In Free Theatre Christchurch (est. 1979) is the country’s longest running producer of avant-garde theatre. The company offers a unique experience for artists and audiences not catered for by local commercial theatres or the amateur theatres that imitate them. Peter Falkenberg is Free Theatre's founder and Artistic Director.
The Free Theatre has traditionally worked as an ensemble, conceiving work from an initial idea and developing it over a longer period of time. This work often takes place in spaces that are not conventional in terms of theatre. As a professional art theatre, Free Theatre is closer in creative process to contemporary dance companies or international experimental art theatre groups such as Ex Machina or The Wooster Group that create exciting new work by pushing beyond generic boundaries. 
Leance and Lena (Buchner, 1983)
1979-1989Free Theatre Christchurch was established in 1979 by a group of staff and students at Canterbury University, Christchurch New Zealand. The aim was to build a laboratory theatre that would allow for experimentation with different styles, forms and texts beyond the predominantly English literary work of mainstream New Zealand theatre. After initial success and keen interest, particularly with younger artists and audiences, the group decided to form a permanent working theatre cooperative with founder Peter Falkenberg becoming the Artistic Director. After a first production of Büchner's Woyzeck and a series of Dada inspired cabarets and plays in the Arts Centre Clock Tower, Quad and underground basement space "Nibelheim", and the first production in the world of Schnitzler's Round Dance following a lift of its 60 year ban in the Southern Ballet Theatre, at the end of 1982 they converted an old lecture theatre (H15) in the former Canterbury College (now known as the Arts Centre) into a base for their experiments, committing substantial amounts of their own time (planning, construction) and money (including expensive sound-proofing) to the project [For more on this early history see here].
In 1983-84 Free Theatre survived a Court Case by the Arts Centre which tried to evict it for noise disturbing tenant in flats above the theatre. Represented by Lawyers Chris McVeigh and Peter Dyhrberg Free Theatre won the case. The one hundred seat theatre they built remained the home base for the company for over thirty years - although the company is well known for performing in a diversity of unusual performance spaces all over the city. [See Home, Space and Design for more]. Free Theatre's production of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant in 1988 marked a turning point for the company. The scrapping of the PEP (Project Employment Programme) by the Labour Government in its second term meant it was not possible to maintain a regular working group in the same way. At the same time, the relationship with the university had grown stronger with student interest in the INCO drama course growing. Free Theatre members got the support of Vice-Chancellor Bert Brownlie to establish the Drama Programme (later Theatre and Film Studies Department) and begun paying the lease for the theatre in the Arts Centre that the original members had built. University classes were taught in the theatre (renamed University Theatre). For more see The University Connection. 
Cowboy Mouth (Smith/Shepard, 1985)
Perhaps the most significant influence behind Free Theatre is the inspiration it takes from Alfred Jarry (1873 - 1907) and his play Ubu Roi / King Ubu (1896) - performed only once, a satirical and brutal attack on bourgeois artistic and social conventions. Free Theatre performed Jarry's play King Ubu in 1982, and decades later our Ubu Night performances in The Gym were inspired by Jarry and his important work which inspired so many countercultural movements including the Dada, Surrealist, and Theatre of the Absurd artists. For more see Manifestos and Writings.
In 1982, Free Theatre was legally registered as an Incorporated Society. The original Free Theatre group put forward a manifesto that remains at the core of ongoing Free Theatre work: to stage old and new rarely staged European plays in original translations, new New Zealand plays, and classical English texts in an unusual and experimental style. From the start, the emphasis has been on non-verbal action and high production standards, discouraging the star system and encouraging long rehearsal and training periods in a company context. Collaborators took an equal share of the Box Office for each project. 
Double Act / Postponeless (Ionesco/Blight, 1987)
The cabarets were presented in what is now known as Nibelheim, the basement space below Te Puna Toi and the SoFA Gallery in the Arts Centre. The popularity of Free Theatre cabarets and productions led to complaints about noise from tenants who lived in the Arts Centre. The residents asked the Arts Centre management to expel the Free Theatre as tenants, which eventually resulted in a court case. The case was thrown out however, following the argument that the Arts Centre trust deed explicitly stated that the complex should cater for arts, education and cultural purposes, not private residency. The same aggrieved tenants continued to lobby for the removal of Free Theatre, including ongoing accusations that the company had left a large pile of rubbish outside the theatre following a party, despite a firm of resident architects owning up to the mess.
The Free Theatre acted, and probably still does, as a laboratory for some of the most creative minds in New Zealand with artistic consequences far beyond the theatre and time of production. The Free Theatre has continued to engage in a dialogue, at an international level, between space, narrative and body that has allowed local students to overcome traditional barriers of intellectual isolation preparing graduates for careers both in New Zealand and on the world stage. This has been made possible by the sacrifice and commitment of its founders and supporters who over the last 25 years have not only delivered an excellent contemporary theatre to Christchurch but have influenced more than one generation of New Zealand artists, filmmakers and thinkers. 
Medeamaterial (Müller, 1995)
Peter Falkenberg has established a wide reputation in New Zealand for an uncompromising dramatic vision and an acute awareness of the fragility of our national identity. He comes from a theatrical tradition that is not afraid to use the stage for philosophical inquiry. This grounding of the performance project in the interstices of fracture, ambiguity and uncertainty has been one of the defining gestures of his work... I was impressed by Falkenberg's daring when he brought a production of Heiner Mueller's MedeaMaterial to Wellington some time ago. I had recently returned from a decade of theatrical work in New York and in Europe. This production indicated that there was a dialogue between the high cultural centres and New Zealand. I left the performance with both exultation and relief. It seemed that in this country there could be work done that was serious, experimental and dangerous. This year I had the opportunity to see Falkenberg's new work Crusoe at the New Zealand Theatre Festival in Hamilton. I was impressed by the vastness of the undertaking, the willingness to go to those limits where the new and the unexpected can be found... I was left exhausted, physically jangled and in a state of nervous apprehension by this production. While Crusoe achieved the traditional demand of catharsis, the after-shocks of going through the experience and emerging reconnected with those around me was one of my most satisfying nights at the theatre. |
Ox on the Roof (Cocteau, 1982)
The company works with artistic collaborators from multiple disciplines and with diverse and unusual texts (literary, filmic, musical, social and cultural) to produce completely new and original work. Core ensemble members undertake years of professional training in different performance techniques and traditions and conduct ongoing company training as well as teaching into the Free Theatre Education Programme.
In 2017 Shirley Horrocks presented her documentary on the company Free Theatre: the 37 year experiment in the NZIFF. 
Make-up Ground Down (Thompson, 1983)
The Free Theatre is a long-established and greatly-prized fixture within the cultural constellation of Christchurch. We have all grown up surrounded by its provocations and its productions. Many of my staff cut their creative teeth in the Free Theatre during their own studies and after. 
Electra (Sophocles, 1984)
1984: The Future is Now (Orwell, 1984)
The company name, Free Theatre, was adopted in 1980 after the founders had initially called themselves 'The Workshop Theatre' (somebody else was also using this name) and then 'Scheisse!! Theatre' (a reference to utterances from the Artistic Director during rehearsals). In calling themselves Free Theatre, the company paid homage to European predecessors Théâtre Libre in France and Freie Bühne in Germany, both of which played significant roles in the emergence of modern theatre, striving for productions to be free from social, political and aesthetic conventions - a member at the time noted the play on words between the Christchurch Free Theatre and its counterpart, the 'Caught Theatre'. Free Theatre took inspiration and encouragement from pioneering experimental theatre company Red Mole and later collaborated with its founder Alan Brunton (see Krapp's Last Tape). Playwrights such as Mervyn Thompson shared similar aspirations for a more critical and artistically daring New Zealand theatre culture (listen to Peter's interview with Mervyn just before his death here).
Lulu (Wedekind, 1986)
In the 1980s, Free Theatre established a youthful, energetic presence in the city with a series of influential productions that included: Woyzeck; King Ubu; Round Dance; King Lear; The Joffongract; 1984: The Future is Now; Leonce and Lena; Lulu; The Ride Across Lake Constance; Cowboy Mouth; The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. A number of these productions, and a series of incredibly popular cabarets in the early 1980s, were produced with assistance from the National government's PEP Scheme (Project Employment Programme), which allowed artists to receive a wage for training and working in the theatre.
A Respectable Wedding (Brecht, 1987)
Hamletmachine (Müller, 1991)
1990sThe Free Theatre has continued to exist because of the passion of its many contributors for a professional art theatre in Christchurch that would allow for experimentation and innovation. In the 1990s, a string of performances received critical acclaim: HamletMachine, Electra, Salome, MedeaMaterial, Crusoe, Murderer Hope of Woman/The Philosopher's Stone and Bakkhai/Diotek. During the 1980s and 1990s, a wide range of emerging and established artists, including poets, filmmakers, sculptors, writers, musicians, dancers and actors, collaborated within the Free Theatre to create provocative and entertaining work. The company has also attracted international artists, a role that has subsequently been carried on by Te Puna Toi (Performance Research Project), which commissions international artists to work in New Zealand with Free Theatre and collaborators.
You could say it's a tale of two cities: Christchurch, home of the highly successful but seldom risk-taking Court Theatre, and Christchurch, home of the experimental and innovative Free Theatre. 
Power (Arent/Mazer, 1996)
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Robinson Crusoe (Defoe, 1996)
2000sBeginning in the late 1990s, a core ensemble produced award winning and highly acclaimed work that toured to different parts of New Zealand. The ensemble's repertoire included a string of experiments in political theatre for a contemporary audiences: Last Days of Mankind (2000), Samson Airline (2002), Fantasia (2005), Christmas Shopping (2006), Faust Chroma (2009), Distraction Camp (2009) and Kafka's Amerika (2014).
A 2001 bi-cultural opera Footprints/Tapuwae with co-director Taiporutu Huata was restaged in 2015. Free Theatre holds a unique place in the arts culture that is an integral part of the best that Christchurch and New Zealand has to offer in terms of theatre experiences. 
Distraction Camp (2009)
One of the most inventive and creative arts organisations in the country. This energetic, alternative company deserves to be seen more widely. CollaborationPast Free Theatre collaborators include a number of local, national and international artists: Stuart McKenzie, Stephanie Johnson, Nick Frost, Nansi Thompson, Lesley Maclean, Robin Bond, Roy Montgomery, Bill Direen, Rudolf Boelee, Julia Allen, Lilicherie McGregor, Graham Bennett, George Froscher, Kurt Bildstein, Mark McEntyre, Cal Wilson, Nicki Reece, Helen Moran, Andy Thompson, John Dean, Peter Robinson, Alan Brunton, Te Rita Papesch, Haani Huata, Tai Huata, Tony McCaffrey, Richard Till, Chris Reddington, Lawrence Wallen, Werner Fritsch, Richard Gough, Hamish McKeich and Gao Ping.
Free Theatre has also provided a launching pad for other performance groups to establish themselves within Christchurch through the provision of space, resources and expertise. For example, Pacific Underground, New Zealand's first Pasifika performance company, premiered its first work Fresh Off the Boat (written by Simon Small and Oscar Kightley) with the Free Theatre in 1993. Other emerging theatre companies that were helped in this way include A Different Light and Top Dog. See our Te Puna Toi Artists in Residence page. 
Footprints/Tapuwae (Falkenberg/Huata, 2015)
Remake (2009)
Post-EarthquakeHere in Christchurch, now more than ever, we need what the Free Theatre offers: a way of making sense of who we are as a community and who we might become when we can no longer count on the (actual or symbolic) ground beneath our feet. 
I Sing the Body Electric (2012)
I am impressed by the significant contribution Free Theatre has for a long while afforded Christchurch, but especially post earthquake when they have nimbly shifted gear to offer relevant theatrical experiences in spaces not generally designated for theatre. It is the shared creative impulse made manifest that makes continuing to live in Christchurch bearable. In June 2014 the company signed a two-year lease in collaboration with Arts Circus to take up the first arts-practice tenancy in the new Arts Centre. The Gym (the old Boys' High gymnasium which formerly housed the Academy Cinema) was restored to its original form and strengthened for contemporary use. The company was thrilled to have returned home to the Arts Centre, the site of so many memories for the company and its audiences over the decades. In The Gym Free Theatre continued to work with a diverse range of collaborators to create work that engaged with this extraordinary time in Christchurch and in an era where we need to collectively find answers to the many challenges we face. Theatre, film and performance in this context can be powerful, efficacious tools in community-building and catalysts for change.
The Mauricio Kagel Project (2015)
To achieve such a high standard of production working with new and complex material, the Free Theatre workshops new scripts with an intensity that is unusual in New Zealand. The results are exciting and unique. 
The Black Rider (Waits/Wilson, 2017)
Christchurch is very lucky to have The Free Theatre – they contribute hugely to the culture here. 
Alice (Waits/Wilson, 2018)
Ars Acustica (2019)
The sort of respectful, yet daring-do that the Free Theatre leaders bring to their collaborations, allow for the sort of unexpected touches of artistic sunshine we all long to bathe in, once it is understood such things are possible – even here in Aotearoa. 
Erewhon Project (2020)
The Free Theatre is a hugely important company with a long and impressive history. In many respects it is unique in New Zealand. While it has had a particular importance for Christchurch, its contribution to innovative drama is of national significance. Many talented people have passed through its productions, and they have carried its influence to other parts of the country. With this in mind I recently flew down to Wellington to see their latest production Distraction Camp which had a season at Bats Theatre in September (2010). I was again impressed by the professionalism and innovation of this production. That Free Theatre has managed to exist for so long, and continues to be cutting-edge in its spirit of experimentation, is a credit to the work of Peter Falkenberg, the originator of the company, and to the loyal teams of actors he has inspired. 
The Axe (2021)
Climate Action Campus
In 2023 Vicki Buck invited us to make a permanent home for our Education Programme at the Climate Action Campus. When Vicki was Mayor in the early 1980os she helped Free Theatre enormously with her PEP work scheme for artists. Free Theatre would not have had the resources to produce so much work in our early years without this scheme.
We continue to perform in a variety of space including recent works at the Pumphouse - Woyzeck, Beggars Banquet and The Deadbeat Opera. To learn more about our current work, please see Upcoming. To learn more about specific Free Theatre productions please see our Archives. |
Last Days of Mankind (Kraus, 2000)
There is only one thing left to say, really, and that is: if you ever get the chance to see Free Theatre, grab it without hesitation. They produce theatre the way it should be and you will not be disappointed. 
Frankenstein (2016)
Kafka's Amerika (2014)
The Free Theatre hold a particularly important place in the arts landscape of Christchurch, frequently acting as the collaborative glue between a wide range of artists and arts organisations. They skillfully bring together a wide range of performers and artists to create what is often the most compelling and thought provoking work available on a regular basis to Christchurch audiences. Film-makingFree Theatre also ventured into film-making, with the feature-length Remake (2009). A short film Diana Coppelia was also produced, based around the Free Theatre production, Diana Down Under (2007). As with theatrical productions, Free Theatre film work is collaborative and experimental. Remake, for example, literally remade the stories of Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, with a rich helping of Genet's The Maids. The filmmakers acted out and mixed in their own life stories. Remake can be read as a murder mystery, a satire on Christchurch contemporary life, or a DIY attempt to make a New Zealand new wave art film, where the confusion between art and life becomes both comic and tragic.
Regarding the Falkenberg-directed work mentioned above, Professor Thea Brejzek (UTS, Sydney) has commented that: The Free Theatre under Peter's creative leadership has developed and consolidated into an internationally recognized group of theatre practitioners and researchers who are consistently at the forefront of the discipline's development. The rigorous testing out of ideas, of stretching the borders of the genre, a strong commitment to engaging the audience's mind and senses make the Free Theatre an important player in the international landscape of independent theatre companies. 
Shirley Horrocks followed the company for 7 years collecting footage for her documentary which screened as part of NZIFF Free Theatre - the 37 Year Experiment (2017).
The Earthquake in Chile (2011)
In post-earthquake Christchurch, the company lost its working spaces: the University Theatre and Nibeheim basement space in the Arts Centre (off limits); Old Queen's Theatre in Hereford St (demolished). However, Free Theatre presented a series of acclaimed productions, including The Earthquake in Chile (2011), Hereafter (2012) and I Sing the Body Electric (2012) in a diversity of spaces. Free Theatre members, past and present, were also involved in initiating high profile post-earthquake projects such as Gap Filler, Greening the Rubble, Life in Vacant Spaces, Arts Voice Christchurch and the Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA).
Canterbury Tales (2013)
Hereafter (Fritsch, 2012)
The company commenced the lease of The Gym on 1 September 2014 and in the same week presented the first in a series of very popular Ubu Nights. In October 2014 the company also premiered the first in a series of major new works for the space, the critically acclaimed Kafka's Amerika, along with a new accompanying Education Programme. Since then, the company has relaunched Te Puna Toi with a revival of Footprints Tapuwae (2015), and worked with the Christchurch Arts Festival to initiate a new theatre-music project that began with The Mauricio Kagel Project (2015) and saw collaboration with composer Gao Ping and conductor Hamish McKeich. More recently the company has presented the spectacular Frankenstein (2016) a rethinking of the classic for a contemporary audience, and the hugely popular The Black Rider: the casting of the magic bullets (2017), a New Zealand première of a work originally conceived by collaborators Robert Wilson, William S. Burroughs and Tom Waits. We followed this up with Alice (2018).
(Ubu Nights 2014-2019)
Waldheim, Seven OaksIn 2018 the Arts Centre Trust Board terminated Free Theatre's lease in The Gym and our 36 year tenure in the Arts Centre was ended by the Arts Centre Trust Board. For more on this see Home, Space and Design. With the help of Life in Vacant Spaces we then found a temporary home - Waldheim, Seven Oaks in Waltham where we continued to run our programme, including the work Ars Acustica (2019) an Ubu Night and where we developed the collaborative projects A Winter's Tale, the opening event of the 2019 Christchurch Arts Festival and How Dare You!, a free jazz homage to Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion at Space Academy. In 2020 Free Theatre began the year with A Summer Night's Dream, a collaboration with local artists and the Seven Oaks Community. Covid 19 inspired the company to work in new ways leading to our Erewhon Project (2020) and has led to ongoing collaborations with communities around the South Island.
A Summer Night's Dream (2020)
How Dare You! (2019)
Beggars Banquet (2023)
Woyzeck (Waits/Wilson, 2023)
The Deadbeat Opera (2024)
No other theatre company in Christchurch, and quite possibly New Zealand, has so consistently shown the intellectual vigour and creative daring of this group. Productions are always topical, original and ingenious, provocative and daringly different from those delivered by the mainstream companies and groups in Christchurch and in the wider New Zealand theatre context. This originality and creativity applies alike to stage design and construction, direction, scripting, and acting, which itself is invariably very much about interacting with the audience, whether in the theatre or the street or the shopping mall. "The Free Theatre is a hugely important company with a long and impressive history."
Shirley Horrocks, director, Free Theatre: The 37 Year Experiment (2017) |
