Cindy Peterken; looking forward to “bringing the best out of people” through drama.

“When I was there it used to be arty and a bit alternative; everybody knew your business, which was good unless you did something bad,” she laughs. These days she says, it’s a tax haven for the wealthy.

Cindy came to Waiheke at the end of 2008 with her New Zealand husband after a surprise decision to turn down two attractive job offers in the UK.

“I’d been teaching drama in a very good co-ed boarding school in Surrey and was considering two other jobs that would have been great. And then I just decided that I would rather to go to New Zealand to bring up my son (Jasper aged four). I’m not a city person. I like to be near it for the cultural stuff, but I wanted a place where my child, and my rather large dog could live.”

And fortunately her husband decided to come too.

With a music teacher father and an artist mother, it seemed almost inevitable that the young Cindy would do something in the arts.
“Actually I wasn’t particularly musical. I played the cello as long as I could do my actual exams in drama. My worst nightmare is the thought of standing up and singing on stage as myself.”

But the drama bug arrived early. “ I fell in love with the theatre after playing a fairy as a young girl in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’ve always loved straight drama and literature rather than musicals.”

After attending drama school in London and doing small professional acting parts around the UK, she came to the realisation that the lonely hotel-room life of a travelling actor was not for her.

“Here I was doing a Number One tour (of the best theatres in the British provinces) and I wasn’t happy. It was an awful play and I just didn’t enjoy being in it.”

Her real passion, she decided was less about being in a play and more about “getting the best out of everybody” in a directing and facilitating capacity.

“I worked with handicapped people doing drama at Camp America and I loved it. Later I guided expeditions in places like Chile and Kenya. I realised that the skills you learn in drama, like  working together, making something as a team and challenging yourself, these are all valuable life skills that you can apply to any situation. I just found that teaching was so easy and natural for me.”

After spending last year teaching drama part time at Waiheke High School – where she directed several successful productions – Cindy will be running after school drama classes for children and adults. Classes start on Tuesday 16 February at Waiheke Primary School Hall for a term of six weeks and will include theatre games, improvisation, devising, script work, creating a character, stage fighting and mask work. During the year, students will work towards performance evenings. For more information call Lucinda Peterken on 372 2770 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .•

Julianne Evans