Like Brighton to the West End, two drama enthusiasts are convinced that a decrepit Hamilton building can become a breeding ground for New Zealand performance art, writes SUSAN BUDD.
Soft-drink factory, roller-disco rink, used-car yard and rave venue. The Meteor building, a landmark in downtown Hamilton has had a rugged history that has seen more than its share of abuse.
But the latest tenants display only a sense of respect. Theatre practitioners Cristian Pilditch and James Beaumont see more than a building - they see the city transformed by live and local theatre.
"It has so much charisma and attractive history," says Pilditch. "Brisbane's Powerhouse Theatre is an old factory turned into a theatre for several million dollars. It is incredibly funky to take an old building and convert it." Industrial chic is hot now.
Built in 1954 by C.L Innes & Co, the Meteor's latest role will be to serve as the home of the city's newest professional theatre company, Te Awa Theatre (Te Awa means river). The opening show on Wednesday will be Tim Balme's one-man play, The Ballad of Jimmy Costello.
Pilditch has worked as a music director, composer and theatre artist in New Zealand and Japan and has just completed a score for Rutherford, playing at Wellington's Circa Theatre for the New Zealand Festival 2000.
Beaumont, lecturer at the University of Waikato's Academy of Performing Arts, has won renown as a playwright and director. Both have put their own creative lives on hold in order to plan, strategise and programme for Te Awa.
It began for the founders in 1998 when Pilditch mounted the first FUEL Festival of New Zealand Theatre.
"When I arrived in Hamilton in 1998, I said to Cristian: 'Does Hamilton know what they have got with this theatre space?'" says Beaumont. "It was the genesis. The most difficult part is that we have been champing at the bit to get it going, but negotiating with Hamilton City Council and the Millennium Committee has been beneficial in that it has made us think carefully."
Although they hope eventually to produce their own shows, a small operational budget means they must running the Meteor as a venue.
They reason that Hamilton is ideally placed as a touring venue and also as a new place for shows to come and try out their productions before moving on to Wellington or Auckland.
"It is a niche thing for Hamilton," says Pilditch. "It is like Toronto to New York or Brighton to London - you can attract new shows and take them for a spin."
They both believe that local audiences are keen and hungry, demonstrated by the fact that shows they produced under their own name last year sold out.
"It is an honest, realistic, mainstream audience, which is good for a touring show," says Pilditch.
"They give a warm and honest response because they are there to see the show. They audience here is not yet developed or indoctrinated so we can develop our own sort of theatre, engendering a new kind of approach.
"What you feed an audience becomes their diet. A lot of the other theatres carry a lot of baggage, but if we are careful we can offer something that is more contemporary."
Beaumont agrees. "We are doing it on the smell of an oily rag," he says, "but in the provinces producing a Stoppard or the latest European or British hit will not go down so well. Generally those plays are done by amateur societies. I find it amusing that the major companies are doing overseas plays - it is a dying European sensibility.
"In the provinces, ironically, they like the sound of their own voices and the reflection of their own values. They are more in touch with their own country's identity."
Their ambition is to create a national theatre that promotes new New Zealand work. Their belief is that Hamiltonians would rather see shows in their own city than fight Auckland's traffic and parking problems for a good night out. They may be right.
* The Ballad of Jimmy Costello, with Tim Balme, from Wednesday at Te Awa Theatre, Meteor bulding, Victoria St, Hamilton.
Funky theatre duo want to feed hungry audience
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