Hagley Theatre School is an independent theatre training and creation programme attached to Hagley College in Christchurch, listed at 102 Champion Street in Edgeware. It was founded in 1988 as Hagley Theatre Company and renamed in 2024, when Dr Pedro Ilgenfritz became artistic director and the school moved to a new acting-focused curriculum. The programme's purpose is immersive, practice-led training that prepares students for further study in the performing arts.
Training covers movement, mask work, improvisation, theatre creation and performance, with voice work based on the Roy Hart Theatre approach. Students also study circus and acrobatics, object theatre, animation and puppetry, and the performance traditions of Aotearoa and the Pacific, including haka, waiata and poi. The website says the course will be organised around six integrated disciplines from 2027, and that it is a prerequisite for a six-month course.