Past Theatre Whakatane members living the dream - Kelly Kiwha
It's fantastic to see some of our young people start their journey in Whakatane and grow to take their talents to work in the industry. Kelly started his theatre life in Whakatane and now he's making a career of it in Wellington. Here's his story.
My name is Kelly Kiwha, I am 27 years old, was born and raised in Whakatane, however due to my career and the industry I work in I now live in Wellington
I first got involved with Theatre Whakatane following my year 10 High School Production in 2007. My role was within the lighting team as follow spot operator and I did this for a few shows. Eventually when I became a senior at high school I was nominated onto the committee and then took on the role of Lighting HOD. I remained in this role until I left the Bay of Plenty moving to Wellington to study a Bachelor in Performing arts Management at Toi Whakaari, NZ Drama school.
My experience growing up involved with Theatre Whakatane allowed be to gain technical knowledge and practical skills across multiple disciplines including lighting, sound and AV. I also had the invaluable opportunity to develop my personable leadership style which I then went on to develop and investigate further at university.
Through a bit of luck and hard work I’ve had the privilege to work on New Zealand’s largest events in a range of different capacities. I tend to work across three roles: Event Management, Stage Management, and Tour management. Some key events I’ve had the privilege of working on include
- World of Wearable Art awards show
- Jim beam homegrown
- World Master Games
- NZ Lions tour
- Royal NZ Ballet
- Capital E: National theatre for children
- Range of touring concerts (Guns and Roses, Queen Adam Lambert, Elton John)
I’d like to say a huge thank you to Theatre Whakatane for teaching me practical skills I still use to this day and for allowing me the opportunity to develop my craft at such a young age.
