Auckland theatre group returns to stage after alleged $60k theft from account
AN Auckland theatre company is preparing to stage its summer show, despite earlier teetering on the brink of collapse after $60,000 was allegedly stolen from its bank account.
Shoreside Theatre – which is based on the North Shore – was dealt a ‘‘devastating’’ financial blow during the first week of the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown, when $60,000 was taken from its account.
This, combined with the cancellation of the theatre’s annual Agatha Christie season because of Covid-19, left the volunteer-run company on the brink of collapse.
Committee president Catherine Boniface said that the alleged theft left the theatre company with enough money for just one month of operational costs.
‘‘We were cleaned out,’’ she said.
‘‘Everyone was a bit devastated. There’s so many people that have put a lot of their lives into this.’’
In an attempt to lift the company out of financial crisis, a Givealittle was set up, yielding donations of about $8000 from volunteers and former theatre members.
It was an ‘‘incredible response’’, Boniface said.
‘‘It was a real touch-and-go moment with the whole Covid thing.’’
While the response to the plea for financial support had been ‘‘incredibly heartening’’
and gave the committee some ‘‘breathing space’’, further funding is needed to ensure the company’s future.
So the thespians got to work doing what they know best: ‘‘The only thing that was going to keep us going was to get another show on.’’
The theatre is now preparing for its 45th season of Shakespeare in the Park, with performances of Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing launching on January 23 at The PumpHouse in Takapuna’s outdoor amphitheatre.
It will be Auckland’s only outdoor summer Shakespeare season following the permanent closure of the Pop-up Globe in March last year.
Boniface said it was a bit of a gamble on whether the show would be able to go ahead, because Auckland was still in and out of Covid-19 lockdowns during the planning stages.
No-one at Shoreside Theatre is paid a wage, and all show
profits are put towards the next show.
Despite the $60,000 loss making a big dent in the budget, Boniface assured audiences the annual Shakespeare in the Park would be ‘‘business as usual’’.
‘‘You do it because you love Shakespeare and you want to perform.’’
In October, a 44-year-old man was arrested in relation to the alleged theft, a police spokesman confirmed.
‘‘The man is facing charges relating to theft by a person in a special relationship and falsifying accounts.’’
He will appear at the North Shore District Court next month.
Boniface is hopeful the theatre might be able to recoup some money once the criminal case has been dealt with.
Tickets for Shoreside Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park production can be bought from The PumpHouse Theatre website.