Just a thought...

Hi Alex> Has anyone actually thought that the reason Effie Crump closed> and is not being bailed out is because their productions are not all> that good?i hope you're wearing your asbestos suit.> Every so often one works but the rest... they might be> employing actors and local scripts but if the production is up to> shite, then why bother?That's a sweeping statement to make and i'm not going to attempt to refute it. How can i? You've provided no evidence for your assertion.They might be employing actors? Well, thank goodness someone is!If you want to see this state's professional theatre industry reduced to the occasional populist spectacle for the masses employing out-of-state talent, fine. Trot along to the Perth International Arts Festival pay ridiculous ticket prices to subsidise the freebies provided to the glitterati and have a great time. For 4 weeks of the year.If you want to see a local industry responding to the needs of a local audience then get behind the company that has produced 26 local shows since 1996 and reached an average audience of 18,000 per annum.The much vaunted Cloudstreet now touring internationally, should've been a truly western australian product. It wasn't. It featured a bunch of largely eastern states actors and a director and most other crew shipped in from the east. Why? Because there is not enough happening in Perth to keep good people here and the few good artists to remain don't get the work, experience or exposure they deserve. WA should have had the talent pool to produce this uniquely western australian work. We didn't and we don't.The demise of Effies (and i consider it as good as gone, in spite of Foss' hair splitting) has reduced the output of our local professional industry by nearly one half. The consequences of this will hardly turn around the tide of professional arts trained at WAAPA (at great expense) that leave for the eastern states and overseas.CheersGrant