National Performing Arts Troupe and Raun Raun Theatre
National Performing Arts Troupe and Raun Raun Theatre
The National Performing Arts Troupe is based at the Raun Raun Theatre in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province.
The National Performing Arts Troupe (NPAT) is a working theatre-and-performance company, cultural-training body, and national platform for PNG music, dance, and drama; Its official remit is to use performance to communicate social and cultural change, develop young practitioners, collaborate with provincial theatre groups, cultivate traditional repertoires, and present PNG arts locally and abroad.
The famous Raun Raun Theater, known today as the National Performing Art Troupe, was established in March, 1975. It first started as small dance and drama theater called Raun Haus, initially developed by Greg Murphy, a former Australian solider who retired and became an academic teaching at Goroka Teachers College (now the University of Goroka).
NPAT has performed across PNG in Lae and Port Moresby and in most of the 22 Provinces and internationally in Edinburgh, Munich, Sydney and Adelaide.
The Raun Raun theatre building itself was designed by architect Paul Frame and officially opened in 1982. Its distinctive thatched or kunai-grass roof and open, circular form combine vernacular highlands architecture and materials with a modern theatre design.
The Director is John Doa.