THE UNITY IN COMMUNITY THEATRE at Community Theatre The Southern Region of New Zealand
By: Monica Moore Mar. 20, 2018
It costs a lot of money to put on a show and the more financial support there is the more can be spent on enhancing the performers with technology, set, costumes etc so that audiences can experience a quality show.
The region of Southland in New Zealand is blessed with beautiful theatres. They are literally everywhere! While these theatres are well patronised they are also generously financially supported by the local communities.
With the advantage of having licensing trusts in both Invercargill and Eastern Southland/West Otago the theatres reap the rewards of generous donations from Invercargill Licensing Trust and Mataura Licensing Trust repsectively.
In the one and only Southland City of Invercargill you'll find three well patronised theatres. The biggest of them all is the beautiful Civic Theatre which holds 1015 people and is where Invercargill Musical Theatre stage their spectacular shows.
Then there's Southland Institute of Technology's Centrestage that seats 309 people and is literally in the middle of town. There is also Repertory House a 140 seat theatre primarily for plays.
Forty minutes up the road is the town of Gore, population 12,500. There's the ASB St James Theatre, home to Gore Music Theatre's productions as well as the local duplext movie theatre. A three minute drive away is The Little Theatre, a 106 seat theatre where plays have been performed for many years.
If you take a 20 minute drive to West Otago you'll find a beautiful 250 seat theatre which is the home to West Otago Theatre Society.
With an abundance of theatre and the talent to go with it, Southlanders have been fortunate to be able to attend many shows each year.
The community spirit of financial support is key to ensuring these theatres turn out great shows. The hard working committees that produce these shows are made up of dedicated volunteers who pour hundreds of hours into ensuring quality theatre is delivered to their beautiful stages in their fabulous theatres.
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