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Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's national drama school. It was established in 1970 and is located in Wellington, New Zealand, in the . Toi Whakaari offers training in acting, costume construction, set and props construction, performing arts management and design for stage and screen. Toi Whakaari has a roll of approximately 130 students annually, who study for up to three years.
Toi Whakaari is co-located at Te Whaea: National School of Dance and Drama Centre with the New Zealand School of Dance which moved into the premises in 1998, at the same time as Toi Whakaari.
In 2005, its first year students were the subjects of a reality TV show, Tough Act. 2010 saw Toi Whakaari celebrate its 40th anniversary. This also coincided with a book launch of the school's history. The book, titled Transitions, was written by Bill Guest, former Head of the Entertainment Technology Programme and Associate Director.
Annie Ruth, one of the first acting graduates of the school, was Director of the school from 1998–2011 when she was succeeded by Christian Penny, who left in 2018 to take up a role with High Performance Sport NZ. In June 2019 it was announced that Tanea Heke (Ngā Puhi) would be the new Director, after six months as interim Director.
The school had a number of ongoing sexual and emotional abuse allegations reported in 2021.
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