immediate focus is on understanding the decision, supporting our people, and working through how it changes Massive’s pathway forward. This decision raises important questions about how Aotearoa values the long-term role of arts organisations in building stronger communities and nurturing future generations of creatives. We are deeply grateful to the funders, partners, donors and supporters who continue to invest in Massive and share our belief in the value of this work. Their commitment has been, and will continue to be, vital. The support of our wider funding partners and community gives us confidence that this work matters. While the challenges ahead are real, our Board, management and staff remain committed to protecting Massive's kaupapa and ensuring future generations of rangatahi continue to have a place to belong, create and be heard.