Dunedin's historic Fortune Theatre announces permanent closure

After 44 years of operations, Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre Trust has announced the permanent closure of the venue.

Fortune Board of Trustees Chairwoman Haley van Leeuwen said the Board had been through an exhaustive process of reviews and decided it had to close the theatre company because it was no longer financially viable.

van Leeuwen advised “we are closing now because we have fiduciary responsibility to meet our obligations to the Fortune Theatre staff, suppliers and other partners”, adding “(the) trustees agreed it could not continue to run under its current business model and premises.”

The Theatre’s eight full-time and three part-time staff were advised of the closure last Tuesday (1st May) with no further shows to be performed at the venue.

Despite recent tickets sales being up on the previous year, van Leeuwen advised that keeping the Theatre open was untenable.

The 44-year-old Theatre, which moved to the former Trinity Methodist Church in 1978, was started by a small group of actors/directors four years previously and has put on 407 main stage productions. More than 750,000 tickets have been sold.

Creative New Zealand, which had been funding Fortune Theatre at a rate of $500,000 per annum, advised of being “saddened” at the news of the closure.

Creative New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright commented “we acknowledge that this has been an extremely difficult decision for the Fortune Theatre Trust and hugely disappointing for the theatre’s staff who have been working to revitalise the theatre.

“Creative New Zealand is keen to work with other stakeholders to advance the future of theatre in Dunedin in the wake of this announcement. We are committed to funding great theatre experiences for the people of Dunedin and the surrounding area.”

In a statement on the closure, van Leeuwen added “we would like to acknowledge our staff during this difficult time who have worked hard towards the goal of securing the future of the theatre.

“We have looked at many different avenues to avert closure, however theatres and their audiences have changed over the years and we must now take stock, with the goal of keeping the tradition of local professional theatre alive in Dunedin. Whatever future development arises it will be in a new format that represents the future model of theatre in New Zealand.”

The closure of the Theatre means that Christchurch's Court Theatre is one of the only remaining professional theatres in the South Island. 

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