Arts groups fear for their future (From Wandsworth Guardian)
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Croydon Arts groups fear for their future
10:50am Friday 9th November 2012 in Freetime By Andrew Bloss
The Warehouse Theatre is in administration
While Croydon Council was praised for its support for Fairfield Halls, alternative Arts groups said they feared for their future amid funding cuts.
The past year has seen Croydon Council tighten the purse strings and the arts has taken a significant hit, with the Warehouse Theatre, the David Lean Cinema and the Croydon Clocktower all having funding withdrawn.
Amateur groups such as Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association (CODA) and Croydon Stagers are also finding it hard to keep going in the current climate.
Vicky Watkins, musical producer at CODA, said it is becoming increasingly difficult for their group to afford putting on productions at the Ashcroft Theatre at Fairfield Halls.
The 61-year-old, who has been involved with CODA for 43 years, said: "It has become increasingly difficult over the last few years.
"Community theatre has suffered a lot. It is becoming harder and harder for amateur companies to keep on going.
"We are lucky enough to use the Ashcroft Theatre at Fairfield Halls but we are being squeezed and squeezed and squeezed due to prices going up. We are a good alternative group but the options for us are declining."
Croydon Council has come under fire for withdrawing funding for these smaller groups but deputy leader of the Council, Councillor Tim Pollard, said they are trying to find new ways to promote the arts in the borough.
Coun Pollard added that it was important that the Council stay committed to the Fairfield.
He said: "It was fitting that we marked the 50th anniversary of Fairfield in that sort of way. At the moment it is not easy for any Council to be supporting arts programmes, and we have had to make substantial reductions.
"We have continued to support Fairfield through revenue and capital support.
"There is so much cultural activity going on in Croydon and we do want to help. The council is really going to have to change. We are having to go from provider to facilitator."
Councillor Timothy Godfrey, the shadow cabinet member for culture and sport, said the council should take more risks when it comes to the arts.
He said: "The Arts should be one of the economic drivers of the town. We can’t have a one act arts policy when it comes to the Fairfield, we need venues like the Warehouse and the Clocktower.
"There needs to be a community side which helps groups like the Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association pay rent to use the Fairfield Halls.
"The arts are about risk and we need to encourage risk and encourage people to invest in it."
Comments(3)
mrsjelly
says...
1:28pm Sun 11 Nov 12
Now we have just one theatre which offers up racist comics and "psychics" more often than plays and charges amateur groups thousands upon thousands to perform. The theatre offering of Croydon is increasingly reduced to an insipid blend of Agatha Christie and Ayckbourn pandering to an older stereotypical theatre audience which simply doesn't fit into the demographic of people who live here.
We should be creating theatre for the people who live in Croydon that they would enjoy. The only people doing this now are the numerous high quality amateur groups including CODA, Breakfast Cat, Exit Theatre and others. Local theatre benefits local businesses, increases a sense of community and in a myriad of different ways makes Croydon a better place to be.
These groups are keeping theatre alive in Croydon but they can't do it by themselves. The council has systematically proven that they are not interested in supporting the theatrical community in any way, we have lost our two best theatre spaces and our Croydon festival. Take a look at the play selection in Croydon Library.
The future of theatre in Croydon relies on the brilliant local businesses who are letting groups rehearse in their back rooms, putting posters up in their windows and hosting performances. It relies on the people supporting their local groups by coming out to performances. And local schools too, who could be seizing the opportunities these groups offer to take kids to see quality productions of important plays (many or which their pupils are actually studying) at a cost drastically cheaper than a trip up to the West End.
Check out your local theatre company next time you see a poster or an event crop up on Facebook. You may well be pleasantly surprised.
Ellie Dawes
Breakfast Cat Theatre Company
John_Croydon
says...
11:25am Mon 12 Nov 12
On a brighter note, yes, the Council might have already killed off the David Lean Cinema, the Warehouse Theatre, the Braithwaite Hall and everything else that the Clocktower used to provide, but at least they are currently demonstrating the depth of their commitment to culture and the arts by finding the money to pay for the same old Christmas decorations to be put up around the Borough. Beauty might only be skin-deep, but I'd have hoped for a council who understood that the things which have real and lasting value run deeper than that.
ANNE GILES says...
1:07pm Fri 9 Nov 12