Just a thought...

Hi Jeff> Just reading through posts again, and something comes to mind.> Firstly, I'd like to point out that I am not supporting the Closure> of ANY WA Theatrical company. I'm dead against such a thing.Glad to hear it, although i wonder how this ties in with the remainder of your argument? :)> However, if Effie had been producing Shows that the majority> of the public wanted to see, would they have still been in the predicament> that they ended up in? Maybe Effie brought in on themselves by sticking> to their guns and doing what THEY wanted as opposed to what would> bring the profits? I will not even pretend to guess what Effie's policies> regarding this were but if a Profession Theatre company is producing> shows that people come to watch, and therefore are doing well business-wise,> would they need the support of government funding?Effies was certainly producing work that the public wanted to see. This company was prolific in its output. I've seen figures suggesting Effies produced as many performances here in Perth as all the other (funded!) local professional companies combined. Almost all their performances were playing to capacity crowds. Indeed, seating capacity may have been part of the problem given the tiny size of their home venue.If you can only sell so many seats and your audience, because of the size of the venue and physical limitations on production values, is only prepared to pay so much per ticket...My understanding is that some years ago Effies obtained a special dispensation from MEAA to pay below award rates for the reasons above and because the company was essentially unfunded.Simply, you had people working in a highly competitive industry being paid below an already low award wage. More recently Effies has taken steps to pay closer to an award rate, however it would seem the reality has been that Effies can't afford to pay the award.Minister Foss clearly has had no sympathy for the actors employed by the company at less than award rates. He's been quoted in the press as saying that arts funding is not an employment subsidy for actors.Well, i for one would sooner see the funding go to actors rather than the bureaucrats that get a million dollar subsidy to sit in empty theatres scheming to import interstate and international shows. What good is that doing our local theatre industry? What support does an imported act at Burswood or the Maj provide for local community theatre?CheersGrant