{"id":645607,"date":"2026-10-30T06:50:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/645607\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T06:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:50:20","slug":"absolutely-gutted-curtain-call-for-christchurch-community-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/645607\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Absolutely gutted’: Curtain call for Christchurch community theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artists across the South Island say the arts sector is in distress, as organisations compete for a limited pool of funding.<\/p>\n

For Christchurch community theatre Little Andromeda, the latest funding round has delivered a devastating blow.<\/p>\n

After its application to Creative New Zealand (CNZ) was unsuccessful, the theatre is due to close at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

“I’m absolutely gutted. I think we have a really strong community of artists, audiences, and t\u016brangawaewae. We’re losing it. We’ve lost it,” said general manager Michael Bell.<\/p>\n

\"Little<\/p>\n

Little Andromeda general manager Michael Bell. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Bell started Little Andromeda eight years ago, moving into its current space on the Christchurch Terrace about six years ago. Since then, hundreds of artists have performed and created work there.<\/p>\n

A home for emerging artists<\/p>\n

“For a lot of artists, this is our home, where we do our thing. We\u2019ll find other places to go, but I’ve realised it\u2019s more important to our community than I first realised. And I think it\u2019s a lot more important to our community than CNZ realises.”<\/p>\n

For Bell the closure was about more than losing a venue \u2014 it meant losing a space where artists could develop their work, connect with audiences and build a community.<\/p>\n

After its application to Creative New Zealand (CNZ) was unsuccessful, the Christchurch theatre is due to close at the end of the year. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

He said the uncertainty made it difficult to see a future in the industry.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn\u2019t recommend anyone getting into the arts looking for a stable life.”<\/p>\n

His team was also devastated by the closure.<\/p>\n

“When we ask for funding, it\u2019s not to subsidise us, it\u2019s for us to pass that subsidy on to freelance professionals and emerging professionals,” said programmer and performer Dan Bain.<\/p>\n

\"Programmer<\/p>\n

Programmer and performer Dan Bain. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“Our last application, we solicited an enormous amount of feedback both from our audiences and our artists, and the scale of affection and sense of the space being essential to people is enormous, and a huge number of people are going to be gutted.”<\/p>\n

Little Andromeda wasn’t the only arts organisation facing funding challenges, as Bain said other organisations also experienced significant setbacks \u2014 including the Otago Arts Festival \u2014 which received no funding in the latest round.<\/p>\n

“It’s pretty regular to get less than you ask for, but for established organisations to kind of receive zero is pretty shocking.”<\/p>\n

He said other organisations across the country are also struggling, with Massive Company in Auckland facing a major funding reduction and the Wellington Symphony Orchestra experiencing significant cutbacks.<\/p>\n

A question of regional investment<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Christchurch community theatre is preparing to close. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

But some arts representatives believe the South Island is also being left behind when it comes to funding.<\/p>\n

“There’s a broader culture of Southern invisibility,” said University of Canterbury senior lecturer Erin Harrington, pointing to wider concerns about investment in infrastructure across the country.<\/p>\n

Harrington said government funding has also failed to keep pace with demand.<\/p>\n

“The government contribution has not improved in 20 years… So for 20 years we have had, in effect, a shrinking pie, while the pool of applicants gets larger and larger and larger.”<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

University of Canterbury senior lecturer Erin Harrington. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

CNZ expected to receive just over $16 million from the Government this financial year, alongside almost $53 million from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board.<\/p>\n

In its latest regional funding figures, 21% of investment went to the South Island, compared with 79% to the North Island.<\/p>\n

Those figures exclude funding for online, national and international projects. CNZ said its regional investment broadly reflected where people live, while funding decisions considered the quality of applications and opportunities to support the arts nationwide.<\/p>\n

But artists warn the consequences of limited funding could reach well beyond individual organisations.<\/p>\n

“Our best artists will leave, because there isn\u2019t enough infrastructure here to sustain them,” said Bain.<\/p>\n

Bell said he believed the value of the arts was being underestimated.<\/p>\n

“The arts isn\u2019t something fun to do on a Friday night, it’s essential to everyone\u2019s lives. I don\u2019t think it’s ridiculous that the investment should be 10 times what it is right now.”<\/p>\n

\"Christchurch<\/p>\n

Christchurch community theatre Little Andromeda. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Bain said Little Andromeda\u2019s closure will also affect the wider touring industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s removed a huge part of the arts ecosystem for not just the South Island, but for the entirety of the touring arts sector, for the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happens to the next generation?<\/p>\n

Harrington said the impact could be felt for generations.<\/p>\n

“If we don\u2019t have our grassroots community theatres, then we don\u2019t get Taika Waititi, because that\u2019s where those creatives often start out.”<\/p>\n

For students hoping to build careers in the performing arts, the loss of creative spaces raises questions about where they will learn, develop and showcase their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, I was disappointed. It\u2019s just so sad that another space is gone. When I first heard, I said, \u2018No, surely not,\u2019\u201d one student says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start performing, you don\u2019t want big audiences because you\u2019re still starting out. And if things go wrong, you don\u2019t want a lot of people to witness it,\u201d another says.<\/p>\n

And while the arts may not always deliver a direct economic return, students say their value goes beyond money.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if it doesn\u2019t contribute more to the economy, it\u2019s still important for our stories to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n

No plans for more funding<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n

Chris Hipkins speaks to media in Auckland. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Political parties said there were currently no firm plans to increase funding for the sector.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve set out to support a lot of plans to support the artistic community. Extra funding for [CNZ] is not in that plan at this point, but in time that\u2019s something we can look at,” said Labour leader Chris Hipkins.<\/p>\n

National was also not committing to increasing funding for the arts, saying its current priority is “reducing debt, and investing more into frontline services like schools and hospitals”. <\/p>\n

\"National<\/p>\n

National leader Christopher Luxon. <\/p>\n

For Bell, the concern is that artists’ determination to keep going can mask how much support they actually need.<\/p>\n

“The problem with artists, if you take everything away, we keep going. And I think that’s a misconception that means we’re okay.”<\/p>\n

A community trying to survive<\/p>\n

The Little Andromeda team hoped future fundraising could help rebuild its theatre community in a different location.<\/p>\n

But, with the closure at the end of the year already decided, the future remained uncertain.<\/p>\n

“We are kind of cockroach-like. We\u2019re very hard to kill, but despite that, you can only live off eating garbage for so long,” said Bain. <\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds including a tornado on a Canterbury farm, and a dizzying new world record. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Artists across the South Island say the arts sector is in distress, as organisations compete for a limited…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2567,158,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-645607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-christchurch-canterbury","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}