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Welcome to our first Court Cues in 2023,
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A message from Barbara George
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Kia ora Friends of The Court Theatre and a very big welcome to you as we begin our new Ryman Healthcare 2023 Season of exceptional plays by talented artists and artisans. If you haven’t gotten along to Sense and Sensibility yet, please do. It is a most enjoyable production by playwright Penny Ashton – her mother Judy served on the Committee for years.
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This year our new home in the City is really starting to take shape. Hawkins the builders are on site and the hoardings are in the process of being replaced. Five years ago when we started on
these, the latest plans to build The Court in the City, we had no idea how this journey would unfold. Of course we thought it was a matter of process and it would all go swimmingly.
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Since then we’ve had covid and world events that have put pressure on labour, supply chains, prices, availability,
imports, business sustainability and the employment market. Hats off to our partners in this venture, Christchurch City Council, who thankfully come up with solutions to what sometimes look like almost insurmountable problems. We have therefore every confidence that this building will live up to our dreams and aspirations.
You will also know that we have been quietly fundraising for the last couple of years and we are pleased to say its all going very well. I know many of you have been waiting to see how you can be involved. All will be revealed over the next month or so. The best things are of course, worth waiting for.
The Team at The Court have all been back hard at work for the last six weeks or so, getting everything ready for you to enjoy your visits to the Shed in Addington. We hope we will see you again soon, and often.
Ka kite anō
Barbara George,
Tumu Whakarae Chief Executive
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Penny Ashton - a Mum’s perspective
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We should have known that someone special was part of our lives as soon as our daughter started ‘performing’ from a very early age!! From four years old when she started ballet lessons she was in her element!! She and her sister put on ‘shows’ for us on a regular basis and from then through to when she went overseas it was a run of recitals, competitions, school and university productions. (Many a costume produced by Mum !!)
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After graduating from Canterbury University with a BA (majoring in Drama and Classics), she spent the next two & a half years in England and travelling through Europe. On her return she realised she didn’t need formal training to be a full-time performer and has been plying her trade globally ever since.
She wrote the first of her one-woman shows “Promise and Promiscuity” which she successfully toured extensively (returning to Chch in July), followed by “Olive Copperbottom” again to great acclaim. It has been a fun ride watching her developing her unique characters.
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Lara Macgregor - 'A director's Dilemma'
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The post-Covid theatre climate seems very similar to the post-depression era in terms of the need to escape into some form of joyous musical distraction. I’ve found this most apparent, not
because I have been going to see musicals, but trying to cast them. Many of our top performers in this genre have been snaffled by Australia where the likes of Moulin Rouge, Hamilton, Harry Potter, Nine to Five, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Jekyll and Hyde amidst a mountain of other musicals, are offering actors long-term contracts and competitive rates of pay. It took five months for me to cast RENT. (Thank you for your support, as always). My solution in the end was to steal back some Australian talent, and what a tremendous addition to the cast they were.
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Just last week I opened a play with music for Auckland Theatre Company – The Heartbreak
Choir. This casting process was much faster as it has six songs, as opposed to Rent’s forty-six songs, and the demands of both shows are very different. However, getting The Heartbreak Choir to open was met with other unprecedented challenges. The floods damaged Auckland Theatre Company’s rehearsal rooms and wardrobe, so we had to move to three different rehearsal venues in a week, two actors had serious damage to their homes, three came down with gastro illness, one with food poisoning, two casting changes, then the cyclone hit and closed down two dress rehearsals and a preview. We wondered if we’d ever open, and I wondered if perhaps it’s time to change professions. But sitting alongside the opening night audience, chewing my nails to the quick, I witnessed a very special thing. Because of the gentle nature of the story unfolding on stage, mixed with recognizable melodic songs, I felt a collective joy I haven’t experienced in a
while. The audience gave themselves permission to let go their stresses of the prior ten days, they laughed, they cried, and they sang. And they were grateful. So grateful to have had those two hours to escape. It also helped me forget the obstacles of the previous ten days. It instantaneously re-ignited my belief in the power of theatre and made me want to do it all over again.
But careful what you wish for. No sooner had those thoughts filtered through the ole brain, then I realise I’m replacing an actor in The Heartbreak Choir for three performances over the 24th and 25th of February.
***Spoiler Alert - you may even get to see Richard Marrett and his Vocal Collective, but you didn’t hear that from me.
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Derek Hargreaves
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It is with great sadness we acknowledge the passing of Derek Hargreaves. Derek died just before Christmas and a memorial service was held for him in January at Riccarton House.
It was only four years ago that we were celebrating Derek’s retirement from The Court Theatre and I wrote then that “he was unequivocally the longest serving member of the Court Theatre”. We have so much to thank Derek for in his extraordinary 41 year role with our Theatre, his exceptional knowledge, his records of the Court’s history, his sage advice and his mentorship.
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In 1971, Yvette Bromley approached Derek and asked him to help her create a professional
theatre. The Court Theatre was born and on April 21st 1971 The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie was staged and in 1972 a Trust was formed and Derek was appointed the secretary. The theatre gradually evolved, Stuart Alderton was appointed Business Manager in 1987 and the move was made to the Arts Centre in 1976 with the appointment of Elric Hooper as Artistic Director. The theatre at this stage had taken a great leap forward into the future and Derek felt confident enough to take a step back from the direct operations and continued on solely in the role of secretary for the Trust Board. A role he carried out until 2018.
His quiet thoughtful and perceptive observations through the roller coaster ride of the theatre have been recorded in the history of the Court that he co-wrote with Felicity Price. The artistic and colourful personalities of those around the theatre kept the company, on and off the stage, full of drama. The story of the extraordinary Elric years, the momentous Philip and Ross years, the earthquake and its ramifications and much more have been recorded. Derek was also involved in other Arts organisations. He was president of The Canterbury Society of Arts from 1977-1981 taking over from Sir Miles Warren and presiding over the centennial in 1980 and then for eight years as a trustee for the Christchurch Arts Festival.
Derek’s family were also involved with the Court. His mother Yvonne was great friends with Yvette and became the very first wardrobe mistress at The Court followed soon after by Pamela Maling. Kirsty, Derek’s wife served on The Supporters committee, as the usher convenor and in the costume hire for twelve years.
Derek was honoured with “Associate of the Theatre” in 2002 and was appointed as a Member of NZ Order of Merit for Services to the Arts in 2003”.
I have been privileged to have worked with Derek on the Trust Board for many years and also to have regarded him as a good friend, a friend I will dearly miss.
Annie Bonifant
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A reminder...
The Friends AGM is happening on 13th March at 7:00pm with guest speakers Alison Walls, Artistic Director and Holly Chappell- Eason, Director of "Be Like Billy”
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Looking forward to seeing you all again soon!
Annie Bonifant,
Chair - Friends of the Court Theatre
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