Wellington's Downstage Theatre during the New Zealand Festival, 2008: Te Karakia and Where We Once Belonged

Continuing my posts about Wellington's Downstage Theatre, here are two shows from 2008 - Taki Rua Theatre's Te Karakia, and Auckland Theatre Company's Where We Once Belonged, both part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival in '08.  (And a few people enjoying the hospitality after opening night, too!)

It's interesting to see the space in a different configuration - in traverse - for these two shows.  It's one of those things that was always possible in the theatre, but not too many shows (at least, of the ones I saw) took advantage of that option.

I've actually got a print of one of these sitting on my desk at work, too - a black & white version of the one of Robbie Magasiva, sitting in the dark. I've always liked that one...!

There have been a few headlines about the theatre in the last couple of days, but no miracle solutions to save it at the eleventh hour; here are a few of the articles from the Dominion Post: - Curtain closing on Downstage - Downstage exit left, but the show will go on - The sad demise of Downstage - Downstage closure a tragedy

There's an active discussion forum on the topic at Theatreview.org.nz (with collected links to other news articles at Radio New Zealand), and a collection of historic photos at Downstage's own Facebook page as well.