Te Kuiti Theatre Open Day

THEATRE company On-Stage Te Kūiti will host an open day on Sunday, March 5 from 1 to 5pm.

The group’s nearly 70-year-old building is part of a Musical Theatre New Zealand programme aiming to showcase theatres in the community, president Mary Macnaughtan said.

“We want to be open, to let people know we’re here.”

The big day will feature dioramas created by theatre stalwart Ron Gannaway, who designed sets for previous performances.

“He’s such a perfectionist, he’s very much into detail and really good.”

Visitors can also peek into the theatre’s extensive wardrobe of costumes. The exact items weren’t yet chosen, but she hoped a personal favourite might feature.

“Joseph’s technicolour dreamcoat: it was made by Patricia Hughes, one of our members many years ago.

“It’s probably 25 years old,

but it’s still in very good nick and it has been used [in recent years].”

The committee will set up the stage and be ready to take photos, so kids and adults can go up there and record their own appearance in the limelight.

“We’ll be using the stage lighting that was there for the last play, just to give it a bit of atmosphere.”

There will also be the option to play records – real vinyl ones – through the theatre’s “excellent sound system”.

The open day is also about gathering community feedback, Mary said.

“We also want people to talk about what they would like to see being done in the theatre.”

On Stage is actively seeking new members, to make it easier to form a full cast.

“We are low on people that want to act,” she said.

Mary felt that live theatre, music and other performing arts were crucial for peoples’ psyche, and helped create “a community which was resilient.”

The theatre was one of the Waitomo District’s biggest pluses.

“It’s an asset we don’t want to lose.”

There is only one town in the King Country with a purpose-built, fully operational theatre, and that place is Te Kūiti, Mary said.