Lara Macgregor bids farewell as Fortune Theatre’s Artistic Director
After five years as Artistic Director at Fortune Theatre, Lara Macgregor has announced her departure, completing her tenure in October, 2015.
“Running Fortune Theatre has been a most rewarding experience. The decision to move on is a difficult, but necessary, one to make. As is the case with running a theatre company, you give over a huge part of yourself and your life. So now is the time for me to re-group, re-balance, and re-invest in my future as an artist and practitioner. This is an exciting opportunity for a new visionary to take the reins and lead Fortune into the next phase of its future” says Macgregor.
Macgregor intends to remain living in Dunedin, and to continue working in the sector as an independent director, actor and photographer.
Fortune Theatre Board of Trustees Chair Ray Tobin acknowledges Macgregor’s achievements over the last five years: “We are very sad to be losing Lara as Artistic Director at the Fortune and have been very fortunate to have had someone of Lara’s calibre and talent in the Artistic Directors role for the past five years. Lara can look back on her time with the Fortune Theatre with great pride at the seasons which reflected her earlier career in the United States as an actress. Lara introduced a number of leading contemporary American dramatists to Dunedin audiences along with two hit off-Broadway musicals. She also revisited the Theatre of the Absurd and gave the first professional productions in Dunedin for many years of works by Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter. Lara has also been actively involved with new play development, and staged world premieres of plays by local writers Simon Cunliffe and Philip Braithwaite, Christchurch writer Patrick Evans, and two new works by Roger Hall. Four of these plays have gone on to have further professional productions elsewhere in the country. In addition she supervised workshops of a number of other playwrights' draft scripts.
“The Fortune has actively looked to the next generation of theatre-makers during Lara's tenure and she has encouraged young playwrights (with the 4X4 Young Playwrights Initiative) and young performers (hosting the local improvisers, Improsaurus, and this year arranging a co-production with students from the University of Otago's Theatre Studies Department). This year she also organised a challenging and popular endeavour with the local theatre community - a weekend in which Shakespeare's complete plays were read. It has been an extreme pleasure working with Lara and I hope we will see her talents in the theatre again in the future, directing and acting.” Ray Tobin also said that the Trust will reflect on its options for a creative leader to replace Macgregor and expects to make an appointment later this year.
“A great many of us in the local theatre community have been refreshed and re-invigorated by Lara Macgregor’s presence as Artistic Director at Fortune Theatre,” says actor, director and Dramaturg Simon O’Connor. “She has given local audiences the opportunity to look at theatre in a new and fresh light. Her mana has been instrumental in drawing some of New Zealand’s best and brightest actors and directors to the Fortune, and local theatre practitioners and audiences have been the great benefactors of that. We will all miss her energy, her knowledge and skill as a director and her supportiveness of local artists. Above all, we will miss her boundless enthusiasm for great theatre. Lara will be a hard act to follow.”
Macgregor has also significantly influenced the increased amount of investment and recognition received from Creative New Zealand, and stabilised and maintained key contributions from Dunedin City Council, Otago Community Trust and other philanthropic donors.
Enquiries to:
Lucy Summers
Marketing Manager
Fortune Theatre
ext 2
Hounds on tour!
After a wonderful response from Dunedin audiences at Fortune Theatre, The Hound of the Baskervilles is going on tour around Otago and Southland from 8-19 Spetember.
Dates, locations and how to book:
Tuesday, 8 September, Ranfurly Town Hall
Book at i-Site Ranfurly, 2 Charlemont St,
Wednesday, 9 September, Dunstan High School, Alexandra
Book at i-Site Alexandra, 21 Centennial Ave,
Thursday 10 September, Cromwell Memorial Hall
Book at i-Site Cromwell, 2 The Mall,
Friday 11 September, Lake Wanaka Centre
Book at i-Site Wanaka, 103 Ardmore St,
Saturday 12 September, Queenstown Memorial Hall
Book at i-Site Queenstown, 22 Shotover St, or online at Eventfinder
Tuesday 15 September, Fiordland Event Centre, Te Anau
Book at Fab & Finesse, 66 Town Centre,
Thursday 17 September, SIT Centrestage, Invercargill
Book at SIT Centrestage, 33 Don St, Invercargill or online at Ticket Direct
Friday 18 September, West Otago Community Centre, Tapanui
Book at Ideal Print, 39 Northumberland, or online at
Saturday 19 September, Balclutha Memorial Hall
Book at Johnstone Electrical, 60 Clyde St, or online at
Young Playwrights ready to present their shows
The four young playwrights who were selected to take part in our 2015 Studio 4x4 Young Playwrights Initiative, Jennifer Schack, Hamish Annan, Shaun Swain and Peter Croft have been working hard for the last ten weeks with two trainee directors, Bronwyn Wallace and Jordan Dickson, and under the guidance of Artistic Director, Lara Macgregor and theatre guru, Simon O'Connor.
We are delighted to present professionally staged readings of their plays on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th September at 7pm in the Fortune Studio.
The plays are:
Let Go
Written by Jennifer Schack
Directed by Bronwyn Wallace
FUGUE Or: A Psychology of Happiness
Written by Hamish Annan
Directed by Jordan Dickson
Untitled or Work in Progress
Written by Shaun Swain
Directed by Jordan Dickson
Penalty
Written by Peter Croft
Directed by Bronwyn Wallace
All tickets are $5 and the run time is approximately 1 hour.
or call our box office on .
Time Stands Still Photography Competition
Are you a keen photographer? Take part in the Jonathan's Photo Warehouse Photo Competition that we are running in conjunction with Time Stands Still and be in to win amazing prizes!
Sarah, the main character in Time Stands Still, is a photojournalist who works to "Capture the truth, not stage it". So we're using the idea of "Capturing the Truth" as the theme for our photo competition.
Photos need to be submitted digitally to Lucy Summers via or on a memory stick to 231 Stuart St, Dunedin by 12noon, Monday 21 September
Up to three photos can be submitted per person. Size: 1500 pixels on the longest side.
Twenty photos that best represent the theme "Capturing the Truth" will be selected for the final round of the competition. These will be printed and displayed in the foyer of Fortune Theatre, on our website and our Facebook page during the season of Time Stands Still.
The winner of the Best Photo Award will be judged by Jonathan from Jonathan's Photo Warehouse on Monday 19 October and the winner will take home a fantastic photographer's prize pack.
The public will be invited to vote for the People's Choice Award by placing their vote in the box in the theatre foyer and via Facebook. The winner of the People's Choice Award will receive a double pass to a show of their choice at Fortune Theatre in 2016 (season to be announced on 30 November).
For more information, please Lucy Summers or call her on ext 2.
Good luck!
Thank you very much to Jonathan's Photo Warehouse for their support!
Flagons & Foxtrots - Girls Night Out!
Get your friends together for a fun and festive girls night of singing, dancing and laughing at Flagons & Foxtrots!
Thursday, 3rd December, 7.30pm
A free glass of sparkling wine, a treat-filled goodie bag, spot prizes and your ticket to see Flagons & Foxtrots, all for just $48.
The play is set in 1965 in a local dance hall. Archie Moore has big dreams of stardom and it looks like tonight may be his lucky break. He has two obstacles: his hormone-ravaged brother Pinkie and the fact that Sid won’t even let them play! Throw in Jack and Jillian’s rocky romance, Rita’s pulse-racing twist lessons, a few sneaky pints out the back and sooner or later someone’s bound to step on someone else’s toes... Read more about the play here.
Get in quick before this special event sells out!
