By TONY GEE
MANGONUI - Thieves have stopped the show at New Zealand's northernmost movie theatre.
The 60-seat Swamp Palace cinema in the tiny settlement of Oruru south-west of Mangonui, was largely stripped of equipment by intruders who broke into the building one night last week.
The cinema is run by Former NZ International Film Festival director Richard Weatherly, who says he is now wondering whether he should try to keep it going or "just walk away."
"They took everything except the seats, projector and screen," Mr Weatherly said.
The former Dunedin-based film festival chief is the Swamp Palace director, manager, film procurer, projectionist and ticket and sweet seller at the community theatre, noted, among other things, for a tongue-in-cheek pricing policy which charges Aucklanders $2 more than local patrons.
Property taken included a slide projector and valuable lenses specially adapted for the theatre and of no use to anyone else, a CD player, classical music cassettes, the cinema heater, a 20-litre drum of projector oil, light bulbs and confectionery, altogether worth more than $5000.
Mangonui constable Wally Broughton said a trail of sweets led from the cinema to the road outside where the thieves had parked a vehicle.
Insurance is expected to cover at least part of the loss, but the cinema will be closed for up to a month.
Mr Weatherly's next movie, starting the night after the break-in, was to have been Gone in 60 Seconds, a film about thieves.
Thieves take the lights and the action
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