Welcome to StageOne, the innovative, cutting-edge performance programme designed to give the young people of Christchurch practical experience in the performing arts.

Now in its fifth year StageOne continues to push the boundaries of youth theatre expectations. Our programme targets specific skills in acting, movement, voice and dance for all ages and best of all, the skills are put into practice through our public performance seasons.

Specifically designed for young people StageOne offers a challenging path of discovery that identifies and harnesses the potential talent and abilities of young performers.

StageOne operates under the umbrella of Hagley Theatre Company, a fulltime training institution for adult students attached to Hagley College. The Company recently celebrated 20 years and continues to provide leading education in the performing arts. With a reputation for excellence Hagley Theatre Company has established strong connections with the wider performing arts community and boasts notable success with placing students into professional courses with New Zealand's top providers, Toi Whakaari:NZ Drama School and UNITEC School of Stage and Screen Arts.

Hagley Theatre Company students often engage with their StageOne counterparts and are on hand to provide assistance in all areas from directing to technical support. It's a relationship that serves StageOne well as the students gain further knowledge and opportunities that might not otherwise be available. Many of our resources are shared and parts of the StageOne programme are based on similar modules used with the fulltime Company.

While the balance of practical and theoretical study puts us at odds with the game-playing, improvisation based theatre programmes available in Christchurch it is probably our performance programme that highlights the biggest difference between StageOne and other providers. Using contacts from around the globe we offer students the chance to work on contemporary and relevant scripts from the world's leading playwrights. Often the work is commissioned for particular age groups and many of our seasons have never before been presented in New Zealand.

In 2010 we will continue to grow our innovative school by adding Dance to the programme. It's my pleasure to welcome Amy, Dani and Stacy to our staff and I look forward to seeing their results. Our performance format will also be changing in 2010 as we attempt to offer our audience the best theatre experiences.

My staff (including the new members) are highly motivated and committed to giving our students broad theatrical experiences and I hope to welcome you to soon to the StageOne team.

As always I am available for you to contact with questions, suggestions or feedback. Please feel free to email me lo@hagley.school.nz

Darryl Low