A Dunedin theatre network pushing for refurbishment of three venues is to explore how this might help rejuvenate professional theatre in the city.
A workshop will be held this month as the network continues its quest to build support for proposed upgrades of the Playhouse Theatre, Mayfair Theatre, and Athenaeum and Mechanics’ Institute.
Dunedin Repertory Society president and Dunedin Theatre Network member Jemma Adams said there would be more detail about what each venue could look like, including conceptual drawings, by Christmas.
It was envisaged upgraded facilities could bring benefits that extend beyond amateur theatre.
Objectives of a meeting scheduled for October 27 were to share with the professional theatre community more detail about what the three venues could look like and to receive feedback on options, Mrs Adams said.
The three venues are in heritage buildings and a joint proposal to redevelop them emerged this year.
Implementing a collaborative concept could save the three heritage buildings.
The network proposed using the $17.1 million the Dunedin City Council set aside for development of a performing arts venue in its 2021-31 long-term plan.
It was hoped the council would chip in as a cornerstone investor in the network’s alternative three-theatre proposal.
Discussions about how theatre space might best be developed in Dunedin had been occurring since the professional Fortune Theatre company closed in 2018.
Stage South was formed to advance the interests of professional theatre in the South after the closure.
The theatre network is expected to engage with Stage South in the coming weeks.
Professional theatre was in need of investment and rejuvenation since the Fortune’s closure and the Covid-19 pandemic, Mrs Adams said.
"We are reaching out to the city’s career theatre practitioners to understand how our venues may be able to assist with that."
Mrs Adams said the network’s proposal was community-led and there had been strong support for existing "wonderful treasures of performing arts venues" in the city.
She anticipated obtaining a full set of designs for the three venues and refined costings could proceed next year, subject to funding.
