The Court Theatre, Christchurch

In the picturesque town of Christchurch a professional theatre company has set an extraordinary achievement, selling 160,000 tickets a year to a mixture of drama, musical, stand up comedy, improvisation and even ghost tours. They call themselves the most successful arts organization in New Zealand.
Emma Bell catches up with The Court Theatre Communications Manager, Jeff Clark.

With over 270 performances and one ticket sold for every two people in Christchurch The Court Theatre is a force to be reckoned with! To put the ticket sales in context, the Melbourne Theatre Company sells 220,000 tickets a year – compare this to the Court’s 160,000 in a city with 10 percent of the population.
All of this happens in a relatively small venue. The Court has two auditoria, the 291 seat Court One and the 123 seat Forge. Court One stages eight productions each season and produces a mix of modern theatre, musicals and classics by international and local playwrights. The 'semi thrust' stage of Court One creates "Intimacy between the performers and the audience. You can even see the beads of sweat running down the actors’ heads," Jeff Clark says.
In the smaller venue the company presents what it describes as edgy and challenging productions. True to its name, the Forge creates progressive new dynamic work attracting audiences who want something more contemporary. "We wanted to do really experimental, really confrontational work," says Clark. Their most recent production, Backstage, had an extended season due to outstanding audience response.
The Court is also home to The Court Jesters, a troupe of comedians that has been at the theatre since 1987. Their 20-year run of improvisational comedy, Scared Scriptless, now "boasts the title of Australasia's longest running comedy show."
Scared Scriptless plays every Friday and Saturday night and Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson) says they are "Terrific…one of the BEST troupes I've come across."

A host of well-known comedians and actors including Patrick Duffy, Jarred Christmas and the late Kevin Smith have been Court Jesters in the past. Another Jester alumnus, Cal Wilson, now resides in Melbourne and is a regular on Australian television.
So where did The Court start? Way back in 1971, actress Yvette Bromley QSM and playwright Mervyn Thompson put forward a proposal to the then Mayor, Ron Guthrie.
In the early days, The Court had many homes - from the Christchurch Council Chambers to the Durham St Art Gallery and even several Court houses - hence the name 'The Court Theatre.' Since 1976, The Court Theatre has been housed in the heritage Christchurch City Arts Centre.
The summer musical season at The Court is a favourite with audiences, featuring smash hit seasons such as Guys and Dolls, La Cage Aux Folles and a massive season of The Producers in 2007. This year's Anything Goes is sure to repeat this feat.
Artistic Director Ross Gumbley began his theatrical career at The Court as a trainee actor in 1986, and worked throughout New Zealand before returning to The Court in 2004 as Associate Artistic Director, getting the top job in 2006.
"Ross's aim is for productions to be theatrical, relevant and compelling. The plays in our seasons have to possess a uniqueness or intimacy that separates them from a “passive” experience like TV or movies. Theatre should present something that mirrors society; that says something of the times or about humanity. Then, when it is staged, the production needs to capture the audience’s attention and speak to them," Jeff Clark said.
Gumbley directed the sell-out season of the Roger Hall play Four Flat Whites in Italy. 84% of tickets for the entire season were sold before the play even opened, with the remainder selling within 4 days. The play ended up being extended from the original 6 week season to an enormous 12 week season – over 20,000 tickets!
Taking theatre beyond the stage, The Court is dedicated to community engagement and education with theatre production tours throughout the region, improvisation courses, drama classes, the 'Theatresports in Schools' program, work experience opportunities and educational programs for primary and secondary school students incorporating the Court Ambassadors program. Court Ambassadors are talented high-school drama students who are entitled to attend all the plays for free, attend specialist workshops and build relationships at the theatre.

For the kids there's a show every school holidays as well as a production that tours primary schools around Christchurch and Canterbury each year. This summer The Court will be gearing up to perform the much loved Jack and the Beanstalk.

For tertiary level students there is “TheatreWorks”, a year-long professional training program for people aged 18-30 who want to become New Zealand's next batch of professional actors.
For something a bit out of the ordinary, Dr Aloysius Mort will haunt you on a Ghost Walk of the theatre and the surrounding Arts Centre where you'll discover all sorts of spooky secrets like the fact that people have fallen out of windows and that there is a theatre ghost!
There seems to be nothing The Court can't do. If anything, the fact that so many people want a piece of the action could prove to be a challenge in the future with the modest number of seats. But for now The Court is thriving and soon it will be gearing up to its 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2011. The Court Theatre has its finger on the pulse for what audiences want and what the community needs from a dynamic arts organisation.
Emma Bell is a Sydney based theatre lover and writer. She is also a presentation skills trainer and can be found at www.emmabell.com.au