See Seven suspends season amid cuts to Vancouver theatre groups
Ruby Slippers' critically acclaimed A Beautiful View was part of last season's See Seven subscription series.
See Seven Performing Arts Society is taking a political stand against provincial government cuts that have disrupted Vancouver’s independent theatre scene.
Established in 1997, See Seven has been dedicated to promoting independent, professional theatre in the city, in part through annual package-ticket sales.
But board member and cofounder Diane Brown said several See Seven participants cannot afford to stage productions for the upcoming season.
Brown blamed the turmoil on the recent loss of provincial gambling grants and B.C. Arts Council funding.
In response, See Seven leaders have decided to make a political statement by halting the nonprofit organization’s normal activities for a year, she said.
“We can’t just pretend that nothing is happening and that it’s business as usual when a lot of our participants are being decimated,” Brown told the Straight.
She noted that See Seven is in good financial shape but explained that the organization needs to find a new direction in a period of instability for the arts and culture community.
“The situation right now is that we need to do some very proactive advocacy work,” she said.
For starters, Brown called on the Liberal government to hand control of a three-year, $30-million chunk of Legacy funding over to the B.C. Arts Council.
“It seems to be the common opinion that to cut arts and culture to balance the books is a really misinformed idea,” she said. “We all know that the arts and culture industry is an economic stimulus.”
Brown described See Seven as a collaborative association of groups and individuals involved in producing theatre.
“We have been a model for several organizations in Canada and abroad to work collaboratively to bring profile and focus to independent theatre and independent theatre artists, and to bring it to people of all income brackets, make it really accessible,” she said.
“And the spirit of that is still alive and strong. It’s just that we have to now restructure to better serve our community of audience and artists in this drastic time.”
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Comments
Let's go through what it takes just to put on a play.
You have to choose the play and get permission to present the play from the publishing house, paying a fee every time you put on a performance.
You have to book a space to perform the play. They don't come cheap as they have their own staff, general manager, front of house people, maintenance people,sound and light technicians as well as carpenters. They have to pay electrical costs, gas, water, property taxes, and all the other things every other business in BC have to pay.
Then you have to hire a Director, Set Designer, Sound Designer, Costume Designer, Lighting Designer, Carpenter, Paintesr, Electricians, seamstress and many other labourers and stage hands.
We haven't even begun to think about casting yet
Now you need a promoter and designers for advertisement, then you have to pay for printing, radio ads, TV ads, web site hosting and maintenance
Now you can start thinking about cast, dancers, singers, musicians.
All of these people live and work in our communities, pay rent, own homes, buy things, pay taxes and contribute to the economy.
Even the most financially successful and popular companies would not last long without government support. That support is usually the extra little bit the company needs to put on another season, or to just finish the season they're in.
Look at it this way. If a theater company gets 20% of it's operation funding from the government it means that it needs to find a way to fill the remaining 80%. This is usually done through the Box Office, then through fund raising and supporter donations (as most arts companies in British Columbia are Not for Profit, they can accept donations and give charitable receipts). This mean that the theater receiving funding is putting 5 TIMES MORE MONEY INTO THE ECONOMY THAN THEY ARE RECEIVING FROM THE GOVERNMENT. Even if the company is relying on half of the operations budget from the government, the ratio is still 2:1. What was the last investment you made that paid back 200%?
Now please explain to me how this doesn't help the economy, health care, education and the welfare of children?
Oh and before someone decides I'm just some nutball-artsy-fartsy-pinko leftwing-bum, currently I am in the process of applying to the Canadian Armed Forces as a Navy Officer. I just happen to be someone who makes their decisions based on facts, rather than conjecture.
Oh. . . and I love the arts