The Odyssey

We are the 2025 graduating ensemble of Hagley Theatre School’s relaunched One-Year Acting Training Course. This December, we will present The Odyssey: a bold, playful adaptation of Homer’s epic that fuses circus, storytelling, comedy, chorus and music.

This production is the culmination of our year’s training, both on stage and behind the scenes. From lighting and sound to costume, marketing and fundraising, every element is student-led, making the journey of creation as vital as the performance itself. The Odyssey is our first step into the wider arts world, an ambitious project shaped by creativity, collaboration and passion.

Staged in partnership with Danny Symes at Altiora | Performing Arts Venue, this work brings together emerging artists and a vital Ōtautahi hub for performance. With your support, we can realise this vision and share it with our community.

The Odyssey is directed by Hagley Theatre School's Artistic Director, Dr Pedro Ilgenfritz, with circus and aerial support by Danny Symmes. Pedro Ilgenfritz is a veteran theatre-maker, director and teacher in Aotearoa|New Zealand. Over the last two decades, he has directed and created numerous productions. During his 18 years as Senior Lecturer in Acting at Unitec in Auckland, he trained hundreds of young actors now working across stage and screen. 

Danny is Hagley Theatre School's acrobatics tutor and the manager of Altiora | Performing Arts Venue, with an extensive background in circus and physical theatre. His work has supported the growth of circus performance and training in Ōtautahi, making him a key figure in the city’s performing arts landscape. Together, they bring a wealth of experience to this ambitious graduation project.

We are raising money to help cover the costs of staging The Odyssey, our inaugural graduation production. This funding campaign will support us in:

• Venue hire at Altiora | Performing Arts Venue, located in the Arts Centre
• Costumes, props and set pieces to bring our adaptation of The Odyssey to life
• Lighting, sound and technical equipment needed for a large-scale production
• Marketing and publicity materials to reach audiences and build visibility
• The 10% commission fee from Boosted

Every contribution goes directly into making this project possible, ensuring our ensemble can share the culmination of our training with the community in a fully realised production.

This December, Hagley Theatre School’s graduating ensemble will stage The Odyssey as the inaugural graduation project of the relaunched One-Year Acting Training Course. At its heart is Homer’s timeless tale of Odysseus’s ten-year journey home from the Trojan War, facing gods, monsters, storms and temptations. Our version is not a literal retelling but a playful and eclectic adaptation that breathes new life into the classic, using circus, storytelling, comedy, chorus and music to explore what it means to find our way home.

We are doing this because we believe in the power of theatre to connect the old and the new, the mythic and the everyday. For us, The Odyssey is not just a story about one man’s journey, but a mirror of our own generation’s struggles with courage, folly, resilience and belonging. It’s also a chance to showcase the breadth of our training across acting, movement, clown, bouffon, Te Ao Haka, physical theatre and circus, blending diverse performance forms into one ambitious, ensemble-led production.

This project is more than just a performance. Every element, on stage and behind the scenes, is student-led. From lighting and sound design to costuming, marketing, publicity and fundraising. We are learning by doing, taking responsibility for every step of the creative process. Presenting The Odyssey in collaboration with Altiora | Performing Arts Venue allows us to bring this vision to life in a professional setting, while also supporting a vital hub for performing arts in Ōtautahi.

We are doing this because we are passionate about theatre as both craft and community. The Odyssey is our chance to share that passion with audiences, to step confidently into the wider arts world, and to celebrate the resilience, creativity and collaboration that will sustain us as the next generation of theatre-makers.

Backing Hagley Theatre School's production of The Odyssey, you're supporting more than a single production. It means investing in a training ground that is also a creative laboratory, where students learn to take risks, test ideas, and contribute new voices to the future of Aotearoa theatre.

Hagley Theatre School is a safe and challenging space for emerging artists to grow, but it is also a place where student-driven theatre-making is emphasised. Student-led projects like this show how training can move beyond the classroom, becoming a genuine act of creation that enriches both the artists involved and the community that gathers to witness it.

By supporting us, you’re helping ensure that this tradition continues, nurturing not only our growth as artists but also the evolution of theatre itself in Ōtautahi and beyond.