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Years after falling in love with the Isaac Theatre Royal and helping to bring it back to life after the 2011 earthquake, Sir Ian McKellen has returned to the Christchurch playhouse.
The 87-year-old English actor and theatre legend visited the theatre stage, which he helped rebuild, on Friday to check out the Gloucester St building’s post-quake restoration for the very first time.
McKellen, who played Gandalf in Sir Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films, also spent about three hours at the Etta Restaurant and Bar in Christchurch on Friday night after his flight was cancelled.
He spoke at the Isaac Theatre Royal about Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, the production that first brought him to Christchurch in 2010 — followed by two monologues, The Stranger's Case from Sir Thomas More and The Revels Speech from The Tempest.
He performed in front of an invited audience made up of students, staff, board members, sponsors and donors, local artists and performers, trust and foundation members, Christchurch City Council representatives and local mana whenua.
During his visit, McKellen was formally recognised as a Patron of the Isaac Theatre Royal — which acknowledges his extraordinary and enduring
commitment to the theatre and to the performing arts in Ōtautahi Christchurch.
McKellen was presented with a Pikorua — a twist pounamu, a greenstone taonga, on behalf of theatre staff, some of whom had worn the stone prior to it being gifted to McKellen.
The Pikorua twis represents the bond between peoples and cultures, traditionally given as an offering of friendship, a deeply fitting choice to honour the enduring connection between McKellen and the people of Ōtautahi Christchurch.
The pounamu was blessed by mana whenua, who also led a mihi whakatau to welcome McKellen to the restored theatre.
Said McKellen: "It is magnificent. It's one of the great theatres of the world, really, and very, very special for the city — a symbol of survival for what was, and for looking forward to what can be.
"Theatres should be radical places where ideas are thrown at you, and it's lovely to be a little part of helping save it."
Christchurch City Council made McKellen an honorary citizen of Christchurch, recognising his outstanding contribution to the cultural life of the city and his exceptional service to the Isaac Theatre Royal. The honour was presented by acting Christchurch Mayor Victoria Henstock.
Said Isaac Theatre Royal chief executive Greg Ward: "Sir Ian McKellen has given this theatre more than most people will ever know — from performing here in 2010, to the tour that helped fund our rebuild after the earthquakes.
"Naming him a Patron of the Isaac Theatre Royal, in person, during a visit he initiated himself simply because he wanted to come home, was one of the proudest moments in this theatre's history."
Long friendship with the city
McKellen first visited the Isaac Theatre Royal on July 13, 2010, during the Australasian tour of Waiting for Godot. He described it as "a place of absolute delight" and spent the evening exploring the theatre from backstage to front-of-house, savouring its history.
At the farewell party in the dress circle foyer on the final night, he promised those gathered that he would return. Upon this 2026 visit, he was pleased to learn that the remaining
Godot set pieces remain backstage and were one of the few parts of the theatre that were undamaged post-quake.
When the February 22, 2011, earthquake struck, the Isaac Theatre Royal sustained devastating damage.
McKellen visited the damaged building, walking through it in a hard hat and hi-vis, escorted by then-CEO Neil Cox and was deeply moved by what he saw. He announced his own fundraising contribution: a national tour of his one-man show
Shakespeare, Tolkien and You, performed across 15 dates throughout New Zealand in June and July 2012 during breaks from filming The Hobbit.
The tour attracted full houses, raised more than $350,000 for the rebuild and generated international media attention for the campaign. One of the Theatre's Royal Boxes was permanently named the ‘Sir Ian McKellen (Shakespeare) Box’ in his honour.
"There's something about the spirit of this theatre. It won't die,” McKellen said in a television interview at the time.
Name a seat gift
The Isaac Theatre Royal gifted McKellen a Name a Seat dedication within the venue as part of the theatre's donor recognition programme.
Name a Seat offers individuals and organisations the opportunity to have their name associated with a seat in one of New Zealand's most iconic performing arts venues.
McKellen’s has two named seats in the venue, both of which have seats available beside and nearby — for corporate or private sponsorship.
-Allied Media