By SUSAN BUDD
Auckland is in dire need of more and better theatre space and if it doesn't get its act together soon it risks seeing yet more talent go south.
The city's theatre community wants a place of its own - not the confines of a proscenium arch theatre - where it can push the boundaries and make shows with an edge.
There must be space for Polynesian, experimental and multi-cultural plays, comedy and dance, and there hasn't been such a venue since the demise of the Watershed more than three years ago.
Under Simon Prast's stewardship, the Auckland Theatre Company has risen from the ashes of the Mercury to give appreciative audiences well-constructed plays with a glossy finish and high production values.
The Silo provides a starting place for the young and hungry. But what of the second generation who, apprenticeships over, need a larger space than the tiny Silo, which seats only 95?
One project boosting Auckland is the Performing Arts Centre at Western Springs, where Douglas Wright and Shona McCullagh will establish a national dance company. And it will have room for Auckland's many dance companies to perform.
The University of Auckland's conversion of the 74 Shortland St studios will house a flexible space for teaching and community performances, accommodating an audience of 165.
But these are not primarily theatre venues.
Actor and director Nat Lees says he has found it easier to mount productions in Wellington than in Auckland and he is moving south to teach at Toi Whakaari-NZ Drama School.
Anna Marbrook and Christian Penny, who ran Theatre at Large, have also found it easier to work in Wellington since the Watershed closed. They converted an old theatre in Pt Chevalier to produce King Lear two years ago, but it requires a huge amount of energy and upkeep.
"I prefer to work in a flexiform venue because I can present my work in the best space for it," Marbrook says. "I love it, your work is transformed.
"The theatre community needs a venue where theatre work can be performed. It needs vision, a driving force, a person or group who can make it happen."
Carl Bland and Peta Rutter have a grant for a show and they are trying to make a space.
"There are a lot of very frustrated theatre practitioners out there," Bland says. "The Watershed went down and the vacuum has never been filled. The Herald Theatre is an old props storeroom and it is expensive, so it does not fill the void.
"There is a huge amount of talent and nowhere to showcase it. Lots of groups have gone down the tubes or moved to Wellington."
Silo's artistic director, Crawford Thomson, agrees that there is a drift south, but he feels that people return after a show or two. He says there is a great need for a flexiform venue of medium size.
He cites the case of the Unreal Production Company. After three successful productions at Silo, the company mounted a show at the Herald Theatre, but it bombed because of lack of financial support. It is more than a year since Silo's last production.
Christian Penny plans to produce Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the old Masonic Hall, once the New Indpendent Theatre, in Upper Queen St. He believes it could be converted to an excellent 250-seat flexiform, run by artists with vision.
"It is close to the edge of The Edge," he says. "That is the whole kaupapa."
The Watershed proved that there was an audience, but the America's Cup killed it.
"To advance the practice and influence people overseas we need somewhere for cutting-edge work," Penny says. "Current venues are not only too large and expensive, but too restrictive. For new work you do not need all the trimmings, you need somewhere that feels exciting."
Actor Ian Hughes is also determined to establish a flexiform venue in Auckland.
"There is a huge population that wants good theatre," he says. "Auckland is really maturing as a city and can support a number of things at the same time."
He has had great success with touring Toa Fraser's play Bare around New Zealand and it broke box office records at Wellington's Downstage. The Sydney Opera House is enthusiastic and there are also offers from Britain.
"Auckland needs a return season, but where do we go?" he asks.
"The show is about Auckland and must be done here, but we need a space larger than the Silo."
He feels that performing arts must endorse the project and has considered following the lead of Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre, which asked for financial donations throughout the theatre community. He is ready to organise a campaign but needs moral and financial support.
"It will require a lot of sacrifice," Hughes says.
"I need lawyers and accountants - I know the practitioners but not the money."
Hughes has looked to the Auckland City Council. But basic amenities like public transport and sewerage come first, councillor Victoria Carter says. "We have just spent $45 million on the Civic and a huge sum on the Town Hall."
The council cannot afford to build a flexiform theatre, but hope to work with a developer on a project in the central area.
"I believe in partnerships," says Carter, who is enthusiastic about an approach from a group coming to the council with fundraising ideas and sponsorship.
She shares a dream with Simon Prast and Anna Marbrook of building an arts centre on one of the wharves, but acknowledges that the goal is five to 10 years away.
Prast considers that 10 to 15 years is a more realistic time for a building that would be an icon for Auckland, a performing arts centre that would house two or three theatre spaces.
"Where we have petroleum storage," Prast says, "Sydney has an arts complex."
City squeeze sees talent head south
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