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Story: Theatres, cinemas and halls

First performance venue

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First performance venue

The Albert Theatre was New Zealand's first performance venue, a back room in Watson's Hotel on Auckland's High Street. This is the advertisement for the venue's first play, The lawyer outwitted, performed on 24 December 1841. David Osborne's claim that it was a 'new Extravaganza' was somewhat theatrical. It had first been put on in London in 1811. 

Using this item

National Library of New Zealand

Reference: New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette, 22 December 1841, p. 1

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Ben Schrader, Theatres, cinemas and halls – Colonial period, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/42369/first-performance-venue (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ben Schrader, published 21 August 2013.