Thursday 4 October 2012

#Theatre4Exeter in city 'would not work'

I had hoped that the following letter would be published in Express and Echo



Sir

I have been reading the various comments in favour of a city centre theatre with interest. However, I feel I must respond in a personal capacity to some of Dick Passmore’s comments [ “Bid for new city centre theatre” E&E 27 Sept 2012 ].

As a theatre sound designer, I help people suspend their disbelief.

However, as a City Councillor I have to deal with harsh economic reality.

I am glad that he realises that the cost of a 1000-1200 seater auditorium would be in the region for £30-40 million.

When I spoke to a supporter of the scheme at the Guildhall event [another of your correspondents], I was told that it would cost a lot less than the £40 million I mentioned.

I believe that it would actually cost more. The most recently built civic project is the Aylesbury Waterside which opened 2 years ago at a cost of £47 million. Just to service the debt alone would be in the region of £3 million a year.

But it’s fine. Mr Passmore says that it would be easy to get 50% grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and 50% in sponsorship.

Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) gives grants to sustain and transform our heritage. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions we invest in every part of our diverse heritage.

I’ve yet to see the HLF give big grants to NEW theatres. The clue is in the name. They support HERITAGE projects – and to further these aims, they look to renovate, conserve and modernise buildings and other many other different things from the past that need to be passed onto future generations.

Thus, Bristol Old Vic have submitted a sizeable application to the HLF for extensive renovations to the Theatre Royal there, but funds for a new Theatre Royal in Exeter would be unlikely to come from the HLF.

Now lets look at sponsorship. Several years back, The Exeter Northcott had ambitious plans to raise £2 million from trusts, sponsorship and donations to fund the redevelopment and refurbishment of the theatre – they fell well short of their target and had to rein in many of their plans.

The successful Theatre Royal in Plymouth raises £100,000 per year from their corporate sponsors. It is hard to get concrete figures on what the Royal Court received to rename their studio space the Jerwood Upstairs , but was it really in the region of £15 million? If Mr Passmore knows different, I for one, would be very interested in knowing the figure.

I’ve only been considering the cost of erecting the building so far. Once built it needs to be filled with productions and audiences. Returning to Aylesbury, the local council there pays a management company £25,000 a month to run the theatre for them. The council gets no financial return – yet this £288K per year is much less that the £750K they used to pay to run their Civic Hall which the Waterside replaced. They are saving money with this new build – Exeter City Council would have to find this money.

Someone overhearing my conversation at the Guildhall commented “I’m glad it’s not my money” Oh, but it would be. From your council tax – and a council tax we’re not allowed to raise by more than 3.5% in the current year. So what should I vote to cut to fund a city centre theatre?

And could we fill this 1000-1200 seater auditorium? Mr Passmore’s exhibition attracted some 750 visitors on that Saturday. The new theatre would need to attract at l least that number of people for each of 8 performances a week that would need to be programmed to make economic sense.

To return to Plymouth, the Theatre Royal is one of the best in the country at maximising its earned income – in the region of 83% comes from ticket sales, bar, restaurant and ice cream sales, the set building that happens at TR2 workshops for productions all round the world, etc. Yet, each seat sold is subsidised by £2.50 from the Arts Council. Yes, even those £50 tickets for Oliver. It is highly unlikely that the Arts Council would fund another theatre in Devon to the tune of £1million plus.

And if they did, it would threaten the viability of both theatres. My colleague, Council Leader Cllr Pete Edwards, was heavily criticised here and elsewhere when he said "We have a big theatre in Plymouth and if we had one similar in Exeter I think it would destroy both.

But this assertion is borne out by the figures? Many of the big municipal theatres in Manchester, Sheffield, etc have over 2 million people living within a radius of 50 miles. Plymouth has fewer that 500,000 within that radius. Even if we extend that limit to 100 miles, there are still fewer than 1 million residents. Can 2 cities draw significant audiences from this population – I believe not.

Is there overwhelming support for a city centre theatre?

So back to figures. 750 people visited the Guildhall to see the old Theatre Royal exhibition, yet only 300 or so signed the petition. Indeed I saw several emphatic “NO”s on the petition sheets. Fewer than 50% of the visitors with an interest in theatre think the plan is a viable idea. On Mr Passmore’s own figures, the scheme doesn’t attract a majority.

I wish Dick and his team of dreamers well. I want to dream alongside them, but I also have to deal with facts. A petition won’t get a theatre built – only hard cash will. If his band of supporters could raise a significant portion of that £47 million, I for one may be willing to suspend my disbelief that in the current economic climate a city centre theatre is not really viable.

Yours

Cllr Paul Bull
Labour and Co-operative Councillor for Cowick

Instead it formed the basis of an article

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