Launch of New Zealand Theatre Month

Next month sees the launch of New Zealand Theatre Month, a project which plans to not only celebrate but elevate live, homegrown theatre. It's the brainchild of our most successful playwright Roger Hall, who's been filling houses since the 1970s. But do we need such an event? Last year alone 80 percent of the over 200 works produced professionally here were New Zealand plays. And if you add the many Fringe plays and the increasingly dramatic shows at comedy festivals, that number would be far higher. So - what counts as theatre, who's going to them, how many get a new life on TV, radio and film, and how diverse are they? Simon Morris discusses these questions with playwrights Roger Hall, Thomas Sainsbury and Renee Liang. Theatre Month opens on September the 1st at the Bruce Mason Centre at Takapuna, with a tribute to Mason, considered by many the father of New Zealand theatre.