Q Theatre: first performance review

The Aucklander sent our least qualified theatre critic along to join a Friday morning show at the partly completed Q Theatre. Edward Rooney writes.
Not to be unkind from the outset but it does appear this show is something of a work in progress.
I join 11 others for the opening matinee performance of the Q Theatre the day after a new auditorium roof goes on to make the building watertight. Tonight, there will be a roof shout for the construction crew. But for now I will experience a dusty and dry guided tour with core cast members.
Leading the show today is project manager Tim Dowson. He's accompanied by general manager Suzanne Ritzenhoff; a site manager; theatre supporters Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Lealand; one arts administrator; a PR woman and a couple of other media people from places I forget.
Stepping into the site at 305 Queen St, the scene is semi-organised chaos. Scaffolding zig-zags around what will eventually be a sumptuous lobby. The walls are marred with shattered concrete, plaster, brickwork and partially destroyed mouldings. And this is apparently how the walls will stay, albeit with some mood lighting. "We want the old building peeking through in some places," Mr Dowson explains.
Scheduled for an opening night in September 2011 after $21 million worth of refit and ground-up construction, there will clearly need to be some refinement however. Mr Dowson later tells me the main construction firm Naylor Love has six months to complete the substantial build before the fit-out takes the rest of the time.
We walk through the lobby area and my mouth is rasping from the concrete dust as we pass what will one day be the lobby bar, tucked behind the box office. Directly north we stride along the same level to the main auditorium entrance. Without yet seeing any stairs, we are at the ground floor seating area and facing what will become the stage.
Craning our necks up and around, there are two further levels of seating to go above us. Mr Dowson explains how the flexi-form theatre will reconfigure five different ways to host various forms of productions. His monologue is accompanied by the sounds of grinders, drills, bandsaws and - most irritating of all - ladders scraping across concrete floors. I don't hear much of what Mr Dowson says but I nod and try looking a combination of appreciative and informed.
Downstairs we go to see what will be the actors' green room. Michael Hurst is clearly keen on this area. Also below the stage is a loading dock for trucks to deliver sets, lights and props. A large room will store the seating that's not in use. All the seats can be stored out of view here, making the venue an entirely standing-only mezzanine.
Back directly under the lobby entrance are dressing rooms and a rehearsal space. Jennifer Ward-Lealand asks about the massive low beams and Tim Dowson explains how supporting columns had to be removed and the beams are entirely necessary. He's conferred with architects to find the best colours "to give the room a lift", he adds.
Here's where we also hear about the insulation between rooms to stifle noise. The biggest noise is the Town Hall next door. Directly adjacent to us in the rehearsal room is the newly refurbished Town Hall organ. Mr Dowson says the organ sounds like the QEII cruiseship leaving harbour but the Q Theatre walls will keep most of it out.
Back up to the lobby, we cross into what will be a cafe that will open at theatre times as well as being a standalone operation. "This will be my new office," exclaims arts administrator Candice de Villiers.
General manager Suzanne Ritzenhoff asks me when it was that we once sat in Albert Park and discussed the Q Theatre project. That was back in September 2008 and I'm reminded again how driven she is to get all of this to happen.
The tour winds upstairs to the stunning secondary performance space, known less stunningly as Room 4A. This is the former space used by the James Wallace art collection. Brick walls remain, as do the art deco windows and rough-hewn cedar rafters.
Michael Hurst asks several questions about where the gantries will go for technicians and whether naked flames will be allowed. It's clear he has a specific production in mind.
We traipse out through the back of the building to surrender our costumes of hard hats and fluorescent vests.
I try to elicit a news angle from Mr Dowson about the contaminated soil which needed to be excavated and disposed of, but he successfully fends this off as being not entirely unexpected from the former Auckland City Council garage which once occupied the site.
As a work in progress, the Q Theatre show concludes without much fanfare or twists to the plot. But it's a satisfying performance that can be recommended.
Details of the four-month inaugural season will be announced early next year, but one early tip is that it will include Auckland Theatre Company's production of Roald Dahl's The Twits.