Featuring Kate Louise Elliot, Artistic Director & General Manager, Centrepoint Theatre
When Kate Louise Elliot walks into the room, you get the immediate sense that you're in for something a little bit different. She's funny, she's fast, and she's utterly unapologetic about the fact that she might run over the allotted 20 minutes — "because I'm interesting," she announced to the room, to laughter and zero disagreement.
As Artistic Director and General Manager of Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North, Kate has spent years doing what most people in her position would consider the impossible: keeping a professional regional theatre not just alive, but thriving — all while managing a leaky roof with what she cheerfully described as an "innovative rain collection system" made of corflute sheeting and rope. "The only ropes we could use inside the theatre are to skip to keep fit," she quipped, "not to bring the leaks down."
But behind the laughs, Kate had something genuinely remarkable to share — and most of us in that room had no idea.
Why Is It Called Centrepoint?
"Do you know why it's called Centrepoint Theatre?" Kate asked the room. A few confident faces. "It's in the centre," she deadpanned. Back in 1974, when the Trust was formed to bring professional theatre to Palmerston North, they envisioned the theatre as a centrepoint — not just a building, but a hub for educational outreach and community connection. Nothing to do with any commune, she was quick to clarify.
Today, Centrepoint stands as the only professional theatre remaining in regional New Zealand — a distinction that is both a point of pride and, as Kate put it, "a little bit sad, to be fair." It operates as a sister organisation to Auckland Theatre Company, the Court Theatre in Christchurch, and Circa in Wellington. While those companies are in major centres, Centrepoint is out here in Palmerston North, punching well above its weight.
The Numbers That Will Make Your Jaw Drop
Kate didn't come to Milson Rotary just to sell tickets. She came because Centrepoint's story is far bigger than most people realise. From July 2022 to July 2025 — just three years — the organisation has:
115,000 people engaged
1,600+ events and shows delivered
88,000 patrons welcomed
405 community activities run
- 510 industry practitioners supported
"Did you know about those?" Kate asked the room. Silence. "No, you didn't." And that, right there, is the problem she's working to solve.
"Tell people. That is the story I personally really need out there."
The Outreach Programmes — Where the Real Magic Happens
Yes, Centrepoint puts on 5 to 6 shows per year. You probably knew that. What you almost certainly didn't know is the scale of what happens around, behind, and beyond those shows. Kate describes Centrepoint's outreach programme as one of the biggest in the country. Here's a taste:
🏆 Regional High School Theatre Sports
Ten schools from Napier to Whanganui participated last year — and this year, schools from Auckland and Hastings are joining in. Students are workshopped throughout the year, then descend on Palmerston North for a full weekend of theatrical competition and performance.
🗣️ Improv for Everybody — Breaking Down Barriers
This programme trains facilitators to work in four high schools with young people living with disabilities. The results are extraordinary. Some participants who were previously non-verbal are now learning to communicate. Others are, as Kate put it, "just so damn happy that they're being heard and that they're allowed to use their voice."
⚡ This programme is currently seeking $6,000 in funding to continue.
🎨 Basement Collabs — Youth Theatre, Reimagined
Post-COVID, Centrepoint asked young people what they actually wanted, instead of telling them. The result: nine drop-in workshops per year, completely free for ages 13–18, thanks to Mercury sponsorship. Workshops include props and sword-making with professional designers, screen audition coaching with top Australasian casting directors Liz Millan and Rachel Bullock, voiceover training, and special effects makeup.
"Imagine if one day a casting director goes, 'Hey, you remember that kid from Palmy?' — and they're up there getting the Oscar, thanking Centrepoint Theatre and Milson Rotary for helping."
🌺 Pacifica on Stage — You Have to Hear This Story
This programme was born when Centrepoint noticed a significant gap: Pasifika young people were largely absent from theatre spaces. Working with Palmerston North Girls' High School, they brought in a group of young Pasifika students — who immediately began to flourish.
Internationally renowned singer Bella Kalolo — who has performed alongside John Mayer and Chaka Khan — came to work with these students and told them: "You stand up, and you be the person that you think you need us to see."
One of those young women was later spotted at a Pacific Fusion event — not sitting in the choir, not performing in the choir. Conducting it. Kate had to stop for a moment. So did the rest of the room.
The programme also brought in actor Annabella Piutau and Villa Manusotei — star of the film Tina — for acting workshops. The message to every young person: "This is possible. I'm possible. Not impossible."
🎭 The Attic — For Those With a Gold Card
If the Basement is for youth, the Attic is for the over-65s. These weekly acting classes have become something much more than lessons — participants say the social connection they find here is something they struggle to find anywhere else. They go out for coffee together afterwards. They occasionally look like they want to strangle each other during class. It's all part of the charm.
This year, at the group's own request, they're performing Fiddler on the Roof. Kate has promised "artistic licence" will be applied. We're all quietly hoping this means something spectacular.
The Challenge: Keeping the Lights On
The finances of running a regional professional theatre are, to put it diplomatically, a puzzle. Every outreach project needs its own funding — grants, sponsors, applications. A four-week show season can gross a maximum of around $89,000 but costs upward of $140,000 to produce with a full professional cast.
"You're always only one show away," Kate said — in the way of someone who has rehearsed the phrase but still means it deeply every time.
Centrepoint is also about a third of the way through a building campaign for a sustainable, welcoming theatre for the next 50 years. One where the foyer isn't cramped, the dressing rooms aren't divided by a shared shower ("we like each other, we don't need to love each other"), and staff aren't working in windowless cupboards. Kate noted she has been in her cupboard-office longer than Harry Potter was in his under the stairs. Point taken.
How You Can Help
Tell people. Most people know Centrepoint puts on shows. Almost nobody knows about everything else. Spread the word.
Buy tickets — and gift them to someone who might not otherwise go.
Support the Improv for Everybody programme — it needs $6,000 to continue changing young lives.
Explore sponsorship for a specific outreach programme that resonates with you.
Visit the theatre — Kate will personally show you around.
Visit centrepoint.co.nz to see shows, outreach programmes, and the building campaign.
Final Word
Kate Louise Elliot arrived at Milson Rotary to talk about a theatre. She left having changed the way the room thought about what a theatre actually is.
It's not just a place where shows happen. It's where a previously non-verbal teenager starts to speak. Where a Pasifika student discovers she can lead, not just participate. Where elderly people find community and a very good reason to get out on a Wednesday. Where young people from across the lower North Island get on a stage and realise the industry isn't only something that happens in Auckland.
Centrepoint Theatre has been the “centrepoint” of Palmerston North's cultural life for 50 years. With people like Kate at the helm — funny, fierce, and fiercely committed — it'll be the centrepoint for 50 more.