Content deleted Content added
m Bot: link syntax and minor changes |
m Clean up spacing errors around ref tags., replaced: /ref>I → /ref> I |
||
Line 118:
In 2009 the Fortune staged its most successful ever single season of a play. This was Roger Hall's hit, ''Four Flat Whites in Italy'', which was seen by 6,606 spectators in its month-long season (around 7% of Dunedin's permanent resident population).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Retiring Nature|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/theatre/retiring-nature|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803005118/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/theatre/retiring-nature}}</ref>
The 2010 season included the New Zealand premiere of [[Marc Camoletti (playwright)|Marc Camoletti's]] farce, ''Ding Dong''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ding Dong - Is unchallenging entertainment the answer?|url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=3324|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803005110/https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=3324}}</ref> The Fortune also staged a revival of Camoletti's best-known piece, ''[[Boeing-Boeing (play)|Boeing Boeing]]'', in 2013.<ref name="Fortune raises the bar">{{Cite web|title=Fortune raises the bar|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/fortune-raises-bar|url-status=live|access-date=9 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709233413/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/fortune-raises-bar}}</ref>
''The Motor Camp'' by [[Dave Armstrong (playwright)|Dave Armstrong]] (opened February 18), ''Red'' by [[John Logan (writer)|John Logan]] (opened April 14), ''Two Fish 'n' a Scoop'' by [[Carl Nixon]] (opened May 19), [[In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)|''In The Next Room'' – ''Or the Vibrator Play'']] by [[Sarah Ruhl]] (opened June), ''Heroes'' by [[Gérald Sibleyras|Gerald Sibleyras]] (opened August 25), ''[[Calendar Girls (play)|Calendar Girls]]'' by [[Tim Firth]] (opened November 10) made up the 2012 season.<ref name=":1" /> The Fortune's contribution to the 2012 Otago Festival of the Arts was a production of [[Samuel Beckett]]'s ''[[Play (play)|Play]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trapped, obsessive, perpetual torment|url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=5234|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803005110/https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=5234}}</ref>
The 2013 season commenced with a co-production between the Fortune and Wellington's [[Taki Rua|Taki Rua Theatre]] of ''Michael James Manaia'' by local playwright [[John Broughton (dentist)|John Broughton]]. It continued with off-Broadway success ''Love, Loss and What I Wore'', the hit Roger Hall musical about grandparenting (''You Can Always Hand Them Back''), [[Nina Raine]]'s ''Tribes'', the long-running off-Broadway musical ''[[Altar Boyz]]'' in its New Zealand premiere, and the World Premiere of Patrick Evans's ''Gifted'' which toured to four arts festivals, several Otago / Southland regional centres and was revived at Wellington's [[Circa Theatre]] in 2015.<ref
The Fortune presented [[Harold Pinter]]'s ''[[The Caretaker]]'' as its contribution to the 2014 Otago Festival of the Arts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Credible ambiguities, shifting sympathies, bound by compassion|url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=7412|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803005108/https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=7412}}</ref> To celebrate the Company's 40th anniversary it staged the New Zealand premiere of ''Jumpy'' by [[April De Angelis|April de Angelis]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=10 July 2014|title=Join the celebrations next weekend!|work=The Otago Daily Times}}</ref>
Line 133:
Over its 44 years the Fortune Theatre staged 407 main stage productions, and sold over 750,000 tickets.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/103516691/dunedins-fortune-theatre-closing-after-44-years|title=Last act: Dunedin's Fortune Theatre closing after 44 years|last=McNeilly|first=Hamish|date=May 1, 2018|website=Stuff|language=en|access-date=2020-04-29|archive-date=27 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527015940/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/103516691/dunedins-fortune-theatre-closing-after-44-years|url-status=live}}</ref> On its closure in 2018 commentator Kate Prior said: "Fortune Theatre has been an essential engine of new writing in New Zealand, a launch pad for some of our best actors, and an Otago and Southland theatre home."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/change-of-fortunes,%20https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/change-of-fortunes|title=Pantograph Punch – Change of Fortunes: Lessons from the Death of a Theatre|last=Prior|first=Kate|date=2018-05-20|website=Pantograph Punch|access-date=2020-04-29}}{{dead link|date=May 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
The Fortune Theatre's costumes was purchased from the liquidators after they closed and are being looked after by the Stage South Charitable Trust.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Loughrey|first=David|date=2018-12-20|title=Charitable trust set up to support professional theatre|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/charitable-trust-set-support-professional-theatre|access-date=2021-06-02|website=Otago Daily Times Online News|language=en|archive-date=2 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602220317/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/charitable-trust-set-support-professional-theatre|url-status=live}}</ref>
By 2004 the Company had presented 42 World Premieres (including nine plays written for children). Seventeen of these had received subsequent productions at other New Zealand professional theatres and five at international venues. The best known of these are ''Mothers and Fathers'' ([[Joseph Musaphia|Joe Musaphia]]), ''Cinderella'' (Roger Hall), ''Love Off the Shelf'' (Roger Hall, [[A. K. Grant]], Philip Norman), ''The Share Club'' (Roger Hall), ''After the Crash'' (Roger Hall), ''Jeannie Once'' ([[Renée (writer)|Renee]]), ''Making it Big'' (Roger Hall, Philip Norman), ''Anzac'' (John Broughton), ''By Degrees'' (Roger Hall), ''1981'' (John Broughton), ''Social Climbers'' (Roger Hall), ''C'Mon Black'' (Roger Hall), ''Dirty Weekends'' (Roger Hall, Philip Norman), ''The Book Club'' (Roger Hall) and ''Home Land'' ([[Gary Henderson (playwright)|Gary Henderson]]). [[Brian McNeill (playwright)|Brian McNeill]] was the Company's Writer in Residence from 1980 to 1982 (writing ''Smelter Skelter'', ''What an Exhibition'' and ''The Perfumed Business Woman'' in that time) and [[Robert Lord (playwright)|Robert Lord]] in 1991. The latter was commissioned to write ''Academic Circles'' but his premature death meant that the script was never completed.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fortune Theatre Trust|title=A Celebration of 30 Years Live Professional Theatre: The Fortune Theatre Dunedin New Zealand 1974–2004|publisher=Fortune Theatre Trust Board|year=2004|location=Dunedin NZ|pages=13, 19–20}}</ref>
Line 139:
The Fortune in its lifetime staged more of Roger Hall's plays (36) than any other theatre.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Retiring nature|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/theatre/retiring-nature|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803005118/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/theatre/retiring-nature}}</ref>
A number of Fortune productions were toured to or staged at other professional theatres in New Zealand. These include ''Kaz: A Working Girl'' (by Leah Poulter, toured to Circa 1986), ''Children of a Lesser God'' (by [[Mark Medoff]], Maidment Theatre Auckland 1986) and ''[[Billy Bishop Goes to War]]'' (by John Gray and Eric Peterson, Circa Theatre 1987).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fortune Theatre Trust|title=A Celebration of 30 Years Live Professional Theatre: The Fortune Theatre Dunedin New Zealand 1974–2004|publisher=Fortune Theatre Trust Board|year=2004|location=Dunedin NZ|pages=13, 19–21}}</ref> In 2009 the 2008 Fortune production of ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' was revived at a Tennessee Williams Festival in Williamstown USA.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harwood|first=Brenda|date=2009-09-17|title=Fortune 'Streetcar' destined for US|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/fortune-streetcar-destined-us|access-date=2021-07-10|website=Otago Daily Times Online News|language=en|archive-date=10 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710024734/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/fortune-streetcar-destined-us|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Fortune presented the New Zealand professional premiere of the renaissance drama, ''[[The Revenger's Tragedy]]'' ([[Thomas Middleton]], previously attributed to [[Cyril Tourneur]]), in 1995. [[Campbell Thomas]] directed and designed the production and a score was specially commissioned for it from [[Anthony Ritchie]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fortune Theatre Trust|title=A Celebration of 30 Years Live Professional Theatre: The Fortune Theatre Dunedin NZ 1974–2004|publisher=Fortune Theatre Trust Board|year=2004|location=Dunedin|pages=10}}</ref>
Line 145:
= Staffing =
The Fortune was established by Murray Hutchinson, Alex Gilchrist, Huntly Eliott and Dr David Carnegie. The latter was the then Lecturer in Drama at the [[University of Otago]] and the others were television directors in the city. The last of the founders to leave was Alex Gilchrist in May 1980. He was succeeded by Anthony Richardson who had been the founder Artistic Director at Auckland's [[Mercury Theatre, Auckland|Mercury Theatre]]. Richardson died in May 1982. Ronald Branscombe was Acting Artistic Director until October 1982. The 1983 season was planned by Huntly Eliott and Keith Foote who was General Manager for that year. Anthony Taylor, who had been the Artistic Director at Wellington's [[Downstage Theatre]] from 1977 to 1981, was Artistic Director in 1984 and the first half of 1985. [[Lisa Warrington]], Lecturer in Drama at the University of Otago, was Acting Artistic Director until the end of 1985. [[Campbell Thomas]] was appointed to commence as Artistic Director at the beginning of 1986 and was the Company's longest serving head, remaining until the end of 1999. He was succeeded as Artistic Director by Martin Howells from 2000 until 2004.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fortune Theatre Trust|title=A Celebration of 30 Years Live Professional Theatre: The Fortune Theatre Dunedin New Zealand 1974–2004|publisher=Fortune Theatre Trust Board|year=2004|location=Dunedin|pages=5–12}}</ref> Janice Marthen managed the theatre from 2005 until 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Benson|first=Nigel|date=2009-12-09|title=Theatre manager resigns|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/theatre-manager-resigns|access-date=2021-07-10|website=Otago Daily Times Online News|language=en|archive-date=10 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710002752/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/theatre-manager-resigns|url-status=live}}</ref> Karen Elliot managed the theatre in 2010.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Charmian|date=2014-07-17|title=Theatre of Fortune|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/theatre-fortune|access-date=2021-07-10|website=Otago Daily Times Online News|language=en|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183435/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/theatre-fortune|url-status=live}}</ref> Lara MacGregor was artistic director from 2010 until 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Charmian|date=2012-12-13|title=Fortune raises the bar|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/fortune-raises-bar|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Otago Daily Times Online News|language=en|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709233413/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/fortune-raises-bar|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Benson|first=Nigel|date=2010-09-17|title=Fresh faces at Fortune Theatre|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/fresh-faces-fortune-theatre|access-date=2021-07-10|website=Otago Daily Times Online News|language=en|archive-date=10 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710001422/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/fresh-faces-fortune-theatre|url-status=live}}</ref> Jonathan Hendry was Artistic Director from 2016 until it closed in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fox|first=Rebecca|date=2016-06-23|title=Back where he belongs|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/theatre/back-where-he-belongs|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Otago Daily Times Online News|language=en|archive-date=10 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710001411/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/theatre/back-where-he-belongs|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Other Staff==
Associate Directors: Lisa Warrington, Richard Finn (1987 - 1993)
Production Manager/Designers: Bruce Appelton, John Waite
Business Managers: Lindsay Shaw, Lynette Gernhoefer (1987 - 2007), Nicholas McBryde
Marketing Managers: Trish James, Peter Brown, Claire Dorking, Lisa Scott (2003-2008)
Line 156 ⟶ 157:
Wardrobe: Maryanne Wright-Smyth
Stage Managers and Technicians: Martin Phelan, Melinda Olykan, Erika Browne
== Education ==
| |||