We are making changes here at The Court Theatre to best protect the safety of our patrons and teams from COVID-19. 

You will have likely read about the closure of Broadway theatres in New York and the postponement of festivals both here and in Australia, due to safety concerns.

It is important to remember that the volume of patrons that The Court receives is not the same as these organisations and that we are closely following guidance from the Ministry of Health to keep our community safe.

As of now, we are safe to keep our doors open. We believe the Arts have an opportunity and an obligation to our community, particularly at times like these.   

The safety of our patrons and teams is paramount however and, with infection cases expected to rise, we have taken the very difficult decision with a heavy heart to cancel our upcoming seasons of Hir, The Ferocious Animals Petting Zoo and the April performance of The Early Early Late Show. 

This decision has not been made lightly, with many factors leading to it, including difficulties around travel. All ticketholders have been contacted with information around how they can exchange their tickets or receive a credit.

Our season of Lysander’s Aunty will still open on 28 March with additional safety measures. 

The current plan is to reduce house numbers to 250 patrons per night, which will allow us to provide additional spaces between audience members. Scared Scriptless will also continue running every Friday and Saturday night with capped and spaced attendances.

With current events changing day by day we will be monitoring the situation closely and reacting accordingly. Rest assured that all ticketholders will be contacted when or if anything changes. All patrons will also receive a pre-show email closer to the time of their performance, reminding them that, if they feel unwell or anyone in their household is self-isolating, they should not attend the theatre and can call our box office on 0800 333 100 to exchange their tickets or receive a Court Theatre credit for future use. 

For audiences attending Lysander's Aunty and Scared Scriptless, we have put a variety of different safety measures in place, including providing hand sanitiser throughout the building and increasing cleaning particularly of surfaces such as doorknobs and arm rests.

We all have a role in slowing the progression of COVID-19 in Aotearoa. Anyone feeling unwell should ring Healthline on the dedicated COVID-19 number at 0800 358 5453 or ring ahead to your general practice to be advised on what to do. You can find detailed information from the Ministry of Health here.

We will continue to follow guidance from the Ministry of Health and encourage you to do so too. We will let you know if we need to take any further steps.

If you currently have tickets for an upcoming performance and would like to change your booking, please contact our box office on 0800 333 100 or by emailing bookings@courttheatre.org.nz.

Arts institutions and practitioners are especially affected by the uncertainty created by the current pandemic to which end we will also be asking if people would like to donate the value of their tickets to the theatre. Should you require a refund, please let us know. In these uncertain times, we ask for your patience as any refunds required will take time. 

We are aware these are challenging times and are working hard to support each other and keep our community safe. We hope you do the same and will continue to join us here at The Court to share laughter and come together. Now, more than ever, we believe this is especially important.