rehearsal venues plea

Ian Ashton wrote:
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Forgive me, but I thought $25 a night for access to a 2.4M facillity was fairly cheap.

By my reckoning it is around $6.25 per hour and by the time you pay power and cleaning, prehaps you can appreciate the extent of the corporate profts you are rallying against.

We support community Theatre and absolutely promise to continue to do so, but there has to be a balance. I don't see the Trust and Ogdens hiring spaces for $6.25 per hour.

But please be simpathetic to managements who have to survive on minimal funding !

Regards
Ian.

Dear Ian,

Further your reply to an earlier posting of mine, I would like to make you aware that the comments were in no way intended to be an attack on you (personal or otherwise) - which is how I feel you viewed them.

Working in the 'corporate' world as I do, I am well aware of such items as overheads, operating costs, profit margins, shareholders expectations, and accountability to the Board. Basically - the need to survive commercially.

However, for 'community' activites, life is getting considerably harder these days. And not just from a community theatre's point of view.

The WA Branch of the Richard III Society, an historical society of which I am a member, recently had to move their meeting place. We were happily ensconced in a meeting room of the Alexander Library (an ideal location) and had been so for the past 10 years. However, overnight, our room rental went from $15 to $80. The reasons cited were based on market competitiveness.

Our investigations for a new meeting place showed that the availability of accommodation for a small group with a small bank balance was extremely limited. As this was six months ago, and pre-GST, I'm sure the choices now are even smaller.

Community theatre's ability to put on the next show depends (in a lot of cases) solely on the profits made from the last show. With the increase in costs across the board recently (and this includes bank fees), those profits will get smaller, and therefore so will the shows. Which introduces a downward production spiral.

I was not 'rallying', or even railing against corporate profits. Merely asking if there was a solution that enabled both the corporate and the community to continue working side by side to mutual benefit.

Regards
Louise CC