The Green Green Room gives Wellington’s arts treasures a second act
Thursday, 2 July 2026
It’s the end of your show run at one of Wellington’s esteemed theatres, but what to do now with that giant papier-mâché pelican you made specifically for that one scene? Or what about the extravagantly bedazzled costume hat that perfectly fit your main character’s head, but would probably never be worn by anyone in public?
Don’t think about throwing them in the skip bin - the Green Green Room will happily give your arts waste a new life and a new home.
The small organisation acts as a shared costume, props, set and equipment library for the capital’s diverse cultural sector, and those who run it are encouraging donations of all sorts of items - as well as visits from those interested in borrowing from Wellington’s rich arts history.
The library presently operates out of two spaces at opposite ends of the city - a ground-floor flat in Thorndon near the Botanic Garden, and the other in Newtown under Tāwhiri Warehouse - and much of its current stock is from independent theatre companies Barbarian Productions and Trick of the Light, who started the service together.
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As well as building an archive so arts-makers of tomorrow are able to reference past performances in their new works, the service is also open for event organisers and everybody else.
With a $10-per-item policy or a $50 annual subscription to borrow an unlimited number of items, the service has already proven popular with arts students, NZ Fringe participants, filmmakers and more.
Kaia Costanza-van Den Belt, who helps run the service, said the Green Green Room was currently open for only two hours a week or by appointment. It’s hoped that eventually it will be able to merge its two locations into a single inner-city space.
The Green Green Room preserves more generic items like curtains, partitions, fold-up chairs and flats (lightweight, moveable false walls used as backdrops/scenery), along with more wacky things like puppets, masks, astro turf, steps, foliage and even rotary phones.
“They would probably either get stored in somebody’s garage or go to the landfill,” Costanza-van Den Belt said. “It’s a lot more economical to borrow from here. The possibilities are endless.”
The Green Green Room also allows certain items to be bought forever, however it keeps certain in-demand and precious objects.
Jo Randerson, Barbarian Productions’ founder and artistic director, said many shared arts resource services existed between the 1980s and the 2000s. The Green Green Room was filling the gap created by the closure of those spaces and the general move away from co-op models.
“It’s about working together and sharing resource, which we need to do - because there isn’t enough in the arts. But also this is very much about creating a circular economy and getting stuff re-used,” Randerson said. “The age is kind of gone when everyone owns their own things and pays for storage.”
Thomas LaHood, the co-director of Barbarian Productions, said it was impossible for independent artists to source unique items from scratch every time and then find space to store them.
The service is also hoping to help educate artists on which materials are best for re-use. Ideally, LaHood said, the Green Green Room would have the space to be able to break individual items down into components in an on-site reconstruction and deconstruction workshop.
“Really, the idea is that nothing should languish in a dusty corner of someone’s personal property where it could have a life and be contributor to creative expression. It really is about giving things the life they deserve and making them accessible,” LaHood said.
Randerson said there was no theatre museum for Wellington - “we’ve never really looked after our heritage like that” - but already the Green Green Room had accumulated masks from avant garde theatre company Red Mole, and historical Royal NZ Ballet costumes.
Ralph McCubbin Howell and Hannah Smith, the co-founders of Trick of the Light - the other company that’s helped start the service - said sourcing and storing materials had always been a challenge for independent theatre-makers.
“This kind of collaborative working is a tangible response to both the climate crisis and shrinking investment in the arts. It’s not only diverting things from the landfill, it’s keeping valuable resources in a resource poor sector, and sharing knowledge so that emerging artists can access these things,” the pair said.
McCubbin Howell and Smith said the service was also ideal for those who wanted to test out ideas before committing to them, and those interested in craft.
“Often this calls for physical stuff that’s just crazy to buy new. … It means [you] can … find inspiration from materials that you might not have come up with otherwise.”
Costanza-van Den Belt adds, “It’s a community space for everybody to come and be creative. It’s here to use in whatever way the community needs.”
Inquiries: kiaora@greengreenroom.nz; greengreenroom.nz, or via Instagram