Dargaville Little Theatre was incorporated in 1963 but has roots further back into the early part of the 1900s. In the early days of our society, rehearsals were conducted at members' homes with shows performed on stages in the Northern Wairoa War Memorial Hall and local halls across the district.

In 1981, after considerable fund raising, we purchased the former Mititai Masonic Lodge to convert into a black box theatre. The epic undertaking of barging the lodge up the Wairoa River to its new home on Victoria Street extension is still spoken about in the community today. Our theatre premises has since developed and grown, with DIY community input and many working bees over the years from our members. 

It has been over 60 years since our incorporation and we continue to provide quality entertainment and opportunities for all to partake in theatre. While taking on well known musicals and plays, we are also passionate about producing locally written works of all genres. From musicals, one act plays, children’s and youth theatre - we do it all with enthusiasm, gumption and excellence. 

We partner with nationwide theatre organisations, including Theatre New Zealand, where we have participated in Theatrefest for a number of years with many of our performances selected to perform at the national Showcase over the past 12 years. We have also had two original productions from our theatre to be awarded the Book of Honour at the national Showcase, as well as receiving the Golden Koru award. One of these productions, ‘Out of Mind’, was also selected to attend the prestigious Mondial du Theatre in 2025, the amateur world theatre festival held every four years in Monaco. From here, ‘Out of Mind’ has been invited to tour internationally and continues to represent New Zealand and Dargaville Little Theatre across the world. 

Our aim is to foster opportunities for our members as well as providing quality entertainment and arts opportunities for our community. We’re always looking for people who are passionate about grass roots community theatre, be it on stage or backstage. ​If you would like to be involved, please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Mission Statement

Dargaville Little Theatre’s mission is to provide and foster quality performing arts opportunities for our local community. This includes performances, workshops and training, entertainment events, facilities and the promotion of new works from our members.

Vision

We aspire to raise the profile of performing arts in Kaipara.

We aim to grow our capacity to provide performing arts opportunities that entertain, inspire, grow and encourage people, creating a sense of belonging for all involved.

We aim to provide a venue that is attractive, user friendly and delivers a memorable audience experience.

We aim to deliver this vision through a strong reflection of our core values:

Community-We believe in connecting people, contributing, sharing, inclusivity and commitment

Fun -We believe our theatre should be creative and full of imagination

Respect -We believe in communication, honour, trust, showing integrity and compassion

Quality -We believe in accountability, effectiveness and professionalism

Growth -We believe in sustainability, adaptability, decisiveness and taking calculated risks