December 15, 2017

THIS LETTER HAS BEEN SENT OUT TO REVIEWERS AND SUPPORTERS TODAY 

15 December 2017

Kia ora te whānau Theatreview
Compliments of the season!

THEATREVIEW IN 2018

While our funding challenges continue, Wellington City Council Arts & Culture and some dedicated and valued donors have given Theatreview a base amount to build on for the first quarter of 2018. The Theatreview Trust has determined Theatreview can therefore continue to review performing arts in Wellington – and in Palmerston North, Christchurch, Dunedin and the smaller regions in good faith – pending the outcomes of further applications. A way to continue with dance reviews is also being explored. (If anyone has any thoughts on who else to approach – philanthropists especially – please let me, or any of the Trustees named in the footer, know.)

“Don’t you know it seems to go …”

AUCKLAND THEATRE Unfortunately (that word that makes our hearts sink in replies from funding organisations) our applications to Auckland Council, Foundation North, The Trusts Community Foundation and NZ Community Trust have proved fruitless.  Likewise requests for nationwide support from various sectors have not succeeded. Consequently The Theatreview Trust has reluctantly concluded that without funding to cover the minimal fees for an Auckland-based Associate Editor for Theatre, we can no longer review theatre productions in Auckland.

Personally, I am very sad about this, not least because I feel very close to the loyal core of committed reviewers who have ensured Auckland theatre productions are acknowledged and critiqued nationwide, and recorded in Theatreview’s ever-growing archive of New Zealand performing arts practice. Since Auckland joined Theatreview in April 2006, we have published 3,742 reviews of performing arts productions staged in Auckland (10,684 nationwide). Each and every contributor to those totals, including those who have volunteered admin assistance this year, deserve great gratitude from all who value Theatreview and variously use its contents. (The site gets over 400,000 page views per year.)

To all who have contributed reviews, and those who will continue to do so, you have my lifelong appreciation – and my very best wishes for a fulfilling festive season and year to come.

 

John Smythe, Managing Editor