The Stage Challenge Foundation was dealt a major blow this morning, when thieves stole close to $150,000 worth of equipment from the company's tour van.
Professional film cameras, lap tops, radios and lighting equipment were taken from the van, which had been parked in a downtown Wellington carpark
since late on Saturday night.
Event manager Laura Staples said it was a major setback for the team, who are due in Palmerston North tomorrow for the Stage Challenge regional finals.
"We've got an event in Palmerston North tomorrow, which has a thousand students partaking in it, and at the moment we're stranded in Wellington and can't go anywhere."
The equipment has little use to those outside of the theatre industry and would be difficult to resell, said Ms Staples.
The van was parked under the TSB Arena, at the recommendation of local hotel staff.
"We thought [the carpark] was locked at night and had security cameras but apparently it had neither," said Ms Staples.
"We'd love to get the gear back but we're realists. Considering the police haven't even called us back yet, we're resigned to the fact that we need to take this as a setback and move forward."
Tomorrow's show will go ahead as planned, thanks to the efforts of the Regent on Broadway theatre, who have promised to supply the necessary equipment.
"But we've still got a month and a half of touring after that and no equipment to do it with," said Ms Staples.
Stage Challenge is a charitable foundation that relies on funding and sponsorship to produce its annual nation-wide tour.
More than 17,000 students from 180 schools competed in Stage Challenge events last year.
Each event is filmed and the highlights broadcast in a series of TV2 specials, due to screen later this year.
