Agenda item

Presentation by Geoffrey Rowe, Chief Executive – Everyman Theatre 

Geoffrey Rowe, Chief Executive of the Everyman Theatre, introduced a PowerPoint presentation (appendix 1) which admittedly, some members had already seen. 

The theatre hosted 45 weeks of mixed performance arts which included pantomime, ballet, the Literature Festival (though not the Jazz Festival this year, a decision of Cheltenham Festivals) and ran a large scale education and community programme. 

He talked through various figures for 2009/10, which he explained were much the same each year and the result of a successful model which had been in practice for 15 years.  A study a couple of years ago had indicated that the Everyman Theatre had a £10million economic impact on the town.

Some highlights of the past year had included numerous West End shows, Studio Christmas shows for younger children and adults, as well as 16 entirely new shows.

Images demonstrated some of the restoration works required to the Theatre, for which the cost would be just under £3million.  Members were shown a breakdown of the budget and income, which highlighted the £200k shortfall.  

The Everyman was facing challenging times as a result of the current financial climate and whilst to date the downturn had not affected ticket sales, it could.  The availability of quality productions, who may do fewer tours, was the biggest risk faced by the Everyman Theatre.

Once completed the restoration works would provide a new heritage aspect, with tours of the theatre a condition of the Lottery funding. 

Physical access had been addressed as a legal requirement and recent improvements to the sound system had been made for those with hearing difficulties.  In his view social access was not a problem as he didn’t believe that the theatre was elitist, though he did feel that economic access may be an increasing issue. 

He explained that 54% of tickets were sold as concessions and highlighted the Pantomime Fund, which saw organisations such as the Rotary Club providing young people of their choice, with tickets for the Pantomime.  Perhaps in better economic times there could be a Cheltenham Fund supported in part by the Council.

He felt strongly that there was a marked difference between the Everyman Theatre, which was funded by the Council and those facilities which were managed by them (Town Hall, Leisure@, etc).  He suggested that there was scope for improved co-operation with regard to marketing, etc. 

In closing, he proposed that a successful Everyman Theatre was good for Cheltenham, which was ultimately good for Cheltenham Borough Council.

The Chairman invited questions from members of the committee.

The following responses were given by Geoffrey Rowe to questions from members of the committee;

• Catering at the Theatre generated £100k profits but the restaurant had failed despite various attempts to make it succeed and had ultimately become an alternative bar area. 
• Another income stream was the sale of tickets on behalf of other people, approximately 100,000 tickets which generated a good level of income.
• The Everyman did host the Russian ballet and ice –skaters, but there was great expense associated with bringing international acts to the theatre.  Attempts had been made to secure the Irish Theatre that went to Oxford but these had failed. 
• The Everyman was largely a professional theatre, there were other theatres in Cheltenham that hosted amateur groups.
• Cheltenham Festivals would be competitors with their own box office, though there had always been friendly competition with the Town Hall.  It seemed peculiar for Cheltenham to have 3 box office systems in consideration of the cost to each organisation.
• The period of closure for the restorative works had meant that the theatre would not be hosting the Literature Festival this year as there was no guarantee that the work would be completed by October, as was currently envisaged.
• 54% of tickets were sold as concessions which suggested that a majority of patrons were younger/older.  Outreach work focussed on those in the community who were not readily engaged, centring around areas of deprivation or ethnic minorities.
• There was not a connection between outreach and/or education work and ticket sales but ceasing this work could impact the theatre in the future.  Musicals (Fame, etc) and plays of content (To Kill a Mocking Bird and Blood Brothers) were highly popular with young people.  Cutting back was a difficult decision but a necessary one.
• It was accepted that improvements to signage for the Everyman, in and around Cheltenham could be made and suggested that the issue was, in his opinion, compounded by the fact that they were funded rather than managed by the Council.

The Chairman thanked Geoffrey for his attendance and presentation.