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Fortune Theatre (New Zealand)
Encyclopedia
New Zealand
's Fortune Theatre is located on the corner of Moray Place
and Upper Stuart Street, in the heart of the southern city of Dunedin
. The theatre lays claim to being the world's southernmost professional theatre company and is the sole professional theatre group in Dunedin. The Fortune Theatre building is registered as a category I historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust
, which recognises its historic and architectural significance.
The theatre is a repertory theatre, and is a regular host of both local and touring shows. It also contains the entrance to a World War II
underground bunker.
Financial difficulties in 2000 threatened the theatre with closure, and forced the sale of the building to the Dunedin City Council. The council currently leases the building back to the Fortune Theatre Trust.
building of the Octagon. However, after hiring full-time acting staff in 1977, it was decided that the venue was too small to continue to be viable. Since 1978, the Fortune Theatre has been located in the former Trinity Methodist Church which was opened in 1870 and is close to the city's centre (The Octagon
).
R. A. Lawson and made out of the local materials trachyandesite and Oamaru
stone. The former church is an example of Gothic Revival architecture
and contains a "Rose" stained glass
window which is located at the back of what is now the theatre's main stage.
It also offers education workshops which are "show-specific". The workshops are designed to link to a range of subjects in the New Zealand Curriculum, including NCEA
achievement standards in subjects such as Drama at NCEA levels 1-3.
In addition, the Fortune Theatre hosts a drama ambassador programme to engage students with the theatre by offering opportunities to attend rehearsals as well as complimentary tickets to the shows with the condition recipients review each production. This programme began in 2005 with 19 schools in the Otago
and Southland Region
areas of New Zealand. Each school can nominate one or two students per term to be their "Drama Ambassador".
's family, titled "Larnach - Castle of Lies", before 100 invited guests in the ballroom of Larnach Castle
.
The Ghost Hunt investigation team visited the theatre and were shown a picture that is claimed to show the ghost of a young woman gliding through a wall of the foyer
, below a Gothic window. During the investigation team's visit, they were also able to talk to people who had worked at the theatre and claim to have had paranormal
experiences in the building:
A lighting technician
claimed that he was all alone setting up on stage one day when he "glimpsed a person" over his shoulder on the edge of the stage and thought that "they were reading through some lines, as an actor would" but knew no cast members were around at the time. He turned the stage lights on and "suddenly they were gone".
A man who ran the box office claimed to have had two "disconcerting" experiences. The first experience involved a "young boy sitting in the corner". He initially "thought nothing of it" but the "realisation struck" him that the theatre was closed. He "turned back around, but he'd disappeared." The second experience involved a girl he claims he noticed when he "looked up to the back corner of the audience seating, near where the soundman usually sits" after he heard "a strange noise in the theatre" on one occasion.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's Fortune Theatre is located on the corner of Moray Place
Moray Place, Dunedin
Moray Place is an octagonal street which surrounds the city centre of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. The street is intersected by Stuart Street , Princes Street and George Street...
and Upper Stuart Street, in the heart of the southern city of Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
. The theatre lays claim to being the world's southernmost professional theatre company and is the sole professional theatre group in Dunedin. The Fortune Theatre building is registered as a category I historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...
, which recognises its historic and architectural significance.
The theatre is a repertory theatre, and is a regular host of both local and touring shows. It also contains the entrance to a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
underground bunker.
Financial difficulties in 2000 threatened the theatre with closure, and forced the sale of the building to the Dunedin City Council. The council currently leases the building back to the Fortune Theatre Trust.
Early years
The Fortune Theatre company was co-founded by David Carnegie, Alex Gilchrist, Murray Hutchinson and Huntly Elliot. The company has been operational since 1973 and from 1974, was initially located in the 105-seat Otago Cine Club theatrette at the rear of the AthenaeumAthenaeum
-Educational institutions, museums, libraries:* Melbourne Athenaeum, Melbourne, Australia* Limerick Athenaeum, Limerick, Ireland* Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest, Romania* Warminster Athenaeum, a theatre in Warminster, Wiltshire, UK* Glasgow Athenaeum, Glasgow, UK...
building of the Octagon. However, after hiring full-time acting staff in 1977, it was decided that the venue was too small to continue to be viable. Since 1978, the Fortune Theatre has been located in the former Trinity Methodist Church which was opened in 1870 and is close to the city's centre (The Octagon
The Octagon, Dunedin
The Octagon is the city centre of Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand.-Features:The Octagon is an eight sided plaza bisected by the city's main street, which is called George Street to the northeast and Princes Street to the southwest...
).
Church architecture
The Trinity Methodist Church was designed by ScotsmanScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
R. A. Lawson and made out of the local materials trachyandesite and Oamaru
Oamaru
Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...
stone. The former church is an example of Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
and contains a "Rose" stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window which is located at the back of what is now the theatre's main stage.
Education
The Fortune Theatre provides a range of options for schools such as tours around the theatre, and opportunites to talk to the cast and crew of a production.It also offers education workshops which are "show-specific". The workshops are designed to link to a range of subjects in the New Zealand Curriculum, including NCEA
National Certificate of Educational Achievement
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement is, since 2004, the official secondary school qualification in New Zealand.It has three levels, corresponding to the levels within the National Qualifications Framework, and these are generally studied in each of the three final years of...
achievement standards in subjects such as Drama at NCEA levels 1-3.
In addition, the Fortune Theatre hosts a drama ambassador programme to engage students with the theatre by offering opportunities to attend rehearsals as well as complimentary tickets to the shows with the condition recipients review each production. This programme began in 2005 with 19 schools in the Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
and Southland Region
Southland Region
Southland is New Zealand's southernmost region and is also a district within that region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura...
areas of New Zealand. Each school can nominate one or two students per term to be their "Drama Ambassador".
Larnach - Castle of Lies
In 1994, the Fortune Theatre performed a play about the tragedies of William LarnachWilliam Larnach
William James Mudie Larnach was a New Zealand businessman and politician. He is known for building Larnach Castle and for his suicide.- Early career :Larnach was born in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, Australia...
's family, titled "Larnach - Castle of Lies", before 100 invited guests in the ballroom of Larnach Castle
Larnach Castle
Larnach Castle , is an imposing mansion on the ridge of the Otago Peninsula within the limits of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, close to the small settlement of Pukehiki...
.
"It was a night to remember. As the guests arrived a terrible storm blew up from nowhere. The smoke from the fires blew back down the chimneys so that you couldn't see - and your eyes hurt. Hail crashed on the iron roof so that you couldn't hear. Doors mysteriously opened by themselves and it got very cold. In the play - just as Larnach shot himself there was a blinding white light. Afterwards at supper people were talking about the lightning strike as Larnach held the gun to his head. I said `Oh no that was stage effects.' We asked the stage manager. He said `It was none of our doing, it was lightning.' I think that Larnach was present that night. He didn't like the play."
- -- Margeret Barker (Co-owner of Larnch Castle)
Ghost Hunt
In 2005, the theatre was featured on Ghost Hunt, a New Zealand TV Show, as it is claimed that the theatre is haunted. Not long after the Fortune Theatre moved into the old church, tales spread of "sinister voices" being heard offstage and well-secured lights falling from the lighting grid. A phantom audience member has also been reported by theatregoers on numerous occasions. Reports continued to come from a variety of reliable sources until the claimed hauntings of the Fortune Theatre became a part of Dunedin folklore.The Ghost Hunt investigation team visited the theatre and were shown a picture that is claimed to show the ghost of a young woman gliding through a wall of the foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
, below a Gothic window. During the investigation team's visit, they were also able to talk to people who had worked at the theatre and claim to have had paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
experiences in the building:
A lighting technician
Lighting technician
Lighting technicians are involved with rigging and controlling electric lights for art and entertainment venues or in video, television, or film production. In a theater production, lighting technicians work under the lighting designer and master electrician...
claimed that he was all alone setting up on stage one day when he "glimpsed a person" over his shoulder on the edge of the stage and thought that "they were reading through some lines, as an actor would" but knew no cast members were around at the time. He turned the stage lights on and "suddenly they were gone".
A man who ran the box office claimed to have had two "disconcerting" experiences. The first experience involved a "young boy sitting in the corner". He initially "thought nothing of it" but the "realisation struck" him that the theatre was closed. He "turned back around, but he'd disappeared." The second experience involved a girl he claims he noticed when he "looked up to the back corner of the audience seating, near where the soundman usually sits" after he heard "a strange noise in the theatre" on one occasion.