BATS Theatre

1 Kent Terrace, the building now occupied by BATS theatre was built in 1923 for the Manchester Unity Oddfellows Society, by architects Frederick de Jersey Clere and his son, Herbert Clere, known as Clere & Clere Architects. There was a meeting room upstairs and a purpose-built performance space on the ground floor for use as a dance hall and theatre venue.

The building became the Savage Club in 1944 after being purchased by the Wellington Savage Club (WSC), then in 1976 it was bought by the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) to serve as the site of their lodge temple. Unity Theatre company leased the ground floor theatre from WSC and then RAOB until 1978. In 1979 the building was renamed BATS Theatre. The building was purchased in 2011 by film director Peter Jackson and screenwriter Fran Walsh with the intent to provide a stable home for the theatre.

The BATS Theatre Limited was founded in 1976 by Rodney Bane and David Austin. BATS is an acronym of "Bane Austin Touring Society". Bane and Austin took over the current building at 1 Kent Terrace in the late 1970s. BATS theatre company performed in the building in 1977, while it was still known as Unity Theatre. From February 2013 to November 2014 the building was closed and underwent extensive renovation and earthquake strengthening. The renovations added two more performance spaces, which included taking over space formerly used by the ROAB as a meeting room. There are now 4 small performance spaces, with seating for 10-80 people depending on the venue, there have been events that utilised the entire building at once. During the renovations BATS relocated to a temporary theatre space on the corner of Cuba Street and Dixon Street. This space was branded BATS: Out of Site and had a 78-seat venue and bar.

BATS is a not-for-profit and most of its funding comes from Creative New Zealand and the Wellington City Council, with the rest from private donors. BATS Kaupapa “To provide a supportive, professional and accessible theatre venue that fosters the development of practitioners, audiences and New Zealand performance work” has served as the starting point for many successful names in Aotearoa New Zealand theatre and comedy.