Post with Fortune 'fantastic'

Jeff Clark  at the Fortune Theatre yesterday. Photo by Craig Baxter.
Jeff Clark at the Fortune Theatre yesterday. Photo by Craig Baxter.
Jeff Clark has seen plenty of drama over the past month - and he is about to see even more.

Mr Clark has been seconded to the Fortune Theatre as acting marketing and communications manager after the Court Theatre in Christchurch was temporarily closed following the February 22 earthquake.

"I worked with [Fortune artistic director] Lara Macgregor at the Court, and the Fortune didn't have a marketing manager, and Lara knew the quake would disrupt the Court's business, so they asked me to come down.

"I'm still being paid by the Court Theatre while I'm here, so it's worked out fantastic for me," he said yesterday.

It would be some time before Christchurch audiences were enjoying entertaining drama again, Mr Clark (32) said.

"People are still nervous about sitting in the dark for two hours. We're not sure how the public is going to react when we're back.

"We're focusing on finding new facilities and getting the theatre back on its feet. It's going to take hundreds of millions of dollars and years to fix the arts centre."

The loss was also personal for Mr Clark, as he and wife Vanessa were married there. She moved to Dunedin last week with their two children, aged 2 and 7 months.

"We've moved four or five different times in the last few months. We've been staying in Dunedin with friends and at a youth hostel," he said.

"I arrived in Dunedin during the Fringe and got to see a couple of shows as soon as I arrived, so it was a great introduction to the city as a place that's supportive of and enthusiastic about the performing arts."

However, Dunedin had a much smaller population than Christchurch and audience support was vital to sustain professional theatre, he said.

"It's been a tough decade for the Fortune. Dunedin is a much more challenging area than the Court, which is really well supported and has huge security.

"The Court has 1500 subscribers, who come to six or more plays every year. The Fortune didn't have any subscribers, but a subscription offer was introduced this year and the demand has been really encouraging. More than 50 subscribers have already joined the theatre."

Mr Clark will be under secondment at the Fortune for the next seven weeks.

 

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