The Fortune Theatre raised the red curtain on its 2011 season last night, revealing one of the most contemporary and eclectic seasons in recent years.
The season reflects new artistic director Lara Macgregor's promise of an increased focus on contemporary New Zealand work.
"Part of my agenda this season is to up the New Zealand content. We're in a golden age of New Zealand theatre and I want to ensure the Fortune is part of that," she said.
"I'm excited about all of the selected plays. I wanted to shift the perception of the theatre and these were the most exciting stories around. This season has ended up being very contemporary; everything was written in the last decade.
"When you're programming, you want to embrace a wide variety of plays. You also want to balance - light, dark, light, dark - in story content. These are all stories that reflect our society, as we are," she said.
"We want to embrace the eclectic nature and creativity of Dunedin and the contemporary, fresh nature of our 2011 season reflects that."
The Fortune will produce nine plays this season, including three main-stage New Zealand plays: the world premiere of The Truth Game, a newsroom drama charged with sex, lies and split infinitives, by Otago Daily Times deputy editor Simon Cunliffe, Dave Armstrong's satirical comedy The Tutor and the ever-popular Roger Hall's latest play, A Short Cut to Happiness.
Avenue Q is a big Broadway hit and winner of the 2004 Tony Award for best new musical, while international comedy Five Women Wearing The Same Dress and the "compelling and chaotic" God of Carnage round out the bill.
The 2011 season starts next week with the New Zealand premiere of English playwright Patrick Barlow's farcical comedy The Wonder of Sex, which opens on February 18 and runs until March 12.
Underlying the Fortune's commitment to regional theatre, The Wonder of Sex will also be toured to Invercargill (March 16 and 17), Te Anau (March 18), Tapanui (March 19), Alexandra (March 21 and 22), Wanaka (March 24 and 25) and Oamaru (March 27).
"We're Otago and Southland's only professional theatre, so it's very important to be reaching communities that can't come to Dunedin every weekend," Ms Macgregor says.
"It's also a treat for us to visit these communities and to get to know them. The performers love the tours. They're also a reminder that we need to have fun. It's about entertainment and having fun. I want people to be engaged and challenged intellectually.
"We would have loved to have gone further afield, but sadly the technical complexities of the show were not compatible with some spaces. We aim to be further reaching in 2012."
Two school holiday plays will also be produced - Supernan in July and The Little Jester in October - while the theatre will again play a big part in the 2011 Dunedin Fringe Festival, which runs from March 17 to 27.
For new manager Jeremy Smith, who joined the Fortune in September, the tension is growing.
"Some of the plays have great challenges associated with them, but that's part of the fun and the challenge," he says.
"On February 18, I'll be sitting in the audience just as excited as anyone else there. That's the best part of the job; enjoying live theatre. That's when we get to put it on and sit back and enjoy it."
The dramatic duo are already feeling right at home in the Fortune.
"We've slotted in very easily," Mr Smith says.
"The network and the energy here has been great. Everyone here is working because they want to be here and want this environment to exist. It's very much a collective and everyone is equally valued for their contribution. It's about making sure it's a healthy organisation and that we put on the best work possible.
"There's a very strong connection in Dunedin with the Fortune Theatre. A lot of people still have incredibly fond memories of the old Athenaeum. A lot of people have enjoyed the Fortune over the last 40 years."
