Murray Lynch: A life in theatre, a lasting impression at The Hannah
Murray Lynch is the current Chair of the Hannah Playhouse Trust and was Artistic Director of Downstage Theatre 2000-2006.
Murray Lynch’s life has been shaped by stories on the stage, behind the scenes, in rehearsal rooms, and by those who’ve worked alongside him. As a director, educator, mentor and now Chair of the Hannah Playhouse Trust, Murray's career spans five decades and countless productions, venues, and artists. And through it all Hannah Playhouse has been a main character.
Murray's professional theatre journey began at just 19 years old when he joined the Four Seasons Theatre in Whanganui. “At 19, I was directing Waiting for Godot and Private Lives. It was like an absolute dream come true,” he says with a laugh. What followed was a whirlwind of growth: from cleaner to director to company leader at Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North, to time with Auckland’s Theatre Corporate and beyond. By 1989, Lynch was directing Little Shop of Horrors at Downstage and had moved permanently to Wellington. Over the years, he would go on to lead Downstage as Artistic Director, head the Acting and Directing department at Toi Whakaari, complete a master’s thesis on adapting novels for the stage, and ultimately take on the role of Executive Director at Playmarket.
“I’ve never done anything but work in the theatre,” he says simply. “Even when I was unemployed in ’83, I only lasted a few weeks waiting tables before I was back making theatre again.”
Though his work has taken him across Aotearoa, it’s The Hannah that has held his attention. The iconic Wellington venue, originally home to Downstage Theatre and now operated through a partnership between the Hannah Playhouse Trust and Wellington City Council, has been part of Murray's story since the mid-70s.
“The first thing I saw here was Two Tigers, a dinner theatre production. I remember the dinner not being very memorable, but the theatre was,” he chuckles. “Then came The Good Person of Setzuan, in a completely different configuration of the auditorium and I realised just how special this building could be.”
An excerpt from ‘Downstage Upfront’ (2004) explains, “Murray's first mainbill production in Wellington had long been on the Downstage wish list for a summer-season musical. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors featured Mark Hadlow, Rima Te Wiata, Peter Elliot, Bruce Phillips, ‘The Ronnettes’ and an ingeniously articulated carnivorous plant that grew huge.”
Murray's connection to the building deepened through both creative and governance roles. He became Artistic Director of Downstage in early 2000, and later joined the Hannah Playhouse Trust alongside others who had poured decades into the venue.
“I care about the building,” he says earnestly. “Every person on the Trust has had an intimate relationship with it, either through Downstage or more recent iterations.”
For Murray, what sets The Hannah apart isn’t just its unique architecture or flexible stage configurations (though he notes with pride the Trust’s funding to install a new, modular seating system). It’s the building’s evolving kaupapa: a home for development. A place where artists can rehearse, test, fail, experiment without the pressure of an opening night, and try again – something few venues in Aotearoa offer.
“Most new works only get three or four weeks of rehearsal and then it’s lights up,” Lynch explains. “But here, thanks to the model we’ve developed with the council, companies like the brilliant Eleanor and Karin of EBKM whose production Gravity & Grace had three or four development seasons. That’s almost unheard of – and it shows in the work.”
That space to grow, he says, is what makes The Hannah not just relevant but vital. “It makes the work better. It makes the artists better. And it means the shows that are born here are tour-ready. They can go to other venues around the country, and they can take their work overseas and help put Aotearoa on the world stage.”
The Hannah’s flexibility isn’t just spatial, it’s philosophical. While its past was shaped by a full-time company in Downstage, its present thrives on adaptability: hosting everything from festival performances to showings of work in development and emerging playwrights’ first readings. Murray describes it as “a kind of optimum place”; a rare balance between development and public performance.
Of course, no building with this much soul escapes myth-making. “There’s a ghost, of course,” Lynch smiles. “This one has been known to move props between tech rehearsals.”
And then there are the stories of the building’s transformation – from dinner theatre with bain-maries and pre-paid wine to utilise a loophole in the liquor laws, to a thriving rehearsal and performance space. “The bar used to be the rehearsal room. The green room used to be a commercial kitchen. The wall between the bar and the dressing rooms didn’t exist. It’s constantly evolved to meet the needs of practitioners and audiences.”
What hasn’t changed is the sense of belonging it instils in those who’ve worked there. “Stephen Blackburn and I were riffing the other day on our top productions of all time,” Lynch says. “For me, one was Tony Taylor’s production of Travesties, around 1977. Just magnificent. These memories… they live in the walls.”
As the arts sector grapples with shifting funding models, venue closures and industry uncertainty, Murray is quietly optimistic that The Hannah can continue to be a beacon.
“My hope is that the development model we have here continues to flourish. That more artists understand what’s possible here. It’s already working: there’s lots of development projects booked in, the work is strong. But people still don’t know what is happening inside when the lights are off.”
With nearly 50 years of connection to the building, Murray's role is no longer just about directing shows, it’s about stewarding future growth. “The Hannah is important to the ecology of our national arts scene. It offers something unique, and the more we make use of that, the stronger our creative future will be.”
And what does it mean to him, personally?
“Well… it’s where I’ve lived a lot of my artistic life. It’s like a home.”
About Murray Lynch
Murray Lynch has worked at nearly every major professional theatre in New Zealand since he began his career at Four Seasons Theatre in Whanganui in 1973. At age 22 he was appointed Associate Director of Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North, and Artistic Director three years later.
This was followed by a stint as Associate Director at Auckland’s Theatre Corporate. While still in Auckland he formed a theatre-in-education company called Spare Parts and took the position of Artistic Director of the Maidment Arts Centre at the University of Auckland. He was founding director of the widely acclaimed Tantrum Theatre Company before moving to Wellington in 1989, where he soon became Associate Director at Downstage Theatre. At that time he was also a project manager for the Arts Council. In 1993 he moved to Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School to tutor and later head the Acting and Directing Programmes, a position he held until his appointment as Director of Downstage in 2000. He held this position for six years. Murray was also instrumental in commissioning the book Downstage Upfront (2004, Victoria University Press) which documents the ‘first 40 years of New Zealand’s longest-running professional theatre’ written by John Smythe.
In 2007 he graduated with distinction from Victoria University with a Master of Arts in Theatre. Murray is now Chair of Hannah Playhouse Trust and Director of Playmarket.