Court Theatre (New Zealand)

Can you imagine a major theatre company moving venues three times in its first eighteen months? That's what happened to the Court Theatre here in Christchurch. It all started in 1971 when Yvette Bromley and Mervyn Thompson founded the company, wanting a professional theatre in Christchurch that could stand alongside Auckland's Mercury Theatre or Wellington's Downstage Theatre. Bromley even picked the name because she loved the Royal Court Theatre in London.

Their first home was the Stone Chamber of the Canterbury Provincial Council Chambers for April and May of 1971. They even put on their first production, *The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie*, there. But it sounds like a bit of a hassle because the Māori Land Court sometimes needed the chamber, which meant striking the set, moving furniture, and then reversing the whole process for the next night. Plus, the Stone Chamber, despite being magnificent, wasn't very practical for a theatre, with little room for an audience and a lack of toilets.

So, from June 1971 to May 1972, they moved to the Durham Street Art Gallery. After that, they were in the Beggs Theatrette from June to August 1972, staging two productions.

Things settled down for a bit after that, with four years of relative stability from September 1972 to February 1976 at The Orange Hall on Worcester Street. It wasn't until 1976 that they moved into the Christchurch Arts Centre complex, into what used to be the Engineering School of Canterbury College. Their performance space there was formerly lecture room D.

The theatre company became New Zealand's largest theatre company by 2023. They returned to the central city in May 2025, opening a new purpose-built facility in the Christchurch Performing Arts precinct.