Laurie Mills has a King’s Service Medal for services to theatre, and a farce opening on 12 September
Laurie Mills last directed a play at Howick Little Theatre in 2022, The Maltese Falcon. On 12 September he opens The Cottage, his first production since a King’s Service Medal recognised the 22 shows that came before.
The medal came in the 2026 New Year Honours. His citation records volunteering as “mentor, creative director, actor, production co-ordinator and front of house worker”.
He was president of the theatre’s management committee in 2000, when the theatre says he led it through critical business changes, and again in 2023, when he ran the public campaign to fund a new roof. The campaign has since drawn $20,000 from the Howick Local Board and $80,000 from Lottery Community Facilities.
Howick Little Theatre made Mills a life member in 1997. Pakuranga Rotary Club gave him a community service award in 2004 and the Howick Local Board a volunteer recognition award in 2019.
Mills directed his first show for the Howick Children’s and Youth Theatre in 1986 and has since directed 14 more. He is its patron and currently its treasurer.
The Cottage, by the American writer Sandy Rustin, is a comedy the theatre bills as “secrets, mischief, and absolute chaos”.
Sylvia arrives at an English cottage to confront her lover, the theatre’s own description says, determined that the pair come clean to their unsuspecting spouses. One revelation leads to another, and “soon skeletons tumble out faster than anyone can hide them”.
It ran on Broadway at the Hayes Theater in 2023, directed by Jason Alexander.
The Cottage follows Bloomsday, the Dublin romance the company staged until 1 August.
Mills joined Howick Little Theatre in 1976. The Cottage opens 50 years on.
The Cottage, Howick Little Theatre, 12 September to 3 October at 8pm, with 2pm matinees on 13 and 20 September. Tickets $19 to $33 from iTicket. Adult themes, recommended for ages 16 and over.
