|
|
|
|
Articles
|
|
|
Articles |
What I Want for ChristmasDateline: 19th December, 1999 I don't know why I bother! I never get what I want anyway. I don't really mind shirts or socks in the real world (after all, you have to buy them in any case, and getting them for Christmas saves having to go shopping) but I really don't want the theatrical equivalent. I want the real thing, Mr Claus! Theatre is a multi-million pound industry, providing lots of jobs. It is a big exporter, making for a healthy balance of payments. It is a major tourist attraction. It is a major tax payer, too: back in November RSC chairman Geoffrey Cass announced that the company had paid back 96% of its Arts Council grant in taxes, so the whole RSC operation - all the people it employs, all the tourists it attracts, all the kudos it brings to the UK, its tours around the country, its theatres in Stratford and London, its residencies - actually cost the government £336,000 for a whole year, less than a third of the annual budget of a smallish comprehensive school! Take a successful musical: Mamma Mia is taking £60,000 a day in the box office and has advance bookings of £8m. I wonder how much of that goes straight to the Treasury! But even that pales into insignificance beside The Phantom of the Opera, which has grossed £1.82 billion worldwide since it opened in October 1986 (when its cost was £3m). Even Hollywood blockbusters can't compare: Titanic has taken £1.2 billion, whilst all twenty Bond films together have only taken £610m. Compare our investment in theatre. The Arts Council announced on Wednesday 15th December that it would be spending £500m on all the arts over a two year period from 2000 to 2002. Amongst the highlights (which is the word the press release uses) are £300,000 a year for theatre for young people (and) £600,000 for touring productions in England, Wales and Scotland. Work it out: ten days' box office takings for Mamma Mia to be spent funding touring productions throughout the UK (except Northern Ireland) for a whole year! Such generosity! In fact, the total ACE theatre budget for 2000-2001 is £27,820,012, of which £22,142,300 goes to two companies, the National and the RSC, leaving just £5,677,712 to be shared between 34 companies, an average of £166,991.53 each. To be fair to ACE, these figures do not include probable Lottery grants, including stabilisation grants, which will average, they say, £15m a year for the next two years. Although it has to be said that the RSC, as well as getting £9,160,300 in direct grant will also be getting stabilisation funding. It's not a lot, really, is it? Not compared to the weekly earnings of Phantom! Alright, that's an unfair comparison, because the Phantom earnings are world-wide, but if we add up all the income from the mega-musicals in the West End in one year, and then estimate the tax payable by the production companies and the individuals involved, as well as suppliers, we have a figure which will make the government's contributions to theatre look like very small beer indeed. So, Santa dear, the first Chrissie pressie I'd like would be for the government to fund theatre properly, not just with a few crumbs from the massive amount that flows back to the Treasury. The next pressie I'd like would be.... on the next page. Articles Indices: |
|
|