Pump up the volume

A favourite theatre is staging a dynamic comeback from `a big fat nothing'. Rebecca Lewis reports
After more than 30 years, Takapuna's Pumphouse Theatre seems in limbo. Once the venue for countless North Shore productions, the theatre is now often empty and neglected.
In the late 1960s, a group of local artists saved the old pump house which was used to pump water from Lake Pupuke - from demolition. However, these days, you wouldn't know that anyone once cared so much about it.
Audience numbers have dwindled. Since opening day in 1977, membership has dropped from 5000 to just 96 last year.
Even the swans that saunter around the theatre entrance crane their necks in excitement when a car rolls down the driveway.
But someone is working hard behind the scenes to set up the dated theatre again. Enter Alison Reid, general manager of the Pumphouse.
Since taking on the job in February, she has rebuilt membership numbers to 196 - double that of last year - and has a few plans up her sleeve to generate excitement among people about the theatre.
``The Pumphouse has been plodding along for the last three years, but it wasn't really much of a venue for the local community because there was no one around to champion it,' she says.
``Basically, it was a big fat nothing. But now we've got plans to get people back into the theatre, and to extend that excitement to a younger demographic who think the theatre is quite old-school.'
A revamp of the theatre's reputation will include a scheduled programme list for 2009 - ``so there's no more hit-and-miss theatre', a new advertising campaign and an agreement with other local theatres for productions to tour Auckland once they finish at The Pumphouse.
The Auckland Theatre Company play Ship Songs, which opened last month at The Pumphouse, is now midway through a tour of Auckland venues.
The theatre will also expand its reach onto social networking internet sites like Facebook and YouTube.
``The state of theatre, as it stands now, is that people think it's something for the rich. So you get mostly females, 60 years and older, coming along,' she says.
``We want to bring theatre to the new generation and also show people that it's something you can afford to do more than just once every three months, and that it's a worthwhile experience.
``Some people also won't bother coming over the harbour bridge to see what they want over here, so if our productions can also tour to South or West Auckland it will make life easier for those people.'
Ms Reid says she'd also love to see the theatre refurbished soon but she doesn't want to ``pull a Georgie Pie' and bite off more than she can chew.
``We have the resource consent to spruce the place up but there is no point in doing that until we have strengthened our membership base and audience numbers,' she says.
``There has always been a tremendous amount of support from the local community and they are continuing to be fantastic.
``We are going to get people excited about coming to the theatre again.'
The Pumphouse launch week begins on October 14 with nightly performances by Nathan Haines, Goldenhorse, Anika Moa and Don McGlashan. The week ends with a party and performance on October 18.
HISTORY OF THE PUMPHOUSE 1894 - Two pumphouses were built to supply Lake Pupuke water to most of the North Shore. 1906 - The main pump was capable of pushing 100,000 gallons of water through 7km of pipe in eight hours. 1944 - Both buildings were made redundant when water quality deteriorated and a new supply was sourced from the Waitakere Ranges. 1945 - The houses on the site were neglected, used only as storage space by North Shore Rowing Club and remained out of sight and out of mind for nearly 20 years. 1960s - The borough council decided to demolish the houses to make way for gardens, but the casting vote of former Takapuna Mayor Fred Thomas saved the buildings. 1968-71 - A steering committee of amateur artists was formed and, despite opposition, a North Shore Theatre and Arts Trust was formed to begin raising money and planning restoration. The old chimney, which now sits next to the theatre, was brought up to earthquake standards with steel reinforcements, instead of being demolished. 1977 - The Pumphouse Theatre officially opens and mounts its first production.