Page 4 - OT_70th Anniversary

By this time (1956) membership had grown showed an interest that had known no
to 225 with 144 active members - and we equal over the previous few years.
badly needed a home of our own.
Looking for a new home was the prime
This came to fruition in May, 1957, when, object. Negotiations with the Whangarei
after the final curtain call of ‘Bonaventure’, Intermediate School Hall Committee
Mr. Jack Birchall, the Vice-President, proved to be a blessing to us and we were
announced that the Society had taken a able to conduct monthly play readings from
long lease of the Warrington Studios in March 1964.
Cameron Street. A home of our own at
last!

Over the next three weeks a stage was
erected, the auditorium completely
repainted, lighting installed and seating for
100 provided. The first major production in
our little theatre was ‘The School for Wives’
but the cast found the stage a little
cramped and it was obvious that, while the
place was adequate for play readings, it
was not the place for major productions.

The decision to return to the Town Hall was
a difficult one as we knew that the added
expense would be hard to sustain but we Rehearsals for the Pageant of the Year 1964
had no alternative. We had to have the
income earned from successful The search for a home of our own seemed
performances of major shows to keep us in to be an ongoing problem. March 1969
the black. This continued until June 1960, saw the start of things to come with the
with rehearsals being held in our own rental of a large old house at 13 Aubrey
studio. Street for conditional use at a peppercorn
rental of $2.00 per annum. It must be
Many things happened to the Society at noted here that the City Council had
this time; the lease of the studio was bought the property because, at that stage,
terminated, the financial situation was the Norfolk Street extension was on the
critical and the sudden rash of resignations agenda, the extension going right through
made things even more difficult. But the the property to meet up with Donald Street.
small band of "willing horses" who stood But - it didn't happen!
together to keep the Society alive deserved

all the credit for its survival. 13 Aubrey Street c1987

A frank discussion on the way the
Whangarei Repertory Society should
continue in the future was held at the
Annual General Meeting of 1963. It was
the feeling of some thirty members present
that ‘We will go ahead, we have keen
members, people who have a love of
straight theatre’.

Once more a small group stood shoulder to
shoulder. The Old Folks’ Club Rooms
were used for play readings until the
Society obtained the rental of the Burns
Philp building in Hannah Street for
rehearsal rooms in August 1963. These
rooms were used for Society meetings
which were well attended and members

2