Horse With No Name
Children’s Theatre Company in Wellington

Horse With No Name is an award-winning theatre company based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, led by artistic directors Catriona Tipene and Ryan Cundy.

They have written, directed, produced and starred in three professional productions for Theatre for Young Audiences at Circa Theatre.

Land of the Long, Long Drive is a tale for Kiwi kids, featuring iconic NZ creatures and landscapes. Winner of the 3–8-year-old section of Playmarket’s Plays for the Young Competition in 2022, Land of the Long, Long Drive brings you a laugh out loud, inspiring adventure of three unlikely heroes. Wētā, Tuna and Kārearea are mates of Gary the Glowworm, and are travelling to attend his rave in the cave birthday party. The friends face a number of trials on the road, and learn that despite their differences, they can achieve their goals by working together! Land of the Long, Long Drive premierred at Circa Theatre in 2023, toured the motu with Arts on Tour in 2024 across several venues, and had a return season to Circa in 2026. In 2024, it was nominated for Production of the Year at the annual PAYPA Awards.

Trees, Bees and Me won Playmarket’s Plays for the Young Competition in 2024, and had a hit season at Circa Theatre October of the same year. A charming kiwi adventure for the young and young at heart! Mimi, Poppa and Trey are on a magical quest to Mount Rubbish more to save the world from the villainous Litter Bug! Mimi is still learning how to be a hero, but Poppa is there to guide her. Together, they explore how the whenua is part of their whānau. Catriona and Ryan were nominated for Best Emerging Playwright for Trees, Bees and Me at the 2024 Wellington Theatre Awards.

Kiwi’s Big Hararei is a beautiful tale about spreading your wings and flying into the unknown. Kiwi is going on his first big holiday from Aotearoa across to the golden shores of Brisbane. He’s got his backpack, a pocket full of worms, and a head full of dreams. The most exciting thing of all is that he might even get to go on a rollercoaster! With his Mum, Kiwi navigates air travel, hotels and conversations with marsupials as his world stretches from the home he knows, to the world over the horizon. Kiwi’s Big Hararei premierred at Circa Theatre in October 2025, and won Playmarket’s Plays for the Young the same year.

Each of these show feature original waiata by Benny Tipene, stunning set design by Brendan West, James Searle and Loretta Knights and has jumped into life with beautiful costumes from GRIDLEY by Victoria, Costumier for the Royal New Zealand Ballet.