PAYPA Hui & Awards Weekend 2025 – We’re heading to Te Waipounamu!

Hui & Awards Weekend is happening in Ōtautahi, Christchurch! Join us as we connect with the performing arts sector in the South Island, see incredible shows, and celebrate excellence in our community.

The 2025 PAYPA Hui is made possible with support from Creative New Zealand, The Court Theatre, and Cubbin Theatre. Ngā mihi nui.

Click 'Join us' to RSVP to the PAYPA events below including the workshops. Please note all theatre tickets will need to be booked via their respective websites linked below (The Court Theatre, Little Andromeda or Cubbin Theatre).

FRIDAY 7TH NOVEMBER

5.30pm - 6.30pm Welcome Function

An informal chance to come together and connect. The Court Theatre Foyer - cash bar

6.30pm - 8:00pm Performance - Wolf Play by Hansol Jung

The Court Theatre - Tickets $29 (special PAYPA discount). Book your tickets via The Court Theatre's website and using code PAYPAWOLF (scroll down for a special offer ticket on the ticket types page)

9pm Performance - Scared Scriptless - improvised comedy

The Court Theatre - Tickets $20 (special PAYPA discount). Book your tickets via The Court Theatre's website and using code PAYPASCRIPPY (scroll down for a special offer ticket on the ticket types page).

OR

Performance - Ray Shipley’s Late Night Poetry Hour

Little Andromeda - $10 koha Book your tickets via Little Andromeda's website.

SATURDAY 8TH NOVEMBER

9am - 9:45am Tour of The Court Theatre's new whare

10am - 12:30pm Workshop 1 - Lambe Lambe / Theatre for One Puppetry Workshop with Ana Lorite (Naranjarte, NZ) and Rosana Lopez (Argentina)

Step into a world made for one. This theoretical and practical workshop introduces participants to Lambe Lambe Theatre - a miniature, poetic form of puppetry designed for a single spectator. In just a few minutes, an intimate story unfolds inside a small box, inviting the audience into a shared moment of wonder, presence, and imagination. Participants will explore dramaturgical exercises inspired by moving images - a gesture, a memory, a feeling that transforms into a tiny performance.

12:30pm - 2pm Lunch

2pm - 3:30pm Workshop 2 - Creative Movement and Play (for grownups)

with Rollicking Entertainment

Build confidence, radical acceptance, and imagination through a workshop that fires up your creative thinking and encourages collaboration. Offering dollops of physical theatre, mime, ensemble, and creative silliness. With no scripts or lines to learn, this is a joyful connecting session that pushes everyone just a little bit out of their comfort zone.

6pm - 9pm Annual PAYPA Awards Evening

Join us for an evening of celebration and connection. Hosted by Rollicking Entertainment’s Lizzie Tollemache. Featuring a keynote speech from Catherine Wheels Executive Director Tony Reekie, a panel of practitioners discussing how community can be the solution to our fractured sector and of course the PAYPA awards themselves!

SUNDAY 9TH NOVEMBER

9.45am Walk and Talk - from The Court Theatre to Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre

Meet your PAYPA Board members and discuss big bold ideas as we stroll through the vibrant centre of Ōtautahi.

11am Performance - Up and Away by Cubbin Theatre
Cloisters Studio, Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre - koha Please book your tickets via Cubbin Theatre's ticketing website.