The Hannah Playhouse is a theatre venue situated on the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace in central Wellington, New Zealand. The Hannah Playhouse was given by Sheilah Winn and named after her grandfather, Robert Hannah, a very successful businessman. It was carefully designed and built to house Downstage Theatre.
Cambridge Terrace frontage, Courtenay Place to the left
Downstage 25th anniversary
The Hannah Playhouse with the roof lit up in the foreground of this night time aerial shot of Wellington's Courtenay Place.
Sheilah Maureen Winn was a New Zealand arts patron and philanthropist. Having received a large inheritance, she used her money to support her love of the arts and particularly the theatre. Notably, she was the founding donor of the Hannah Playhouse in 1966, co-founder of the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship in 1970, and principal sponsor of the National SGCNZ Sheilah Winn Festivals of Shakespeare in Schools in 1992.
Hannah Playhouse