Editing New Zealand literature (section)

===Playwriting===
{{See also|Performing arts in New Zealand}}
The 1960s saw significant developments in New Zealand playwriting, and the country's first professional theatre, the [[Downstage Theatre]], opened in Wellington in 1964.<ref name="Explosion">{{cite web |last1=Edmond |first1=Murray |title=Theatrical explosion: 1960s and 1970s – Story: Plays and playwrights |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-3 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=18 February 2021 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609230755/https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-3 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Playmarket]] was also founded in 1973 to represent and market New Zealand playwrights and their work.<ref name="Social">{{cite web |last1=Edmond |first1=Murray |title=Social issues on stage – Plays and playwrights |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-5 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=18 February 2021 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609230734/https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-5 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bruce Mason]] was the country's first professional playwright.<ref name="170 Years">{{cite web |title=170 Years of New Zealand Theatre |url=https://courttheatre.org.nz/news/170-years-of-new-zealand-theatre/ |website=Court Theatre |access-date=19 February 2021 |date=25 September 2018 |archive-date=10 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210135645/https://courttheatre.org.nz/news/170-years-of-new-zealand-theatre/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His one-person show ''[[The End of the Golden Weather]]'' (1962), about a boy's loss of innocence in Depression-era New Zealand, was performed widely throughout New Zealand, and he explored Māori themes and the disintegration of Māori identity in ''The Pohutakawa Tree'' (1960) and ''Awatea'' (1969).<ref name="NZ History"/><ref name="Brit CK"/> [[Mervyn Thompson]], a controversial playwright, wrote plays with autobiographical and political elements such as ''O Temperance!'' (1974).<ref name="Brit CK"/> In 1976, a group of Downstage actors left to found the [[Circa Theatre]], and produced ''Glide Time'' by [[Roger Hall (playwright)|Roger Hall]] as one of their first productions.<ref name="Explosion"/> Hall became New Zealand's most commercially successful playwright, and ''Glide Time'' became a New Zealand icon and was turned into a TV sitcom.<ref name="Explosion"/><ref name="170 Years"/> [[Greg McGee]]'s ''[[Foreskin's Lament]]'' (1981), about small-town [[Rugby union|rugby]] culture in New Zealand, likewise achieved iconic status.<ref name="Social"/><ref name="Brit CK"/>

Drama further developed in the 1980s and 1990s with new playwrights finding success, including [[Renée (writer)|Renée]], [[Stuart Hoar]], [[Hone Kouka]] and [[Briar Grace-Smith]].<ref name="Brit CK"/><ref name="Social"/> [[Jean Betts|Jean Betts's]] feminist play ''Ophelia Thinks Harder'' (1993) was still widely performed in New Zealand and overseas as of 2014, and may be the most widely performed New Zealand play.<ref name="Social"/> The collective [[Pacific Underground]] developed the groundbreaking play ''Fresh off the Boat'' (1993), written by [[Oscar Kightley]] and [[Simon Small]], which was praised for its portrayal of Samoan life in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite news |title=How hard can it be? |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/eyewitness/audio/2018635725/how-hard-can-it-be |access-date=19 February 2021 |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=15 March 2008 |archive-date=21 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921072818/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/eyewitness/audio/2018635725/how-hard-can-it-be |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gates |first1=Charlie |title=Chch classic returns to the stage with mixed results |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/art-and-stage/116729340/chch-classic-returns-to-the-stage-with-mixed-results |access-date=19 February 2021 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021221948/https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/art-and-stage/116729340/chch-classic-returns-to-the-stage-with-mixed-results |url-status=live }}</ref> New Zealand also has a tradition of independent theatre with companies creating original plays and collective works, including the [[Red Mole (Theatre Company)|Red Mole]] theatre group (1970s–2002), Barbarian Productions in Wellington (led by [[Jo Randerson]]), the Christchurch Free Theatre, the work of poet Murray Edmond with the Living Theatre Troupe, and the early work of [[Paul Maunder]] with the Amamus Theatre.<ref name="Explosion"/><ref name="2000s theatre">{{cite web |last1=Edmond |first1=Murray |title=Theatre into the 2000s – Plays and playwrights |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-6 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125163457/https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-6 |url-status=live }}</ref>