Stray's History
Stray Theatre Company started its life as Stage Two Productions. Formed by students, for students, the theatre company has run out of the University of Auckland for decades. Originally finding a home in the second stage of the Maidment Theatre, the Musgrove Studio, Stage Two Productions boasted a large repertoire of productions. In 2016, when the University of Auckland announced that the Maidment Theatre would be making its curtain call due to its lack of seismic strengthening, the then committee realised that the theatre company was now left astray. Thus Stray Theatre Company was born.
Boasting the same mission, to provide a function theatre company for the students at the University of Auckland, Stray became a moving troupe finding home in many of Auckland’s vibrant performance venues. Over the years, Stray Theatre Company has used its new found “stray-ness” to explore performance both conventionally and non-conventionally. Stray is a “can-do” theatre company that boasts the ability to produce theatre in the sense that we know and love, but also explore the possibilities of turning the art on its head.
In recent years Stray has dipped its toes in the likes of virtual theatre, street theatre and site-specific theatre. While exploring new and exciting ideas, one thing has remained constant: Stray Theatre Company is the place to be for aspiring theatre makers at the University of Auckland.
- Gary Hofman (Honorary Life Member)
Our Kaupapa
(an excerpt)
As a theatre company, Stray will endeavour to be affordable (to join and watch), transparent, boundary-pushing, accessible, and ambitious. Shows will aim to grow Stray’s ambitions and offerings by investing any and all show profits into the betterment of the club.
Stray also has a commitment to the arts, to its proliferation and development, and a desire to make a real contribution to the Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) art scene. It will spread the love of theatre to the university community by creating theatre which is accessible, which reflects the cultures of Tāmaki Makaurau, and which is thought-provoking and relevant.
As the Waipapa Taumata Rau’s (University of Auckland) largest theatre club, Stray has a responsibility to help the young theatre community of Tāmaki Makaurau, and their ideas, flourish by actively creating spaces for them to flourish in. It also has a responsibility to respect, acknowledge, and showcase te ao Māori.
