Support The Court - The Press joins campaign for beloved city institution

Saturday, 1 February 2025

The Court Theatre needs your help to raise $500,000 before it opens in May.

In three months’ time The Court Theatre will return to the central city - more than 14 years after the Canterbury earthquakes - and today The Press is announcing its Support The Court campaign to help this much-loved institution reach its final fundraising goal.

As The Court works to raise the last $500,000 of a $12 million target, The Press is encouraging readers to contribute to this new chapter ahead of the company moving into a state-of-the-art central city building.

Do you have a Court Theatre story to share? Email reporters@press.co.nz

Over the next few weeks we will chart the past, present and future of The Court Theatre in a series of articles, starting with Philip Matthews’ fascinating history of the company. You can donate online, at courttheatre.org.nz/court-in-the-city.

A purpose-built home in the central city has been a “long-held dream” for The Court, the company’s executive director Gretchen La Roche says.

With its new auditorium seats - finished in deep red wool - awaiting the first audience members on the opening night of May 3, the new Court Theatre building, on the corner of Colombo and Gloucester streets will be an anchor point of the city council’s performing arts precinct, together with the Isaac Theatre Royal and The Piano: Centre for Music and the Arts.

It is anticipated its return to central Christchurch will bring life to otherwise quiet nights, while research has found that supporting the arts makes business sense - with $3.20 returned in benefits to the community for every $1 spent on live performance, according to a study by the University of Canterbury and Massey University.

The Press has partnered with The Court Theatre to help get the Christchurch institution's final fundraising push over the line ahead of its opening in May. Executive director Gretchen La Roche is pictured inside the main auditorium, with the theatre's project manager and former artistic director, Ross Gumbley..

The council-run construction project has a current budget of $61.4m - up from $57m last year - which includes a $3m Crown contribution, and $7m from The Court’s fundraising.

The Court will sign a long-term lease on the building, which will remain a city asset.

La Roche and Gumbley take a look inside the new Court Theatre, which will have two theatre spaces, a bar and cafe and a variety of spaces for hire.

Of The Court’s $12m contribution, about half will go towards bricks and mortar, with the remainder funding the fit-out of the theatre, including everything from lighting and sound to staging curtains, workshop materials, seating in the foyer and the bar.

Founded in 1971, The Court Theatre was forced to leave its Arts Centre home after the Christchurch earthquakes, finding temporary refuge in its Addington base, The Shed.

However, a purpose-built home was a “long-held dream” even prior to the earthquakes, executive director Gretchen La Roche said, and New Zealand’s largest theatre company has worked for the past five years to create a new central city building already being described as “the best theatre space in Aotearoa”.

The Court Theatre is in the last stages of construction and needs to raise the final $500,000 to meet its $12 million target.

Recent Massey University research has found “that in the performing arts, for instance, every dollar [put] in returns a greater amount just in excess of $3”.

The Court relocating back to the central city was a “significant win for Christchurch businesses” said Leeann Watson, chief executive of Business Canterbury.

An artist's impression of the completed Court Theatre foyer.

“This central location will draw more foot traffic to an area rich with hospitality, retail, and entertainment offerings, creating a positive ripple effect for surrounding businesses and further leveraging what our incredible CBD has to offer.”

One local business set to benefit from that ripple is Francesca’s Italian Kitchen on Gloucester St.

Owner Ben Patton bought the restaurant in October 2019, and is looking forward to The Court’s arrival.

Offering a pre-theatre dinner is already “part and parcel of being next to the Isaac Theatre,” Patton said - together with regular visits from those attending shows at the Town Hall and The Piano - but he plans to find new ways to serve the Court Theatre audience, including a potential post-show service after earlier performances.

The Court’s extensive programme could liven up traditionally quieter nights, he said.

“It sounds like even a Tuesday night could be a busy one for us, where it’s usually Thursday, Friday, Saturday.”

The promise of a thriving hospitality area seemed to be coming to fruition, Patton added.

The atmosphere on nearby New Regent St was now “awesome”, he said. “Even without The Court Theatre, it was really starting to take hold. So I think with the Court Theatre, it’s really just going to solidify.”

Gumbley, left, and actor and Court Theatre regular Mark Hadlow pictured last year inside the building site.

Supporting local businesses, helping the city define its identity and fuelling more local, national and international tourism were all plus points of the theatre arriving back in the city, La Roche said, but she was also looking forward to “a wider social benefit”.

“The arts are very good at giving voice to people that otherwise may feel disconnected.”

The journey to 748 Colombo St had a been long one, said the company’s former artistic director Ross Gumbley, now the artistic lead for the new theatre.

Gumbley was “beyond excited” about welcoming the people of Christchurch and further afield to the “21st century theatre”.

“The opening of this theatre at the beginning of May will be a journey that started on the 22nd of February, 2011,” he added.

Designed by award-winning London-based theatre architects Haworth Tompkins, who partnered with NZ firm Athfield Architects, the theatre’s main auditorium - The Stewart Family Theatre - would offer “more flexibility than we’ve ever had”, Gumbley said.

The new Court Theatre, as viewed from its neighbouring institution, Tūranga library.

The smaller Front Room will be a permanent home to the late-night comedy of Scared Scriptless, and host children’s shows together with boundary-pushing performances catering for more niche audiences.

The 2000 project meetings he had attended were worth the effort, Gumbley said, and after a 40-year association with The Court he wanted to leave “younger practitioners and the audiences - who have been so loyal to The Court for so long - the best possible theatre experience”.

Gumbley had enjoyed a front row seat to the decades of community support from which The Court had prospered.

“We’ve been so fortunate that audiences over the years have really shown their love and gratitude for The Court. So that when the quakes came along, people were sending us money to get back on our feet before we even had a plan.”

As The Court’s successful tenure in The Shed comes to an end, the theatre company is now moving into its “forever home”, he added.

With The Press backing The Court for the final push, Gumbley called on its loyal audience to be part of an extraordinary legacy.

“We are asking the people of Christchurch that, if they love and value those experiences they’ve had, to help us carry on and do that and provide those experiences for them, for the next generation, and for the generations to come.

“Over and above, this is an asset which the city can be rightly proud of, going into the future.”

You can Support The Court today by going to ‘courttheatre.org.nz/court-in-the-city’.