About Play!
Our Values
We believe in fostering creativity, building confidence, and promoting teamwork.
Expression
Experienced professionals who foster creativity, confidence, and teamwork in a supportive environment.
Commitment
Our programs help children develop essential life skills such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.
Growth
We inspire a passion for the arts through engaging drama clubs and theatre workshops.
Creativity
Our supportive environment encourages children to explore their creativity and express themselves with confidence.
Our Home
Welcome to our drama studio, located at 13 Henare Drive, Izone Rolleston. Conveniently situated between our other venues in Selwyn and Christchurch, this custom-built facility is the heart of our creative community. Designed to accommodate our weekly classes, end-of-year shows, and the exciting Droscars event, our studio provides a dedicated space for students to learn, perform, and celebrate their achievements. With its welcoming atmosphere and purpose-built features, it’s the perfect environment for nurturing talent and fostering a love for drama.
We also hold classes in other venues across Canterbury and Selwyn:
Lincoln (Lincoln Events Centre)
Darfield (Darfield Recreational Centre)
Christchurch (Showbiz Studios, St Asaph Street)
Meet Nickie
- the creator of Play!
Nickie has been working and assisting with Drama workshops for over 10 years, creating a lot of experience with children ranging from 5 years to 15 years old. Nickie graduated with a first class BA (Honours) in Drama and Theatre studies in July 2016 and has also received a distinction in Musical Theatre Grade 8 from the London College of Music.
In January 2019 Nickie’s plans were to bring PLAY! Drama Clubs to Selwyn. Since then, Nickie has joined to work collaboratively with Aurora Dance Studio and CentreStage Rolleston. Since performing with CentreStage Rolleston in Beauty and the Beast 2019, Nickie has since joined the theatre committee where she intends to direct the youth productions in Selwyn – which acts as a great continuation after her students finish her courses at age 16.
Our team
We're on the lookout for passionate individuals interested in part-time teaching positions.
If you have a flair for drama and a desire to inspire creativity in others, we want to hear from you.
Originally from windy Wellington, Rose is a trained and registered teacher with a passion for performing arts education. She loves working with kids of all ages and helping them develop their confidence and creativity. Over her career, she’s worn many hats: writer, designer, producer, singer, comedian, programmer, and songwriter, to name just a few! Rose believes that everyone has a story to tell, learning is a lifelong adventure, and creative minds working together can do incredible things.
Teaching children to love the art of dance over the past 8 years has been a strong passion for Shannon, who is a Royal Academy of Dance Registered Teacher. As well as several qualifications in Ballet (RAD, IDTA) and Jazz (NZAMD) Shannon has also recently opened her very own dance studio, Aurora Dance Studio. This is where we run our collaborative ENCORE musical classes with the Asia Pacific Dance Association!
30 years ago Scott became hooked on musical theatre when, aged 8, he appeared in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He went on to be in 42nd Street, and Starry Nights. He worked backstage on Joseph, Little Shop, and Les Misérables, was Wig Coordinator for Phantom, Spamalot, and Hairspray and dresser for Mamma Mia! Studying drama at Linwood High School he learnt backstage skills, props, lighting, wardrobe, set design as well as Stage Manager roles. Scott volunteers with our Level 7 Crew and you'll generally find him backstage during most of our events too!
Sophie is a ECE teacher in training and has been doing musical theatre since she was 14. Sophie has been involved in many Centrestage Rolleston productions such as Joseph, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan Jr, Godspell, Legally Blonde and Mary Poppins!She's also been involved in Shrek Jr for Kirwee Players and played lead roles in the Lincoln High School productions of Addams family and Guys and Dolls.Sophie is so excited to be jumping on board staff at PLAY! Drama workshops in 2024!
Originally from London, Shannon-Aimeé has worked professionally as a performer in the UK and New Zealand. Some performance highlights for her have been: playing the role of 'Belle' in Beauty and the Beast, ‘Mrs Andrew’ in Mary Poppins, and being a featured soloist in the NZ premiere of Considering Matthew Shepard and performing in Grammy-Award winning opera singer Jonathan Lemalu’s 2021 concert series. She has directed several junior shows for CentreStage Rolleston, Kirwee Players and Ovation. She was recently awarded distinction in her Master of Music degree and is in the early stages of her Doctorate in Musical Arts!
Originally from Dunedin, Ayesha has a deep-rooted passion for drama and performing arts. She studied Speech and Drama at Trinity College London, earning distinctions in grades 6, 7, 8, and Performance Certificate. Her achievements were recognised with the Speech and Drama Silver Medal of Excellence for receiving some of the highest marks in the country.
Now pursuing Cinematic Arts at UC, Ayesha is combining her love for drama and acting with her passion for filmmaking. Ayesha believes in the transformative power of drama and hopes to inspire creativity, confidence, and fun in the kids she teaches - just as drama classes did for her growing up.
Karlyn
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Katrina
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Lorelai
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