{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Short description|New Zealand actor, theatre director and academic}}{{Infobox academic | image = Hilary Halba.jpg | alt = | caption = Halba in 2019 | occupation = {{Hlist|Actor|theatre director|academic}} | education = DipTchg, MA | alma_mater = University of Otago | discipline = Performing arts | workplaces = University of Otago | doctoral_students = Abby Howells<ref>{{Cite Q|Q125907741}}</ref> }}
'''Hilary May Halba''' (born {{circa|1962}}) is a New Zealand actor, theatre director and academic.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hilary Halba|url=https://courttheatre.org.nz/ourpeople/hilary-halba|access-date=10 July 2021|website=The Court Theatre|language=en}}</ref> She is the head of the performing arts programme at the University of Otago.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=School of Performing Arts|title=Hilary Halba|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/performing-arts/staff/otago629380.html|access-date=10 July 2021|website=www.otago.ac.nz|language=en-nz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=4 February 2016|title=Hilary Halba|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/upbeat/audio/201788081/hilary-halba|access-date=10 July 2021|website=RNZ |language=en-nz}}</ref>
== Biography == Halba was born in Milton and attended Tokomairiro High School before studying at the University of Otago.
Halba studied acting and the teaching of acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York City, and is an accredited teacher of the Meisner Technique. She was a founding member of theatre collectives Kilimogo Productions and Wow! Productions Trust.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Marc|first=Maufort|url=|title=Performing aotearoa New Zealand theatre and drama in an age of transition|year=2007|isbn=978-90-5201-359-6|oclc=230201315}}</ref>
In 2010 she collaborated with Stuart Young to research and create a verbatim theatre production telling stories of domestic violence.<ref name=":1" />
In 2025, she co-edited the book ''Acting in Aotearoa'' with David O'Donnell.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-07 |title=Book puts spotlight on NZ actors |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/the-star/book-puts-spotlight-nz-actors |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=Otago Daily Times Online News |language=en}}</ref>
=== Recognition === Halba won Best Female Performer in the 2012 Dunedin Theatre Awards, and was named Dunedin's best actor of 2003 by the ''New Zealand Listener.''<ref name=":0" />
== Theatre and television work ==
=== Theatre === {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Title !Author !Role !Notes |- |2011 |''Hush'' | |Researcher and performer |<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=3 February 2011|title=Audiences hushed by true stories of daily violence in NZ|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/culture/arts/4614834/Audiences-hushed-by-true-stories-of-daily-violence-in-NZ|access-date=10 July 2021|website=Stuff|language=en}}</ref> |- |2010 |''Skin Tight'' |Gary Henderson |Director |<ref name=":0" /> |- |2010 |''Mo and Jess Kill Susie'' |Gary Henderson |Actor |<ref name=":0" /> |- |1999 |''Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater'' |Apirana Taylor |Producer (Kilimogo Productions) |<ref>{{Cite book|last=Looser|first=Diana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31gEEAAAQBAJ&dq=whaea+kairau+(apirana+taylor)+kilimogo&pg=PA132|title=Remaking Pacific Pasts: History, Memory, and Identity in Contemporary Theater from Oceania|date=31 October 2014|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-4775-3|language=en}}</ref> |- |1997 |''Ngā Tāngata Toa'' |Hone Kouka |Co-director (with Rangimoana Taylor) |<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stanislavsky in Aotearoa: The System Experienced through the Māori World|url=http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/doall/search-results|access-date=10 July 2021|website=Drama Online|language=en}}</ref> |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1987 |''The Marching Girls'' |Michelle |<ref>{{Cite web|last=Screen|first=NZ On|title=Credits {{!}} The Marching Girls {{!}} Series {{!}} Television {{!}} NZ On Screen|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-marching-girls-1987/series/credits|access-date=10 July 2021|website=www.nzonscreen.com|language=en}}</ref> |}
=== Film === {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1994 |''The Last Tattoo'' |Committee Woman | |}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|id=nm1929991}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halba, Hilary}} Category:Living people Category:Academic staff of the University of Otago Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:1960s births Category:New Zealand theatre directors Category:New Zealand women theatre directors Category:New Zealand women academics Category:Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Category:People from Milton, New Zealand Category:Actors from Otago Category:People educated at Tokomairiro High School