State house theatre gets green light for festival
An ambitious project to turn a state house slated for demolition into a theatre has secured Government funding.
It’s been 10 months since the idea first struck Mt Roskill local John Leach to turn No 3 Roseman Ave – the location for Toa Fraser’s award-winning film No2 – into a backyard theatre.
It’s come together with scraps of funding and lots of hard work since then, but the newly formed No 3 Roskill Theatre company now has the security of being able to pay its members.
The 18 young Roskill locals who will devise and perform a show as part of the Auckland Arts Festival will be funded for 30 hours’ work each week through the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).
The funding, which runs for 26 weeks, is part of the Flexi-Wage subsidy, MSD’s Mark Goldsmith said. It’s an initiative which allows people to participate in project-based work where they can develop on-the-job skills and work habits.
Company member Tafadzwa Chikomba said it was ‘‘very refreshing’’ to be funded for a creative project.
Fellow actor Maia Ratana agreed, saying with the push of support from MSD it felt like the project was being taken seriously.
Their show, Love to Say Goodbye, will tell the stories of a community displaced by Ka¯ inga Ora redevelopments. The two state houses being used for the production were slated for demolition, like so many others in the neighbourhood.
Even as the company started devising the show in January, they weren’t sure how much of the properties they would be able to use.
After a months-long negotiation, Ka¯inga Ora has now granted the company use of the outside areas of the two Roseman Ave houses.
They had hoped to get inside No 3, but that was dashed by building reports deeming the property too unsafe. The reports discovered asbestos and ceiling and roofing at risk of collapse, Ka¯inga Ora’s Roskill development lead Lucy Smith said.
But with an agreement reached to provide the outside area of the properties – including Ka¯ inga Ora tidying the grounds – construction started on the stage this week.
Artistic director Tanya Muagututi’a said after rehearsing at offices and Mount Roskill Grammar School, the company couldn’t wait to be at the house.
‘‘I’ve felt that weight of uncertainty around the house, but that’s all worth it when it comes to working with this company.’’
One of the company members has been working on the show while going through being relocated from Roskill because of the redevelopment, while another was waiting for that time to come, she said.
‘‘They are living the story being told. Although we have come up with some roadblocks, literally, as the area is being built around us, our focus also has been this project being the first of many hopefully.’’