If you thought yesterday’s revelation that Smalltown and Dullbridge (SaD) Town Council and the White Elephant Enclosure Mismanagement Committee has been handing Council Tax Payers money to support private enterprise, was bad, then consider this from the most recent accounts.
Back in October two performances of a show for children – ‘Lights Off Princess’ took place, with tickets costing a maximum of £12 each. So poor were ticket sales that the Smalltown Culture and Arts Manager (SCAM) slashed the ticket cost in half and offered cheap rate food in an attempt to encourage an audience.
Unfortunately only a total of 28 tickets were sold, meaning at most £336 income. Barely enough to cover the cleaning costs.
This is bad enough, but the ‘Lights Off Princess’ was another one of the Top Secret Consultant, employed as the Smalltown Provisional Arts Manager on the recommendation of himself ideas to improve audience numbers at the WEE.
The company behind the production were paid £1050.00 to bring the show to Smalltown, which means SaD Town Council lost £714.00, before any other expenditure was included.
Meanwhile, as the new, improved Belisha Beacon theatre was re-opened by Brizzle City Council, it was revealed that cuts were being made to the City Arts and Culture budget, which could see other arts and theatre venues in the city facing funding deficits.
As part of this it was revealed that the Brizzle New Vic Theatre has received £500,000 of City Council funding over the past five years, a sum on a par with SaDTC funding for the WEE. The main difference being that the New Vic is a major city theatre, run as a charitable concern with a board of directors who know what they are doing.
The proportion of council funding is not the New Vic’s only source of income, as it has also received funds from other outside organisations and will need to apply for increased grant funding to make up the shortfall. All of which could see more entertainment venues applying for a share of funding from an ever-decreasing pot of money via alternative sources. Competition which could well see the WEE at the very bottom of the pile.
The size of the 2024/25 WEE budget is yet to be revealed, but can residents really be expected to fund it at the same previous level, when it’s obvious that it sees very little use and the idea of increasing bums-on-seats is, as the previous Smalltown Culture and Arts Manager (SCAM) said “impossible” or is it time to drop the curtain on this never-ending farce?