December 21, 2016
THEATREVIEW IN 2017
Theatreview will continue nationwide until 31 March 2017 at least.
Why are we saying this? In brief, our last two Creative New Zealand Arts Grants applications have been declined.*
There is, however, strong support across the sector for Theatreview to continue to fulfil its mission – which is to review professional performing arts throughout New Zealand, as constructive contributions to:
- the public for whom the work is made and on whose behalf reviews are written
- the professional practitioners who create the shows they need to see reflected
- the ongoing conversation of which reviews, comments and forum discussions are parts, and
- the historical record of performing arts practice in New Zealand – an ephemeral art form too easily forgotten if it is not written into the record.
The continuation until March is made possible by a small grant from the Wellington City Council (to ensure NZ Fringe 2017 is reviewed) plus the generous donation of time and expertise from a team of editors and, as always, our highly committed reviewers.
Discussions are underway to develop strategic ways, means and alliances that will allow Theatreview to continue as a sustainable operation beyond March. We have therefore chosen to avoid a gap appearing in the growing Theatreview archive of NZ’s professional performing arts practice.
The first quarter of 2017 will include the NZ Fringe in Wellington, Auckland’s Pride Festival, the Auckland Fringe and the Auckland Arts Festival plus ‘business as usual’ productions nationwide.
*Further background
CNZ was asked for $35k in core funding towards a minimal $43.2k annual budget which represents about half the value of the editorial and management work involved. In addition home offices and equipment are donated; reviewers write about 800 informed, insightful reviews per year for 2 comps per show; the Board donates its time and expertise.
A New Zealand Community Trust grant helped us get to the end of this year. Many other funding bodies have been approached to no avail. The core project funding offered by CNZ since 2012 created a foundation for us to build on, although Theatreview is not a creative project as such; it is part of the performing arts infrastructure so competing with artistic projects was never a good fit.
By the end of 2016, in our first 11 years, Theatreview will have published 9,732 reviews. All the reviews, production pages and images remain freely available on Theatreview’s searchable archive.
Plans to renovate the website (requiring further funding to be applied for) have necessarily been put on hold until sustainability is achieved.
How to help
If you wish to help us bridge the immediate financial gap, please donate here:
https://www.theatreview.org.nz/koha.php
Practitioners and performing arts organisations may also maintain their Performing Arts Directory memberships, or join the PAD:
https://www.theatreview.org.nz/news/news.php?id=488
This will hyperlink your name to your professional membership page.
(Click on the PAD logo on the home page to see how site visitors can search for your skills and find you.)
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