Raymond Benjamin Thomas Hawthorne was a New Zealand theatre director, regarded as one of the country's most senior performing arts practitioners.
15 Facts About Raymond Hawthorne
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Raymond Hawthorne used to ride a horse to his schooling at Pakipaki School and Hastings High School.
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Raymond Hawthorne performed with Hawke's Bay community opera and theatrical companies.
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In 1955, Hawthorne became a member of the New Zealand Players, the nation's first major professional theatre company.
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Raymond Hawthorne founded Theatre Corporate in 1974, a professional theatre company based in Auckland.
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Raymond Hawthorne helped bring to prominence artists as Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst.
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In 1985, Raymond Hawthorne was appointed director of the Mercury Theatre, a position he retained for seven years.
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Raymond Hawthorne established an acting studio, The Actor's Space, in 1992.
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Raymond Hawthorne directed many plays with Theatre Corporate including: The Fantastiks by Tom Jones, music by Harvey L Schmidt ; The Two Tigers by Brian McNeill ; Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw ; A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen ; Cabaret by John Kander; and Fred Ebb.
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In 1982, Raymond Hawthorne became director of the National Opera of New Zealand.
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In 1997, Raymond Hawthorne became the head of the 'Directing and Writing for Theatre and Screen' major at Unitec Institute of Technology.
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Raymond Hawthorne was appointed head of the School of Performing and Screen Arts in 2003.
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In 2011, Raymond Hawthorne directed the inaugural production at Auckland's Q Theatre, Raise the Titanics.
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Raymond Hawthorne acted in film and television projects including Children of the Dog Star, Mortimer's Patch, Bread and Roses, Shortland Street and As Dreams Are Made On.
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Raymond Hawthorne died at a retirement village in the Auckland suburb of Hillsborough on 5 April 2025, aged 88.