Theatre feeling economic squeeze
Court Theatre accounts show a deficit — still to be audited — for the last year of $117,500. A less-than-asked-for Government grant, resistance to higher ticket prices and increased costs are blamed. The Court director, Elric Hooper, says the future for Christchurch professional theatre is critical. This year the theatre-in-educatlon programme has been dropped and the Court Studio programme has been cancelled for the first half of the year. Prospects are bleak unless the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council gives more money and more people can be persuaded to go to the theatre. Getting people into the theatre is, becoming harder with a rise from $8 to $l6 for a ticket in the last 18 months. Mr Hooper said the theatre had to charge $l6 because last year’s Government grant was less than asked for. Ideally the theatre would be charging only $ll a ticket
Mr Hooper said the theatre was fighting back. The theatre had started the Court 100 Club to write off the running deficit, begun offering incentives to supporters to sell tickets, ■ and had lobbied politicians. The Court 100 Club was intended to have' 100 members — groups or individuals — each giving $lOOO a year. This would ensure $lOO,OOO each year for the theatre, said Mr Hooper. . ' The money would be used to wipe out the deficit in the first year, and then give the Court some security. Mr Hooper said ticket prices must come down to attract more patrons, but for that* to happen the Government grant must go up.
He said he hoped the Government would reconsider an electidn-year promise of 1984 to maintain and Improve funding the arts.
Since June last year, when the arts council grant was announced, theatre staff has been cut 18 per cent.
Much of the loss on the 1986-87 year was on productions before June when the theatre was running In limbo without knowing what the grant would be.
Mr Hooper believes that among plays for the theatre there must still be the not-so-well known and experimental.
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Press, 7 April 1987, Page 1
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339Theatre feeling economic squeeze Press, 7 April 1987, Page 1
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