Lyttelton Arts Factory (LAF) is Ōhinehou/Lyttelton's only 'black box' theatre — a fully equipped, not-for-profit performance space at 1 Sumner Rd that is home to the Lyttelton Arts Festival, a steady calendar of theatre and touring companies, quality performing arts education, and versatile venue hire for functions big and small.
The venue is the direct successor of The Loons, the beloved Lyttelton theatre lost to the 2011 earthquakes. Rebuilt in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Lyttelton Primary School, LAF opened in June 2016 and has since presented theatre seasons to more than 30,000 people while teaching over 130 students each year. Overseen by the registered charitable Lyttelton Arts Factory Trust, it directs all proceeds back to artists and the immediate running costs of the venue.
Inside, flexibility is the defining feature: fully retractable tiered seating lets directors, set designers and lighting designers reshape the room for End Stage, Traverse, Thrust, In the Round or Promenade staging, with room for up to 140 in theatre mode or 200 at a cocktail event. Beyond theatre, dance, comedy, music and multi-media, LAF is known for its signature Cabarets and Quiz nights, for the Lyttelton Circus Theatre Company's spectacles, and for an education program where students from age 5 to adults learn drama, music, sound and lighting in a professional theatrical setting under creative director Mike Friend.
At its heart, LAF exists on Mike Friend's conviction that the arts should be inclusive — accessible to all, not just a privileged few — and it backs that up as a platform for both established and emerging artists, from first-time students to touring professionals.
On Sumner Road in the port town of Ōhinehou/Lyttelton sits a venue like no other in the area: the Lyttelton Arts Factory, the town's only 'black box' theatre. It is home to the Lyttelton Arts Festival, a rolling line-up of great theatre and touring companies, a well-regarded performing arts education program, and one of the most flexible hire spaces around Christchurch.
LAF's story begins in 2006, when Mike Friend and Darryl Cribb took on the lease of a threatened working men's club at 16 Canterbury Street and turned it into a theatre. They kept the building's old name — The Loons, from the garage that occupied the site in the 1920s — and opened with a grand cabaret in March 2007 that sold out. Over the next five years the venue staged more than 400 events, and the resident Loons Circus Theatre Company became nationally and internationally renowned for shows that fused circus with theatre, touring the length of the country and taking its signature work, The Butler, to London's Pleasance Theatre for a three-week run.
Then came 2011. The earthquakes that devastated Christchurch hit Lyttelton particularly hard, and The Loons was severely damaged and forced to close. The company's answer was characterful: commissioned by the Christchurch Arts Festival, it staged a post-apocalyptic Macbeth outdoors on the rubble of the London and Canterbury Streets corner — and sold out an extended season.
Fundraisers and a Mayoral Grant for the Arts kept the dream alive, and a partnership with the Ministry of Education and Lyttelton Primary School delivered a new black box theatre. The Lyttelton Arts Factory opened in June 2016, and its first full production, Road — performed by an exclusively local cast including original company members — was a sensation.
The numbers since then tell their own story: theatre seasons presented to more than 30,000 people, and an education program teaching over 130 students each year, from year 1 through to adults. Students as young as five learn drama, instruments, band work, sound and lighting operation and prop making in a professional theatrical setting, guided by Artistic Director Mike Friend, and those in Year 5 and beyond can perform in top-tier education series productions — often scripted by renowned writer Joe Bennett.
What makes LAF unusual as a venue is its flexibility. Fully retractable tiered seating means directors and designers can reconfigure the room for End Stage, Short or Long Traverse, Thrust, In the Round or Promenade staging. Capacities range from banquets of up to 80 to theatre audiences of up to 140, cabaret layouts of up to 150 and cocktail events of up to 200. The programme is just as varied: theatre, dance, comedy, music and multi-media all share the stage.
Two traditions carry the spirit of The Loons forward. The signature Cabarets and Quiz nights born in the old venue's heady days remain fixtures, and the circus company itself returned: in early 2024 the original cast reunited to relaunch Berlin Burlesque, renaming the group the Lyttelton Circus Theatre Company. Meanwhile the Lyttelton Arts Festival, founded in 2022, has grown from a three-day event into a ten-day, 47-event celebration across more than thirteen venues, complete with a starting parade, an art trail and the involvement of over 100 artists.
LAF is a not-for-profit overseen by the registered charitable Lyttelton Arts Factory Trust, meaning all proceeds go directly to artists and the venue's running costs. Its stated kaupapa is broad and generous: to create and present new New Zealand works, mentor emerging artists and technical operators, support Christchurch's rich circus and physical theatre community, and provide a high-quality home for touring shows.
That mission traces back to founder Mike Friend's conviction that the arts should break down barriers rather than build them — that theatre should be accessible to all, not a privileged few. With patrons Jane McBride and Derek Doddington behind it and a small, dedicated team keeping the lights on, the Arts Factory does exactly that: check the What's On page for current shows, book a class, or talk to the team about hiring the space for your next function.