City 'desperately needs St James Theatre'

David Inns and Victoria Carter check out the St James Theatre foyer. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Auckland Arts Festival executives say the city desperately needs a mid-size theatre - and a restored St James will fit the bill.

Victoria Carter, chairwoman of the Auckland Arts Festival board, said the theatre was part of the artistic hub of the city and was too versatile to lose.

"Auckland is desperately short of an 800-seat theatre and the St James offers us so many options."

The Queen St theatre has been closed since a fire in 2007.

It was used when the festival was relaunched in 2003, catering for everything from children's shows to theatre performances.

The venue was heavily used, with three shows throughout the day and a matinee and evening performance to audiences of between 100 and 800 people.

"It fits smaller and mid-size shows and it's so close to the festival hub in Aotea Square."

Mrs Carter said she would have loved to use the venue for the next festival in 2011 but it had not been possible.

Mrs Carter and David Inns, the Auckland Arts Festival chief executive, are backing a Herald campaign to save the St James.

Mr Inns said the city could miss out on class performers if it did not have a venue to cater for them.

For example, Sir Ian McKellan had not performed in Auckland this year because his promoter did not believe the city had an appropriate theatre to host the spoken word.

Other theatres in the city were considered too big.

But the St James "would open up a whole new range of opportunities for audience experience.

"Currently we have shows that we don't consider because we can't cater for them," he said.