Feedback sought on Taranaki’s King’s Theatre category 1 historic place potential listing

Heritage New Zealand is looking to list Stratford’s King’s Theatre as a category 1 historic place.

She’s the “old lady of Stratford” and now Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is looking to list “her” as a category 1 historic place.

She - The King’s Theatre - holds a unique place in movie history, as the first place “talkie” movies were played in Australasia.

That event, the first time a movie incorporating sound and images was played in a movie theatre for an audience in Australia or New Zealand, was in January 1925, and since then the theatre has been the leading lady of Stratford’s entertainment scene.

Nearly 100 years after that historic event, the theatre is being assessed as a possible new addition to the New Zealand Heritage List / Rārangi Kōrero - the national inventory that identifies and provides information on Aotearoa New Zealand’s important heritage places.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga senior heritage adviser Blyss Wagstaff, who wrote a listing report for the theatre, says a category 1 historic place listing would identify the theatre building as being a place of “outstanding national heritage significance” under the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga act.

“Stratford’s King’s Theatre is already well-known to most people in Taranaki, and also enjoys protection as a scheduled item on the district plan. Listing under the Heritage New Zealand act is more about formally identifying the heritage value of historic places. The theatre has outstanding national heritage and cultural significance, and we think it’s about time the importance of this building is celebrated and acknowledged appropriately with a heritage status that reflects its national prominence.”

Blyss says the theatre is well-loved by the community.

“The King’s Theatre is a vital and beloved part of Stratford’s cultural life, used today for both film screenings and live performance. Saved and restored by the Stratford District Theatre Trust in the early 1990s, it has provided a venue for a vibrant programme of films, theatre and music in its current form for just over 30 years and an additional 70 years of entertainment before that.”

Heritage New Zealand’s report on the theatre, says it is an early example of a “provincial picture palace” complete with its Greek-revival decorative facade, and original elements that still survive.

In recent years a team of volunteers, led by Tony (Baz) Gordon and Patsy Commerford, have spent hundreds of hours restoring and refurbishing the theatre. Recent refurbishments, funded by Taranaki Electricity Trust, have included a new sound system, new screen and hoist system, new acoustic curtains, and a new carpet. The volunteers did much of the work themselves, a team spending two weeks painting the theatre, to save money.

The theatre is also staffed by volunteers who work as ushers and projectionists, ensuring the theatre can keep running for all to enjoy.

As Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga considers the theatre as being a potential category 1 historic place, it is keen to hear feedback from the community. That consultation process is important as it helps demonstrate what a place means to people, says Blyss.

“We’d love to hear feedback from the community on the listing proposal as well as people’s thoughts about the theatre itself.”

• People can submit on the listing proposal by mail, email or online. Details, and the full listing report, are available online: www.heritage.org.nz/places/nominate-and-submit. Submissions close on Monday, November 13.