Upcoming 2026 Panels 

 

March
“Safe, Seen & Supported: Rainbow Inclusion in Community Theatre”
Creating safe, supportive spaces for all LGBTIA+

🗣 Facilitated by: Emma Bishop
🎭 Panelists: Mel Martin-Booker | Lance Ainofo | Kelly McBane

📅 Date: Tuesday 24 March 2026
🕢 Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm (NZT)
📍 Online via Zoom (link provided upon registration)

Join us for this important kōrero on creating safe spaces for our LGBTIA.
Register at https://forms.gle/iXGy9tqx73euAQZL6

Meet the Panel

Mel Martin-Booker is a Waikato-born and bred, queer and disabled, playwright, theatre practitioner, and creative troublemaker whose work celebrates queer joy, chaotic families, and the tender absurdity of modern relationships. She is a founding trustee of access and inclusion-focused arts trust LOUD Creative, a co-founder of boutique theatre collective BlackBox Creative, and current President for Hamilton Musical Theatre.

Lance Ainofo is a Samoan actor and inclusion leader based in Auckland. By day he manages Toitū Takatāpui | Rainbow Tick, partnering with organisations across Aotearoa to create workplaces where Rainbow communities can thrive. By night (and whenever the stage calls), he is a performer and graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, with credits including We Are Still Here (Netflix), Ocean (NZIFF), and the NAPTA-winning musical That Bloody Woman. Lance believes the skills of storytelling, empathy, and leadership are deeply connected, whether in the boardroom or on stage.

Kelly McBane is a queer and neurodivergent artist originally hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holding a Master of Fine Arts. Before migrating to Aotearoa, Kelly spent ten years working as a professional costume designer, theatre professor, arts access educator, and choir technician in Toledo, Ohio. Prior to that Kelly worked on a number of club events and shows in L.A and Las Vegas including Britney Spears’ Piece of Me residency. 

 

April
"Caring for Our Company: Trauma Awareness in Theatre Communities"

May
“Te Reo, Te Ao, Te Oro: Crafting a Musical Theatre Style for Aotearoa”  
What is Aotearoa's Musical Theatre sound?
 

 

PAST PANELS

Marketing Best Practice with Sharron Parodoe and Doug Kamo

How Do We Select Our Shows? with Craig Ogilvie, Jeremy Sparrow and Hamish Mouat

Budgeting with Anne Douglas, Community Waikato

Prepping for Tech Week through a Diversity Lens - Kate Martin-Booker

Funding - How to Best Share Your Story - Cassandra Wilson - CNZ; Dr. Jeremy Mayall - Creative Waikato

Children in the Theatre Space - Care, Safety and Wellbeing - Sonya Aifai and Steve Lloyd

Kōrero with our Rights Holders - Online Forum - Play Bureau, Playmarket, APRA AMCOS/OneMusic NZ, David Spicer Productions, MTI Australasia and ORiGiN Theatrical

Making Safe Spaces to Create - Facilitated by: Joshua Downs
                                                   Panelists: Karen Ruske | Darrel Nitschke | Chelsea Sheehan-Gaiger