Bruce Mason Centre’s 25th Birthday

The Dust Palace.

25 years at the heart of the arts

- 25th anniversary of Bruce Mason Centre

Nestled in the heart of Takapuna, the Bruce Mason Centre has been the beating heart of the North Shore’s arts and community celebrations for a quarter of a century. Today, locals are increasingly likely not to recall a time before the Centre stood proudly on the corner of Hurstmere Road and The Promenade. Its opening, however, was a hard-won victory that took 12 years to realise, and 25 years later is a cause for celebration with a flurry of community events to mark the occasion.

The dream of a world-class home for the arts in Takapuna was first mooted in 1984, with the North Shore Theatre and Conference Trust formed to helm the project that worked 'towards a community cultural and civic amenity for North Shore City'. Under the leadership of arts champion Angela Antony, the group set about establishing relationships with local stakeholders and securing a site to realise the local community’s dream.

While the Trust knew it might take a few years to build the Bruce, what followed was a dozen years of planning, fundraising, and navigating ever-changing local governance as Takapuna City Council was amalgamated into a larger North Shore City Council. The Trust, however, was resolute and well-organised, and not even a threat to take over the land to build a supermarket and car park could rattle them as they charged through choppy waters to create a home for local arts.

In 1996, the Bruce Mason Centre was finally opened in memory of one of New Zealand’s most-beloved playwrights, Takapuna local Bruce Mason. The heart of the centre has always been its community, and it remains the largest dedicated theatre and performance venue on the Shore, attracting over 100,000 visitors annually to performances and programmes of theatre, music, dance, comedy, and more.

Thirty-seven years after the idea was first floated, the Trust has been dissolved, North Shore City Council has been absorbed into the wider Auckland Super City, and Auckland Live now steers the ship at the Bruce Mason Centre. The essence of the venue, however, remains for the locals for whom it was built.

Auckland Live welcomes everyone to join in the celebration of this community milestone with a line-up of both ticketed and free familyfriendly events everyone can enjoy. This includes: • Auckland’s favourite circus company, The Dust Palace; • a bevy of local dance schools showcasing their talents in free performances on Sunday 8 August; • and the Auckland Principal Brass Quartet offering locals a chance to hear reimagined musical classics with a cuppa and a biscuit on

Monday 9 August at the popular Auckland Live Morning Melodies.

To learn more about the performances and book tickets, visit aucklandlive.co.nz

Happy 25th to the Bruce Mason Centre

Christine Young takes an in depth look into the history of the Bruce Mason Centre, that actually spans almost four decades.

The Bruce Mason Centre celebrates the 25th anniversary of its opening this month. But there were times it seemed it would never happen. It’s 37 years since the North Shore theatre project was initiated through North Shore Operatic Society and other community arts groups, and nearly 30 years since North Shore City Council, taking over from Takapuna City Council, agreed to The Promenade site for development of a theatre and pledged $3 million towards construction costs. The saga of its development, if not lost in the mists of time, has faded from community memory as those who drove the project for so long to ensure its success have aged or moved out of the area. Christine Young looks back at what was involved.

The drive to develop the theatre was led by the North Shore Theatre and Conference Centre Trust (NSTCCT), which was formed in 1984. The first sod was turned nearly 11 years later in 1995, and around the same time nine individuals from diverse business, community and arts backgrounds were appointed by Council to the Bruce Mason Centre Board of Management Trust to run the theatre, replacing the NSTCCT.

In June 1996, just 15 months after construction started, the first performance in the new centre took place – the North Shore Competitions Choirs Festival ¬– and in August the then-Governor General Sir Michael Hardie Boys officially opened the centre ahead of a performance of Takapuna playwright Bruce Mason’s solo play ‘End of the Golden Weather’.

Geoff Clews is a senior Auckland barrister specialising in tax and trusts matters. Outside his legal practice, and over almost 40 years, he has also been involved in the development, establishment and governance of three performing arts venues: The Rose Centre in Belmont, the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna and Q Theatre in Queen Street. His involvement in the Bruce Mason Centre development began in 1984 when he was president of Company Theatre (a community theatre group in Belmont) and a newly minted partner in a major law firm. For Company Theatre, Geoff had already been involved in the establishment of The Rose Centre and as feeling on the Shore built that something more than The PumpHouse and The Rose Centre was needed to foster the performing arts on the Shore, he was deputed to attend a public meeting to discuss the need for a

Geoff Clews, was on the steering committee and became chair of the North Shore Theatre and Conference Centre Trust (NSTCCT) that was established with the aim of building the Bruce Mason Centre in 1984. He was then appointed by Council to chair of the Bruce Mason Centre Board of Management Trust to run the theatre, replacing the NSTCCT, when the theatre was opened in the mid-90s. He remained Chair until 2009. Angela Antony (centre), pictured with Sir Roger Hall and Heather Sharples, was a leading figure – “providing boundless energy” – in the NSTCCT and Bruce Mason Centre Board of Management Trust that established the Bruce Mason Centre.

The Bruce Mason Centre site on the corner of Hurstmere Road and The Promenade before the build in the 90s. Bruce Mason Centre during construction in the 90s.

larger-scale performing arts centre.

He missed that meeting because his twins (now aged 36) were being born, but his name was put forward “as someone who could help the cause”. Geoff found himself on the steering committee, doing the legal work to establish the NSTCCT, and elected to chair it. Over the next 15 years the NSCCT lobbied, and then worked with, the North Shore City Council to establish what became the BMC.

“The NSTCCT was in every sense of the phrase a ‘community action group’,” Geoff notes. “It was made up of a wonderful group of people (many of whom have sadly passed away), who were all committed to the idea of creating an asset of lasting value for our community.”

“My role as Chair required me to with deal with politicians of all stripes,” he adds, “some of whom were supportive of the concept of an arts centre but many of whom were not (one mayor of the time wanted a supermarket to be built on the site where the BMC now stands). We had champions in Takapuna Mayor Wynn Hoadley and in North Shore Mayor George Gair, but there was sometimes real friction with others.”

Alongside fundraising and lobbying, the Trust, calling on the help of “true local experts”, had to become “experts on trends in theatre design, acoustics and the conferences and events industry…. The commitment of time was simply enormous. Over the 12 years before the BMC opened, I invested many thousands of hours and to this day I am grateful to my then law partners for their generosity in allowing me to pursue this effort.

“The shape of politics also gradually changed on the Shore to our advantage. The amalgamation of seven North Shore local authorities into a new city in 1989 meant that there was more of an acknowledgment that a city required a certain level of amenity in which venues such as a theatre and conference centre, and a stadium, had an important role to play. It is no coincidence that the BMC and North Harbour Stadium developed at about the same time – they were part of the Shore ‘growing up’,” says Geoff. “The arguments gradually changed from whether a performing arts centre should be built to where it should be located.”

The shape of politics may have changed – but funds were still needed. The NSTCCT ran a fundraising effort that raised almost $10 million towards the construction budget (then one of the largest efforts of its type in New Zealand). Key contributors were Sir Steven Tindall and Canon NZ. Despite the success of the campaign, however, in the latter stages of construction “we were introduced to the painful process of ‘value management’ – what happens when you realise you don’t have enough money to have everything you thought you could”.

Having led the effort to establish a venue, Geoff then moved to leading a business start-up in the venue. “I helped establish a charitable entity to act as the BMC Management Board, with members appointed from Council and the community. This was an intricate job to ensure that the BMC could retain independence and not have to consolidate into the North Shore City finances.”

Geoff was also asked to chair that Board and he remained as Chair until 2009. By that time, he had left his law firm to practice as a barrister and had worked on and in the BMC for 25 years. “I felt it was time for someone else to take over.”

Community expectations of cheap access to the BMC were high. North Shore Council also had its own expectations of the BMC’s financial independence, and the Board walked the delicate tightrope of operating a commercial model and encouraging community access. Managing both sets of expectations was, says Geoff in what one suspects is masterly understatement, “a perennial challenge”.

The Board (and the NSTCCT before it) benefited from the presence of experienced business people “like Graham Hitch, Dr Ian McPherson, and Gordon Lamont” and “the boundless energy of Angela Antony as well as many others”. With a comparatively modest but welcome annual operating grant from North Shore City, the Board consistently met the city’s financial expectations to be cash positive by each year-end. “We were amazed and somewhat envious of the level at which the operating deficits of Aotea Centre were subsidised by Auckland City.”

Geoff says the 13 years during which he led the BMC Management Board taught him “an enormous amount about the performing arts”. As the design became reality, “I felt huge satisfaction seeing how the Centre could change quickly, for example, from theatre mode to hosting a seated dinner for several hundred people. The intimacy of the auditorium continues to surprise me every time I take a seat there. It makes performances really proximate and tangible, and its acoustic quality is great. These were all objectives [the NSTCCT] insisted on and got right.”

Of course, it wasn’t all about the arts. Innovative work by the Board established partnerships with various Shore establishments, such as the Spencer on Byron, to attract conference business and package show deals. “These are now par-for-the-course in the industry,” Geoff notes, “but were new then to Shore businesses. By the time I stood down from the BMC Board, to concentrate more on the development of Q Theatre in Auckland, we had a solid arts and conference business.”

In 2015, after almost 20 years of operation, the centre was honoured as the Medium Venue of the Year by the Entertainment Venues Association – “so it was still seen after that time as an innovative and flexible mid-range venue”.

“However, by 2014 I think two things had undermined the earlier business success of the BMC. First, the creation of the unitary Auckland Council meant that operating capital available to support the BMC became more of a problem. A Local Board could not independently support it as a priority in the way the former North Shore City had. Secondly, the competition from Aotea Centre, the Town Hall and the Civic became more intense. Under a single city, the arts venues in the central city were attracting the big names and events. Over time the BMC developed an unhappy reputation as presenting a diet of tribute bands and imported dance companies. This was unfair but the perception began to take hold, so that it became more difficult to attract shows and audiences.”

By 2014 the Centre faced a significant debt that the Auckland Council was not prepared to meet without governance of the Centre being brought under the wing of Auckland Live. Geoff remained involved – as a member of the Board of Regional Facilities Auckland

(now part of Auckland Unlimited), which ran Auckland Live. While he was on the RFA Board, he watched closely how the BMC fitted into the business plan for Auckland Live. He stood down from the RFA board at the end of 2019, as required by Auckland Council, after his second term. While Geoff says some of the local oversight may have been lost in the transition to Auckland Council, he has “great confidence in Auckland Live to make the best possible use of the BMC for the benefit of Auckland as a whole”.

Geoff notes that in addition to the BMC playing a role as an important arts venue in the wider Auckland region it has also played a significant role as a civic venue, such as for graduation and naturalisation ceremonies, which aligns with the original idea that the venue should be a modern Town Hall for the Shore.

Some events on the Shore over the last 25 years, he adds, could not have happened without the BMC – such as those by professional arts companies, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the NZSO and Auckland Philharmonia. “But I am not sure that it has become the hub of community performing arts that we envisaged. That may be because the balance between financial success and lower cost community access has been very difficult to achieve and the design requirements for financial success (such as seating numbers and stage size) mean that the ‘step up’ for community performers can be challenging.”

And despite its current success as a dedicated “variety” venue in the Auckland Live stable, there are still challenges to be faced, Geoff notes. “This is now an older public building and there is a need for ‘next generation’ thinking about how to prepare it, and use it, for the next 25 years.”

But for now, 25th anniversary celebrations take ‘Centre’ stage. The anniversary celebrations started with performances on 30 July and culminate over the weekend of 7-9 August. Key among these were Nightsong theatre company’s performances of ‘Te Pō’ – a play that had not previously been performed on the Shore but which centres around three characters searching for Bruce Mason – who (spoiler alert) is eventually found on Te Parenga – Bruce Mason’s fictionally titled but very recognisable [Takapuna] beach from his own play ‘End of the Golden Weather’.

One of the trustees of Nightsong is North Shore born and raised Rachel Antony, CEO of Greenstone Pictures, award winning television production company responsible for, among many other productions, ‘Vegas’, Dog Squad’, ‘Border Patrol’, and ‘Hudson & Halls A Love Story’.

She is delighted that Nightsong and ‘Te Pō’ are part of the Bruce Mason Centre celebrations. Daughter of the redoubtable Angela Antony, she grew up in a household “of endless meetings” as moves to get the new theatre were beginning. “I was only 11 when Mum first became determined to get a ‘proper’ theatre built on the Shore, to allow for productions of scale,” Rachel recalls. “The house was very regularly the venue for Board meetings for the steering committee, so I remember being relegated to my bedroom while the lounge was taken over with the group of hugely committed people who, over the dozen years it took to make the BMC a reality, became close to our whole family. “I was 23 and living in London the year the theatre finally opened – so I missed the milestone of the opening! But in 2000, Dad [the late John Antony] directed the NSMT production of Les Miserables at ‘The Bruce’ and I was his production assistant, which was really special.”

Rachel’s early memories include “wreaking havoc backstage at rehearsals for shows (almost knocking over scenery by running where I shouldn’t, that kind of thing); being transfixed by the incredible performers in the musicals Dad was involved in and watching him craft a show; and Mum designing and sewing costumes.”

She was in several plays and musicals in her teens and twenties, but ultimately, she says, “I am a far better producer than I am a performer! Being surrounded by all that creativity as a kid undoubtedly influenced my choice of career though. I was really lucky to grow up in that world.

“I think it’s really special to have had this work staged at the Bruce Mason Centre while celebrating the centenary of his birth and the theatre’s quarter century; ‘Te Pō’ reunites characters from two of Bruce Mason’s most famous works – Detective Inspector Brett and Werihe Paku from ‘Awatea’, and Reverend Athol Sedgwick from ‘The Pohutakawa Tree’, who explore themes of grief, memory and the afterlife. It’s an extraordinary play,” she says. (For those who missed the live performances at the end of July, that the play’s creators, writer Carl Bland and director Ben Crowder (from Nightsong) have just released a shortened version of Te Po which played on RNZ National in mid-July: https://www.rnz.co.nz/ collections/dramas/audio/2018802277/te-po-by-carl-bland.)

Rachel believes that arts venues – large and small – play an important role in any community. “I hope Shore residents can appreciate how much aroha and dedicated, unpaid mahi went into creating the BMC. I love that it’s in the heart of Takapuna, directly connected to Bruce Mason’s beloved beach – and how lucky we New Zealanders are, in the time of Covid, to be able to go to live theatre and concerts.”

Rachel Antony, being the daughter of Angela Antony (and the late John), grew up in a household “of endless meetings” as moves to get the new theatre were beginning. She is now CEO of award winning television production company Greenstone Pictures and a trustee of Nightsong Theatre Company. Nightsong and ‘Te Pō’ are part of the Bruce Mason Centre’s 25th celebrations.

The centre was named after Bruce Mason who grew up in Takapuna. Bruce Edward George Mason CBE (1921-1982) was a significant playwright in New Zealand who wrote 34 plays and influenced the cultural landscape of the country through his contribution to theatre. He was born in Wellington and his family moved to Takapuna when he was five. Mason's most well known play is The End of the Golden Weather. Another significant play is The Pohutukawa Tree written during the 1950s and 1960s.

The Bruce Mason Centre marks its 25th anniversary until 9 August with Te Po kicking off the celebrations, followed by performances over the first week of August ranging from The Dust Palace's new family show ‘The Ice Cream is Melting!’ to an Auckland Dance Schools’ Showcase and Auckland Principal Brass Quintet’s performance as one of the BMC’s Morning Melodies programmes. See https://www.aucklandlive.co.nz/event/brucemason-centre-25th-birthday for details.

Local Life

In Channel Magazine we love highlighting people in our community who make a difference. Two local Devonport Peninsula people, Kate and Lauren, have created ‘Local Life NZ’ a social media entity doing similar online. We love what they do, so we’re now collaborating with them to include content in Channel Mag. This month they profile Glenda Kane, Caroline Everitt and Hillary Condon as well as eateries Cafe Chateaubriant, Five Loaves and Waitemata Golf Club.

Glenda Kane

"I was an avid reader as a child. My books were my treasures. I kept my five current favourites at the end of my bookshelf between two small rocks. Every night before falling asleep, I would mentally rehearse what I would do if my house caught fire – leap out of bed, snatch the five books and run to safety. I used to agonise over which ones made the cut at any given time.

My love of reading led to a passion for writing from an early age. I remember getting a few things published on the back page of The Herald back in the day.

But from the beginning I dreamed of writing children’s books. I guess it stems from the fact that children’s books were my first love. There are more things on the horizon – new writing, another book being republished. I don’t think I’ll ever stop. Try as I might, I can’t NOT write. I just love it." – Glenda Kane, writer and author Mangrove by Glenda Kane and illustrated by Lisa Allen (first published in 2007) has been republished in 2021 by Bateman Books. It tells the story of the life cycle of a mangrove, offering an alternative view of the world and conveying the importance and beauty of nature. Her second children’s book, Anzac Day Parade, is due to be republished shortly.

Devonport Chocolates

“People often ask me how we got through last year – a small, family-run business dealing in a niche product was bound to take a hammering in the face of a global pandemic.

It was all down to the locals, I say. And I mean it. We couldn’t have gotten through last year without the support of our local community. It makes me realise how lucky we are to be here.

It was probably the Prime Minister saying that the Easter Bunny was an essential worker during lockdown last year that marked our greatest turning point. Despite having to close both shops, we completely sold out of all our Easter stock. I worked for 16 days straight fulfilling online orders. It was madness.

I never thought I’d end up in chocolate. Mum and Dad bought the business back in the '90s and were very hands-on but I was focused on other things – I did a communications degree and then started work in the cosmetics industry. I remember Mum going off to Chocolate School in Melbourne and coming back with all these great ideas. But she always says you have to be careful not to have too many flavours. You can’t be all things to all people.

Everyone reckons working with chocolate is the ultimate dream job. And it is. “ – Caroline Everitt, Devonport Chocolates Devonport Chocolates is celebrating 30 years of business this month, and has launched a special Anniversary Selection box made up of customers’ favourite chocolates to mark the occasion.

The Bunker

“I’ve had so many fabulous nights up at the Bunker, too many to say which was my favourite. I’ve been going to the Bunker since 1970; it’s like my second home. My father was a bass player in dance bands and he really got me interested in music. I used to play the Appalachian dulcimer, like Joni Mitchell. It only has three strings but makes a very sweet sound.

If you really listen to the lyrics of a folk song, you’ll hear a story, a slice of history. Tuppence on the Rope is a great example – during the Depression, out-of-work and homeless people would sleep sitting with their arms over a rope if they couldn’t afford a bed for the night. Even during lockdown, we kept the Bunker sessions going via Zoom calls from home. We’d OUR PLACE Stories of Local Life play music and chat, a cat would walk across someone's desk, it was so comforting. We had folkies from America, England, Australia that we hadn’t seen in decades dropping in and jamming with us. Those Covid sessions were like a mecca in the middle of nowhere.” – Hilary Condon. Hilary is the secretary and treasurer of The Devonport Folk Music Club which holds club nights every Monday evening at the Bunker on

Takarunga/Mt Victoria and special performances on Sunday evenings (see club page on Facebook for details).

If you have a story you would like to share or know of a local hero, contact Kate Dobbin & Lauren Lulu Taylor at hello@localifenz.com Follow Local Life NZ on Facebook and Instagram – @LocalLifeNZ

Late in 2020 we published a book “OUR PLACE” featuring 50 Local Life stories from our community. The interest saw us sell out of the first two print runs so we did a third run.

We still have a few copies left that can be purchased. If you missed out and are interested in a copy then email us at hello@locallifenz.com.

The book is available for purchase at Paradox Books, Devonport for $30.

“We’re all in this together. Laura Foote u are a bloody legend!! Oh Hannah you really are wee shining light in this dark time for many. Keep glowing n growing you special woman you. Thank you Sam for your welcoming smile, a joke or song. You cheer up my day. Sam is such a delightful and special human being who goes out of his way to be helpful to everyone. Poems, politics, saving the world are but a few of his attributes. Love the Patriot, guess that makes me a Patriot! We as a family have been going there for around 25 years. Amazing how little we need and how much we have. Ron- I know this man and what a privilege that is. I have many happy memories of this lovely Vic theatre, used to visit in the late 50’s - early 60’s. I’m a big fan of Devon on the Wharf. Nigar is very welcoming and warm hearted. Nilesh & Dosa- They are just lovely human beings, love them. LOVE Paradox books! A wonderful selection of books and great service always and ambience. It’s not what you do that’s important ...It’s the passion you do it with! Thanks so much for the yummy croissants Alan. Can’t wait to claim the table again on Wednesday mornings. Sam is wonderful and my dog Ivy is absolutely besotted with him. Sam, you are a legend ... such a star and we hope you keep on shining your bright light. Thank you for being you.We love Whites. Legends. Brilliant ♥ lovely! Amazingly inspirational. Laura- a very special uniquely gorgeous being ♥ One of Devonport’s unsung heroes! Laura’s positivity is inspiring. Just simply the best! Love this all the way! The Pub looks (and is ) Amazing. Well said Ken. You’re a good man ♥ Some of my favourite people right here! Kate Walden Ben Walden Bill and Gerri, two big hearts. Making a huge difference and changing lives. ♥ ♥ Thank you Kashish & Sam, you’re both so friendly and helpful, every time I walk in I feel so welcomed. Wonderful...there are some great people out there… It just goes to show how valued you are in the community Josie. You provide us a happy place to come to.” OUR PLACE Stories of Local Life

OUR PLACE – STORIES OF LOCAL LIFE DEVONPORT LOCAL LIFE NZ

Foodie Finds is a monthly column by Kate Dobbin and Lauren Lulu Taylor which profiles local food producers and their products in the Devonport area. If you have suggestions of products or producers for us to consider, please email Kate on kdobbin7@gmail.com or Lulu at Lulu@secretkiwikitchen.com

Tucked Away: Tantalising Takeaways

The art of surprise reinvention is one of our favourite restaurant qualities, and here in Devonport we have that in spades at Café Chateaubriant on Vauxhall Road. By day, café owner Alan and chef Yannick serve a range of coffees, pastries and baguettes but every Thursday evening they transport customers to the culinary regions of their homeland with a tour of their grandmothers’ favourite dishes.

Recipes and ingredients match the various pockets of France, including carbonnade briskets from the flatlands of the north; hearty coq au vin and beef cheeks with pinot noir sauce from wine-rich Burgundy; duck cassoulet from the historic market towns of the Languedoc; and pork belly, pommes sarladaise and cepes mushrooms from the hot and dry southwest. Occasionally they’ll step over the Meditterean coastline with an offering of Greek Moussaka or Moroccan Lamb Tagine. Each week a different hearty and comforting dish is served, along with wine pairing suggestions (French, of course) so you can dine in true European style. Served with pasta, potatoes, salad or greens, this new take on a takeaway dinner oozes with flavour, flair and a whole lotta love.

Café Chateaubriant takeaway dinners are available from 5-7pm every Thursday. Vegetarian options and kids’ menus are available and all meals are gluten-free. Pre-orders are essential!

Other hidden takeaway gems include the delicious Thai takeaways from Five Loaves (pre order and pick-up by 6pm) and Friday Specials from the Derby Street restaurant at the Waitemata Golf Club (preorders suggested).

Café Chateaubriant

87a Vauxhall Road, Devonport https://www.chateaubriant.co.nz/ Tel: 09 445 0021 Monday: Closed Saturday - Sunday: 7 am - 2.30 pm Takeaway dinners are $22.50 each.

Five Loaves

29 Church Street, Devonport Tel: 09 445 8954 Pick-up before 6pm daily

Waitemata Golf Club

15 Derby Street, Devonport Tel: 09 445 8716 Kitchen open every day (Friday 10am-8pm)

NORTH SHORE’S FAMILY CLUB FOR SAILING, BOATING & SOCIALISING

• The best sailing waters in NZ • Conveniently located beside Milford Marina • Affordable membership • Sailing, Boating & Social memberships • Strong Junior Sailing Programme • Social events for members every week • Fantastic Venue for Hire

Milford Cruising Club, Craig Road, Milford

Email: milfordcruising@xtra.co.nz Phone: 09-489-6837 Visit: www.milfordcruisingclub.co.nz