Stanislavsky and the Local in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Stanislavsky and the Local in Aotearoa/New Zealand Online Webinar

10 December 2026

Join webinar Kaitautū (hosts) Associate Professor Hilary Halba and Dr Mihailo Lađevac to explore the local relevance of Stanislavsky’s ideas in 2026 in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Presenters Bronwyn Bradley, Vanessa Byrnes and David O’Donnell investigate how actor training and practice in Aotearoa/New Zealand contribute to, challenge, or transform Stanislavsky’s legacy, and ask what might then be revealed about presence, relationality and performance – and for whom.

The S Word is an international, collaborative research project created by Bella Merlin and Paul Fryer - part of the Stanislavsky Research Centre, based jointly at The University of Leeds (UK) and The University of Malta.

Presenters

Bronwyn Bradley (MEd), Manutaki Tohu Paerunga (Head of Post Graduate Studies): Toi Whakaari NZ Drama School. As an actor, Bronwyn has been a prominent presence in Aotearoa's theatre and screen industries since graduating from Drama School in 1992. An experienced educator, Bronwyn has held Head of Acting positions at several of Aotearoa's leading Drama Schools. She has also led the development of a number of new training programmes, most recently Toi Whakaari's Master of Creative Performance Practice (2023), and Bachelor of Performing Arts (with various endorsements) (2025). Bronwyn’s area of research interest and pedagogical practice examine what contemporary, resilient and decolonised performing arts training can look like in Aotearoa and beyond. 

Vanessa Byrnes is Associate Professor and Head of School: Creative Industries at Unitec, Auckland. An award-winning director, actor, producer, arts advocate and educator, she has over 30 years’ experience across theatre, screen, radio and arts leadership in Aotearoa and internationally. She has led and collaborated on over 200 productions and taught and mentored practitioners in Aotearoa and internationally. Her research and publications focus on actor training and performance practice in Aotearoa, including contributions to Acting in Aotearoa (2025) and Invigoration, Transformation, Revolution (2026).

David O’Donnell (Emeritus Professor of Theatre at Victoria University of Wellington) has published widely on New Zealand and Pacific theatre, co-editing Performing Aotearoa (2007), Indigeneity on the Oceanic Stage (2025) and Acting in Aotearoa (2025). With Lisa Warrington, he co-wrote Floating Islanders: Pasifika Theatre in Aotearoa (2017), winner of the 2018 Rob Jordan Book Prize. An award-winning director, he received the 2023 Mayoral Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre at the Wellington Theatre Awards

Kaitautū (hosts)

Hilary Halba is Associate Professor at the University of Otago. Her research explores the theory and practice of acting, the subject of her recent co-edited book, Acting in Aotearoa (Routledge, 2025), and how culture and identity are manifest in and through performance. As a professional actor, Hilary has appeared in numerous productions in Aotearoa, and beyond.

Dr Mihailo Lađevac is an actor and theatre scholar with 30 years’ professional experience, trained in the Stanislavsky tradition in Serbia. A former full-time member of the National Theatre in Belgrade, he is a core member of Equal Voices Arts in Aotearoa/New Zealand and has published on actor training and spirituality.

8pm (NZ) Thursday 10th December 2026

7am (UK) Thursday 10th December 2026

11pm (Pacific Daylight Time) Wednesday 9th December 2026

2am (Eastern Daylight Time) Thursday 10th December 2026

Duration: 90 minutes

This event is FREE, please book online at www.ticketsource.com/the-s-word