Originally a Methodist church, it is located on the corner of Moray Place and Upper Stuart Street, in the heart of the southern city of Dunedin.

[1] The Otago gold rush swelled congregation numbers, and plans were made for a new church on Stuart Street.

Made out of the local materials trachyandesite and Oamaru stone, the former church is an example of Gothic Revival architecture and contains a "Rose" stained glass window which is located at the back of what was later the theatre's main stage.

[4] The Fortune Theatre company was initially located in the 105-seat Otago Cine Club theatrette at the rear of the Athenaeum building of the Octagon.

However, after hiring full-time acting staff in 1977, it was decided that the venue was too small to continue to be viable and in 1978 the company moved to the former Trinity Methodist Church where it remained until its closure in 2018.

Reports continued to come from a variety of reliable sources until the claimed hauntings of the Fortune Theatre became a part of Dunedin folklore.

[7] During the investigation team's visit, they were also able to talk to people who had worked at the theatre and claim to have had paranormal experiences in the building: A lighting technician claimed that he was all alone setting up on stage one day when he "glimpsed a person" over his shoulder on the edge of the stage and thought that "they were reading through some lines, as an actor would" but knew no cast members were around at the time.

The second experience involved a girl he claims he noticed when he "looked up to the back corner of the audience seating, near where the soundman usually sits" after he heard "a strange noise in the theatre" on one occasion.