January 6, 2014

HANNAH PLAYHOUSE WILL BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS IN 2014 

The Hannah Playhouse has a new tenant with the Wellington Museums Trust signing an agreement with the Hannah Playhouse Trust to lease the building during 2014 for the Capital E National Theatre for Children. 

A $150,000 grant from Creative New Zealand will also enable the Museums Trust to open the Playhouse to other professional performing arts organisations for subsidised hire and to conduct a feasibility study on the future use of the Playhouse. 

“Our involvement has been prompted by the need to have a Wellington base for the National Theatre for Children which no longer has access to the McKenzie Theatre in the Capital E building which is earthquake prone,” said Pat Stuart, Chief Executive of the Museums Trust. 

“We do not see ourselves as the long-term operator of the Playhouse and view 2014 as a transition period to explore a new operating model and to lay down a plan to revitalise the Playhouse for the Performing Arts in Wellington.” Ms Stuart said. 

Creative New Zealand’s Chief Executive, Stephen Wainwright, welcomed the move. “It will be heartening to see the Hannah Playhouse reopen as a Wellington theatre venue. The Wellington Museums Trust is well placed to take a leadership role in developing its future.” 

With this agreement in place the Hannah Playhouse is available for the New Zealand Festival which will present four productions at the Playhouse in February/March. 

The Capital E National Theatre for Children’s productions at the Hannah Playhouse in 2014 will be Mr McGee & the Biting Flea from Patch Theatre Company from 19 April until 16 May; Granddad’s Lucky Storm, from 5 to 19 July; and An Awfully Big Adventure launched to coincide with the centenary of the start of WW1 which will run from 26 July through to 2 August. 

The grant is part of a one-off allocation of $170,000 set aside by Creative New Zealand to support Wellington theatre, after closure of the Downstage in September this year. The funding is earmarked to support new initiatives from the Wellington theatre community. 

From 13 January, enquires from performing arts companies interested in presenting work at the Playhouse during 2014 should be directed to the Wellington Museums Trust: 04 472 8904 | http://www.museumswellington.org.nz 

Further information:

The Wellington Museums Trust (WMT) has taken a one year lease of the Hannah Playhouse with a one year right of renewal. Our motivation was to provide performance space for the Capital E National Theatre for Children (NTC); we had been in negotiation with Downstage Theatre to use the Playhouse in 2014 anyway.

The National Theatre for Children’s need for performance space is about 16 weeks per year and our proposal to Creative New Zealand (CNZ) was to help us provide access to the Playhouse for other performing arts companies and at the same time undertake a feasibility study on the future use of the Playhouse.

We have been successful in our funding bid to CNZ and while we will need to re-gig our budget our original plan remains intact.

In brief the plan is that:

• The Wellington Museums Trust (WMT) leases the Hannah Playhouse for the National Theatre for Children (NTC) from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014 with a one year right of renewal.
• With the assistance of CNZ funding, WMT makes the theatre available to other performing arts users during 2014 on a “bare walls” basis.
• At the same time, WMT investigates the idea of establishing a consortium involving other national performing arts companies with the objective that the Hannah Playhouse become the national home of these companies.
• The feasibility study considers the most appropriate management arrangement for the building so that WMT is not directly managing the building as a venue for hire beyond 31 December 2014.
• HPT ensures that the building is “fit for purpose” for WMT’s tenancy by funding essential repairs and maintenance.

The feasibility study will provide an opportunity for stakeholder input and it is our intention to ensure that all views are canvassed. We see this as an opportunity to lay down a plan to revitalise the Playhouse for the Performing Arts in Wellington.

With regard to preparing the Playhouse for our tenancy and use by others, we will spend most of January doing this and recruiting staff to provide technical and front-of-house delivery.

Stephen Blackburn, Creative Producer for the Capital E National Theatre for Children is our key contact on this matter and while he is keen to be available to discuss this exciting proposal he is on annual leave until 13 January and at that stage will organise discussions/meetings with interested parties as required.

Pat Stuart
Chief Executive
Friday, 20 December 2013