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Shame on You, Guildford!Dateline: 3rd November, 2002The Bowden Report said that most English regional producing theatres were trading insolvently and needed additional financial assistance if they were to survive. The Arts Council and the government listened and additional funds were made available. ACE distributed that money snd a collective sigh of relief arose from the theatre world. In spite of all the criticism which had been going on for some years (or, perhaps, because of it? who knows), the Arts Council and the DCMS came up trumps and producing theatre in the English regions were saved. Hurrah! Now comes Guildford Borough Council to spoil the party. The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre got an additional £100,000 from ACE, so now the Borough Council is to cut its grant to the theatre by... yes, £100,000. The effect of this, of course, is to return the theatre to its pre-Bowden state of insolvency. What on earth is the council thinking of? It has, of course, a perfect right to distribute its money as it sees fit, but £100,000 is hardly going to break the bank - it could well be less than the total expenses claimed by councillors in a year, and it is certainly only a tiny fraction of the town's education budget. The Yvonne Arnaud has a national reputation. The £200,000 which the council paid to the theatre last year is peanuts in comparison not only to the value of that reputation to the borough but also to what other councils pay in support of their local theatres. The Arts Council is annoyed. This shouldn't happen, it says. And it's right. ACE clearly has no concerns about the the Yvonne Arnaud's product - if it has, it wouldn't have awarded it the cash - so clearly the council can't use the quality af work as an excuse. Obviously the council feels the theatre is a soft target: "Let's show the council tax payers we are reducing the burden on them," would seem to be the thinking. Come on, Guildford: think again! You have a highly thought of resource in the Yvonne Arnaud, valued not just in the town but across the country. Do you really want to get a national reputation for being miserly? Articles Indices:
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