What can you say?if this news is true its a utter disgrace,not only are the arts council preventing money being paid back because none will be left. It means the playhouse has we know it will be gone forever.

ACE, if this is true than you are publicly showing your contempt for the arts and of the people whom you claim to be representing.

It wasn’t enough to stab us in the back, it seems that now you are digging us up and setting fire to us.

dispicable behaviour.

shame on you and on anyone who supports this sickening act by a corrupt body of corrupt people.

you will not get away with this, and one day every single one of you will find yourselves without the safety net you think you are receiving from whoever you are doing all this for.

My congratulations, you now all qualify for the word w****r.

Its too much to beleive….
Talk about abandoning a sinking ship !Q!!!!!!
I agree with Barbara and Alastaire…
It is indeed dispicable of the AC to even ask for their “Loan” to be put in front of the creditors on the 25th…
They are squeezing every bit of life out of what will always be the best theatre in Derby….
They’ll probably get their way and the end of the Playhouse is near…….
BUT theyve promised live theatre in Derby…
Remember that promise….THEY MADE IT…….
Id like to say they havent had their own way….there are pockets of REAL theatre goers who ahve made their voices heard….unjustly their appeals went on deaf ears…..
We wait with baited breath for the 2 “Councils” to make their next move…..
If you do the lottery, just remember how the AC has treated the |Playhouse with regard to using lottery money….
You pays your money, you take your chances….
Except you dont have a say where that moneys going !!!!!!!
Hope the AC and DCC sleep well….. Joyce Kinton.

What a despicable bunch of people the ACE are ……..giving money to the Playhouse & then taking it away ……..VERY mean-spirited & a kick in the guts to live theatre in the area.

Yet they still maintain they want to keep live theatre in Derby. Well, gee, I was under the impression that the Derby Playhouse was already producing “home grown” plays, which the ACE so want to keep in the area. Doesn’t make sense to me.

Hold on, this is public money we’re talking about and ACE are absolutely right to attempt to recover it. Never mind how ‘ACE has treated the Playhouse’ Anne, and forget “too much to believe’ Joyce. The truth is now out. Whilst artistically Hebden and Edwards may well have been excellent, they have brought Derby Playhouse to it’s knees by their financial management. I note the accounts are STILL not posted with the charities commission which, to me, speaks absolute volumes. I want my tax momey to be used to support thatre and the wider arts, but I want the arts industry to be responsible with it, for it’s own sake. Now we have the frightening prospect of a civic arts strategy for the City, not exactly mind expanding is it. So not only will Hebden and Edwards have killed Derby Playhouse, they’ll have given DCC the chance to kill off all the other cultural life in the City too. I hope they have nightmares.

I know this sounds slightly silly but I don’t suppose anybody knows the whereabouts and time of the Creditor’s Meeting for the future (or rather attempt by ACE to prevent the future) of the Playhouse?

If you do please eMail me on the address at the bottom of this comment

As for ACE and DCC, I am utterly ashamed to be a part of the Performing Arts in England if the ACE are the body ’supporting’ the area. In fact, for saying that these people want Theatre and producing-houses to grow and flourish, they have placed a surprising and frankly unacceptable number of obstacles in its way where the venue is concerned. And what a shambles the council is if it takes one look at what the PEOPLE OF DERBY actually and clearly want, and does almost completely the opposite instead spending money on the ‘Quad’, which in its present state (which I am fairly confident is nearing completion) looks like a cross between a concrete gun-nest and the interior of most public toilets.

I for one will not be humiliated, underestimated or undermined by anybody who thinks they have the right and position to talk over what the people want.

wh1te_n0ise-37@hotmail.co.uk

Adam

It doesnt sound silly Adam, Id like to know too !!!
As far as George says hes not happy with all those things going on in the multi- cultural city….
But hes still blaming the despicable duo of Hebden ahd Edwards for this awefuly sad state of things…
The DCC and AC have lost no time in giving them and those who tried to save the theatre, a great big bowl of prunes…
“See how they run!”
OK… hebden and Edwards are out…..plus ofcourse the last remaining hurdle the newly appointed board of trustees….
All gone….Now we shall see what the 2 councils are going to do with these venues….somthing about “AKram Khan” in July ??? and also the National ballet of China…..
Wonder how many people who’ve supported the Playhouse may feel about all that ??
I’m a little puzzled George…which side are you on ?
I can see you want rid of Hebden and Edwards, but you dont have a good thing to say about the DCC…
In fact you say they are as bad as the first two put together…
So who will accept the blame if and when this new creative Derby goes all wrong ??
we wuz robbed at the Playhouse….absolutely….
Now we must sit back, like good little chidren and wait for their highnesses to tell us what theyre going to do, not only with the theatre and every venue which will come under the Umbrella of “Culture”….
Sleep well DCC and the AC.zzzzz…zzzz….zzzz….zzzz
Joyce Kinton.

George, not quite sure where your coming from. You are blaming 2 theatre experts (Karen Hebden and Stephen Edwards) for the possible demise of culture in Derby. I agree with you in part - they are both excellent in their artistic direction - however blaming them for the financial failure at the Playhouse and destroying Derby’s culture, I find hilarious. I would like to point out that Karen and Stephen ARE NOT financial experts, they are Theatrical experts. I can’t help but notice that you blame these 2 brilliant, committed and inspiring people, and not give a mention about the board of the Playhouse. The board DID contain finacial experts, who somehow seem to have escaped the blame.

Another point, you mentioned responsibility of you tax payers money. If you class reponsibility as withdrawing funding from the only good proffesional theatre in Derby, then I suggest a Dictionary, you can find responsibility under ‘R’. The Arts Council should acknowledge the financial troubles of the Playhouse and work with DCC and Derby Playhouse to replace the board with people who know what they are doing.

Adam

Joyce - It is not about sides, it is about moving forward. I’m reserving judgement about DCC’s plans until the actually supply some detail on how the hope to achieve this wonderful future they’ve promised us. And where did I say anything multiculturalism?

Adam - Could I ask that you actually read my post again? I suggested that Hebden and Edwards have now given DCC the opportunity to kill the city’s culture through their negligence not done it themselves. Whilst I’m at it, a board is only as good as the information it recieves, I think the lack of accounts posted anywhere in the public domain (illegally, I might ad) is a decent indicator of the amount of wool that was pulled over the boards eyes, perhaps with the best of intentions, but dangerous territory none the less - especially if you don’t have the skills to carry out the management yourself. Boards govern, Officers manage - Hebden and Edwards were the latter and didn’t carry out this responsibility.

As I say, I don’t doubt Hebden and Edwards artistic merits, but you cannot deny that Karen came in as Chief Executive, an administrative post but soon moved across to be an artistic director. Now I know that those titles have been almost interchangeable of late but surely as lead officer she has the ultimate responsibility for the organisation’s management; an important part of which is it’s financial governance.

As for the Arts Council grants, I am happy that ACE granted the Playhouse money to produce the work it did, however I am equally glad that it said enough is enough when it became startlingly clear that there was to be no recovery. ACE does not have a responsibbility to Derby Playhouse Ltd, it has one to the City as a whole and it has now carried out that responsibility by taking funding from a failing organisation and awarding to another within the same city - albeit I bet they have the same reservations as we all do about DCC but what other option did they have?

However, please do reread my original posting as I was actually referring to the reclaiming of the recovery money, which was additional monies (£1.6m) given to help the Playhouse out of the last hole it found itself in, but as ever, none of the plans submitted were carried through and in my mind ACE is quite intitled in this instance to reclaim this amount.

For the record, all I want is for Derby to have a vibrant cultural life that benifits the residents, but I think all any of us can do now is wait and see the detail of DCC’s proposals and take it from there. If that turns out to be long term civic control then the future is bleak, but there are other options open to them.

George, again Ive been getting the wrong stick by writing my views down..
Its always with someone who is intellectual and a sound knowlege of words….re.You and some on the telegraph comments page…
I,m not as eloquent as you and some others, but its plain and simple to me….
The REAL THEATRE goers of Derby made their views clear when the Playhouse was closed the first time….
THEY WANT THE PLAYHOUSE….whover;s in charge !!
I woudnt trust either council as far as I could throw them….
Somewhere along the way politics has been allowed to creep into this sad situation….
Who knows how long the DCC had been waiting to drop their bomb shell ? Just after a sell out show “Stepping out ”
just before the Christmas show..? wasnt very good timing was it George…
I wonder if the reaction of the public meant anything to them ?
Protests, donations, buying tickets not to come to the show, but to be sold again !!!!!!
It was only the action and generosity of those who consider the Playhouse head and shoulders above any venue in Derby, that Treasure Island was not denied its run…
Talk about timing though….3 weeks before Christmas….what about the people who had prebooked and the chidren who wanted to see the show ??
The DCC and the AC should be hung drawn and quarted…
Its painfuly clear neither of the “councils” give a **** about the people of Derby’s needs..
I repeat THEY WANT THE PLAYHOUSE….
theyve lost it and Derby will miss this jewel in its crown….
I still cant quite get what youre saying George….
Youre waiting for the new, exciting plans to revamp the culture by the AC………
If you want you can get some idea of the “New, Exciting” things that are coming to Derby, then log onto The British theatre guide…..
We may get the Playhouse opened in July for “Akram \Khan” ?
if we survive that to follow theres the National Ballet of China ?
Whos said anyhting about “Multiculturialism ” ?
Had to look that one up in the dictionary……
You cant argue that both impending productions are multiculturial can you ? Well maybe you can George….
A vibrant cultural life of the residents of Derby is what you want ? ok, sit back and enjoy all this new vibrant Life, but forget about seeing a play..a musical…a touch of Shakespeare maybe…you’ll need to travel to Nottingham for those !!!
Still, on April 1st if you have a bus pass you can get to anywhere for free !!!
Im sure the theatres in Nottingham would be only too pleased to see you…..
Ive quoted YOU George, so let it not be said I made thr wrong comments.. Joyce !!

Well, what a lot to reply too. The creditors meeting is Monday 25th February, 2.30pm at Derby Playhouse. If you are a creditor you should have received notification from Tenon. If you haven’t then get in touch with them ASAP.

Joyce, you say that the new board are out of the picture. I can assure we may be dead but we are not buried. A lot could happen in 5 days. How long have DCC been planning this bombshell? Who knows, but at the press conference to announce “Derby Live” they let it slip they had been thinking about this for a couple of years.

Akram Khan & The National Ballet of China had already been programmed by Derby Playhouse in conjunction with Derby Dance so the City Council have a right bloody cheek in claiming credit for it themselves.

I cannot say why accounts have not been posted with the Charities Commission; I wasn’t a member of the old board and since the end of November that action would have to be taken by the Administrators. However, I can assure you that the assertion that the board was not receiving financial information is untrue. Following a number of leaks to the press of sensitive commercial information, the board was very careful about whom had access to such information.

The old board had two senior accountants (the chair and the treasurer) with vast experience of managing businesses with turnovers measured in hundreds of millions and even billions of pounds. Do you really believe that the wool could be pulled over their eyes or that they would have allowed the business to be financially mismanaged, thereby tarnishing their own reputations?

Why is it a problem for the Chief Executive and Artistic Director to have a cross over in what they do? Look at how the Royal National Theatre do it. Between Annie Castledine leaving and Mark Clements arriving, David Edwards acted as Artistic Director as well as Chief Executive. This crossover and sharing of roles really isn’t as unusual as you think. Having said all that, I don’t believe Karen ever relinquished the ultimate responsibility of being the Chief Executive.

So where did that extra 1.6 (or was it 1.4?) million pounds go? I don’t have all the figures in front of me but I will have a go. There was a Stabilisation Grant which paid off a loan from the City Council dating back to the early 1990’s. That was a couple of hundred grand. Then there was about 100K spent on Arts Council consultants (Playhouse had no choice here; jobs for the boys?) Some more went to pay off some of the debts incurred pre-2002. A big chunk went on vital capital works (remodelling the offices to replace condemned wiring and make them Disability Discrimination Act compliant, new security systems, new box office system). Another big chunk on redundancies (due partly to restructuring and partly to the dark period during capital works). The repayment of another loan which helped pay for the front of house refurbishment. And finally cashflow support during the dark period that was precipitated by the fact it is a bit difficult to produce theatre when you have a f***ing huge pile driver 10 yards away hammering morning, noon and night. So in fact, the vast majority of plans were carried through. However, the Recovery Plan was written before the impact of the building work became apparent and ACE and DCC weren’t terribly helpful in accomodating modifications to the plan. The benefits of some aspects of the plan were always going to take some time to be realised, but we were not allowed to reach the end of the plan period.

Let me re-iterate. If DCC had forwarded 40K of its grant then the cashflow dip would have been avoided and the income from Treasure Island and the Spring season would have paid the suppliers and kept the theatre in business. If ACE had re-instated its annual grant then the theatre could have come out of administration, paid off the creditors in full and had sufficient working capital to continue. The auditors agreed, the administrators agreed and a high street bank agreed.

Joyce - let’s just leave it here. I think we are both asking for similar if not the same things, but having read and re-read your posting four or five times now, I still can’t make head nor tail of it and my head hurts! Sorry.

Kit - I admire your never say die attitude, but even you in your heart of hearts must know that the game is up. As for the rest of your well made points you clearly have more knowledge than I of the internal workings of the building yet there are a number of points which still don’t make sense to me.

I acknowledge that there is no reason that roles cannot be blurred in all sorts of organisations but somewhere the buck has to stop and the person this stops with must have covered all the bases. Karen is/was clearly more interested in the artistic side of the business than the administrative and there’s nothing wrong with that (in fact there may be an awful lot right with it) but only if she has someone looking after administrative affairs whilst she’s in a rehearsal room, and at that someone has the authority to deliver. The fact that there was an Exec Director appointed for a short period sort of implies that this was at least acknowledged but the fact that the person lasted less than a year in post speaks a great deal too.

As for the recovery money, you make some fair points but it also begs another question - if the recovery money was used to pay off the seemly complex matrix of existing depts and loans, then how can the company now be looking at anything like the level of debt that it currently has - even when allowing for the factors you point out.

£40k may have allieviated the cash flow but wouldn’t have solved the underlying problem of debt and the business operating beyond its means.

I had a Mustang car once which I thought was the business. However it was prone to breaking down and every now and then it needed a few hundered here and a few hundred there (which I couldn’t afford) to get it going again. I did this for a few years until I totted up what I’d spent on the car and realised that I was just firefighting and that the longer term solution was to replace it with a more efficient if slightly less exciting model.

I appreciate that the council in all probability cannot run a producing theatre, but I also think that it was time for a new model and that’s what drove DCC and ACE to take the action they did.

Civic control is a particularly outdated model for cultural provision and I hope that this Derby Live idea is a short term plan to create some stablity before creating something more sustainable for the long term. I just hope that given that we can’t afford a Mercedes, we at least end up with a high spec Mondeo - although it is also true that council arts strategies are far more reknowned for producing Lada Riva’s.

ITs ok George, Ive done the same thing with your comments and I have the self same headache !
I’ll leave it to you and the others you can understand….
Love the bit about the mustang….
the council are reknowedned for procducing lada Riva’s….
Sorry dont know much about cars either….
I feel even more inferior now !!
I assume its an inferier car ?
The way they act and decide issues I would ahve thought the old electric car would have been their style !
One thing I DO agree with you is when you say “In all probablity the DCC cant run a producing theatre.”
I reckon theyd have more chance of running a **** ** in a brewery !
Hope theres no local council elections soon…..
If I lived in Derby city central Id put a great big Y and an even bigger ? beside the existing counsellers names !
Being a woman you see, all I was trying to say was I and a great many others (not all women) miss the lovley Playhouse and my Sats are not as full and enjoyable as they were when I was a volunteer there…
Sentimental rubbish ? Sure…thats what makes GOOD theatre goers different from those who can only see £ signs..
See you at the Derby “Live” venues…..
eg. the guildhall…the old Hippodrome (when they actualy make it habitable again, the new site which will come when they knock down the Old Market hall, The Quad centre, something thats only yet a twinkle in the Council / Westfield eye…and anywhere else they can flatten to provide the people of Derby with enchanted evenings….
Nice being misunderstood by you George…Joyce.

Kit, I wasnt implying the board are dead in the water..
Indeed I would love to see it come up with a miracle….
Gosh that would bring the ACE and the DCC to their knees….
I will be waiting and longing for a turn around before the creditors meeting on Mon…
I seem to have lost heart as there seems no way of knowing whats happening…
I agree with most of what you say, though as George will tell you Im not an intelectual person, I reserve my right to add my comments..
Quite right about the noise and dust from “Westfield” it DID make a big difference…plus it seemed the patrons had a lot of trouble actualy getting into the Eagle car park too..
I finf it rather odd that not a word has come from those who are “Changing” the face of Derby….
Westfield arent so noisy now…..
Everyone else involved have either disagreed or blamed someone else….but Westfield ? Nothing….
the DCC letting things slip….naughty, naughty…
Plans being leaked to the said \DCC….it smacks of intrigue to me….wheels within wheels…
I imagine those who are guilty of causing this sad business will get their come uppance…one day…
Hope my remarks havent bought you to the same conclusion as George….I truly am with you in all you say….Joyce .

Hi Joyce-
Just wanted to say I’ve appreciated all your commitment and genuine feeling in all the blogs you’ve been sending to DET and elsewhere.
I don’t think we and all the other thousands of passionate DPH supporters
are prepared to be ignored. I’m still astounded that DCC will have so much control over producing theatre in Derby! The AC have completely sold out on their principles.I appreciate there may have been concerns
about financial viability- but there could have been much better ways
to have dealt with this. This seems like an all out war which was premeditated to kill off the Playhouse once and for all. Well, I hope
the consequences of these actions in years to come return to haunt them.
We will always have our memories of fantastic productions, and an
irreplacable community spirit.
Good luck Joyce- and don’t stop giving ‘em grief!
Jo xx

George, the prospects of a rescue are indeed becoming bleak but I have the benefit of knowing what is going on behind the scenes and so my heart of hearts is saying “Hang on in there”.

By my reckoning Karen directed 8 shows out of the 40 since she arrived five and a half years ago. This is probably less time in the rehearsal room than most Chief Executives spend on the golf course. When she was in rehearsals then Stephen Edwards took on the responsibility of dealing with the day to day matters of running the organisation. It wasn’t as if she was miles away. She was always available at short notice to deal with any matters that required her attention. The concept of there being a third person on the Executive team goes back to the Mark Clements / David Edwards era so it wasn’t at all suprising that an Executive Director post was created, particularly when so much of the executive teams (as well as senior management team) time was spent dealing with the fallout from the building and road works surrounding the theatre. You are probably reading too much in to the apparently short tenure of the Exec Dir. The individual concerned had worked for the Playhouse for many years in a variety of roles and, whilst I cannot speak on their behalf, is just have likely to have been ready for a change of scenery as any other reason for leaving that you may be implying.

The level of debt (as in that on the creditors list) isn’t quite what is seems. For example, it includes Advanced Ticket sales of £285,157. All that has to happen to clear that debt is for the shows to be put on so the people who bought the tickets get what they paid for. There is about £136,000 of grants advanced by ACE & DCC. Wait until the due date falls and that debt disappears too. Taking these and a few other anomlous figures I reckon I can knock half a million off the figure simply by being allowed to continue to trade. The rules on tax reclaims and VAT refunds have always baffled me but there is probably some saving in there as well.

Your right, £40k would not have paid off the remaining creditors. But it would have meant the theatre could continue to trade and the income from Treasure Island and the following shows would have been sufficient, especially in light of the hugely improved attendance figures immediately following the completion of Westfields.

Having recently parted with my Mazda MX-5 for a family friendly Mondeo I share your pain.

I agree it looks like a new model was needed. The aim of the Recovery Plan was exactly that and much progress was made but the plan was ambushed by external factors and not allowed to be completed. Ironically, going into administration and the appointment of a new board gave us a golden opportunity to come up with a radical new model which is what we presented to the Arts Council. Unfortunately, it seems they didn’t even read the business plan. Highlights of that plan include reduced reliance on public subsidy, a new structure to the organisation taking the best benefits of tax breaks (which Charities don’t get) and VAT exemption (which charities do get) and making transparent financial management a whole lot easier, a new Chief Executive, an amateur theatre festival, a childrens summer show, no reliance on advanced ticket sales and the setting up of an endowment to support the theatre in times of crisis.

You say that the council probably can’t run a producing theatre. What worries me is that they don’t seem to be proposing they even try (maybe a good thing). So far their plan seems to consist of saying “we now have five indoor venues to program and there will be some produced work in there somewhere”. They have not given any detail on how this work is to be produced and a theatre in which produced work is presented is not the same as a producing theatre - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It doesn’t take huge skill to choose a play, employ a director and designers, cast some actors, get the set built and mount a show. But to do this and make it consistently excellent (ACEs current buzzword), innovative, exciting and engaging, and then to build upon that and improve and learn for the next one, all whilst running a building and worrying about “the roof leaking or the drains getting blocked and am I complying with health & safety legislation, and the Disability Discrimination Act and the Working Time Directive and the seats need replacing and the chef got drunk and attacked the patrons with a meat cleaver and so on” is actually quite difficult.

P.S. Did you see “Passing Places” in Autumn 2000? It was a play about a road trip to Scotland in a Lada Riva.

Kit, my commiserations on the loss of your roadster - I trust it wasn’t a soft top, that would be even harder to take. And no I didn’t see Passing Places, although just the thought of a long road trip in a Riva is making my back ache…

However, banter aside, your points are all very valiant and well made but it still doesn’t alter the fact that the organisation was living beyond it’s means, already in dire straights financially and one opening season aside, chasing a hugely ambitious artistic vision. Without very close supervision, this mix of risks can soon run out of control and this situation smacks of this all over.

Chasing national reviews and plaudits is all very well but surely the theatre should first and foremost concentrate on the needs and entertainment of people on it’s own doorstep?

I understand it will have been difficult working on a building site, but had some of these risks been minimised somewhat, particularly I would argue on the programming side, then the theatre would not now be in administration.

This appears to be borne out in your own data which I’ve just looked at on the DP website, which although almost impenetratibly presented, seems to indicate that the populist shows did well, and challenging shows did markedly less well.

I’m not a statistician, but it would appear to me to suggest that there was an audience that was willing to attend, but not take a risk - which would have told me something I would have listened to in my future choices.

Seems to me that ACE and DCC came to similar conclusions.

(And just before I’m accused of being a pygmy of any variety by some quarters, I am all for theatre pushing boundaries, just not at the expense of the organisations who deliver them…)

As I’ve said before, I share your concerns about the Derby Live model - it does seem remarkably thin on detail at the moment which is why I’m reserving judgement until Messrs Ibbeson and Meakin put some flesh on their grand boasts of last week.

I see your glorious leader is in the press again today defending Hebden and Edwards. Now they are educated intelligent men and I flatter myself that I’m not stupid, yet I truly cannot begin to comprehend what the hold they have over he and Hall can be.

Should you and your heart of hearts succeed in the miracle you seek then might I suggest the opening production be a version of The Emperors New Clothes?

I wish you well on Monday, truly I do! With a new exec team in place it could be an even better ride than my Mustang and your MX-5 combined.

George, it was a soft top. I’ll just have to wait for the kids to grow up, have another mid-life crisis and get another impractical car.

I’m guessing the data you were looking at is the Westfields Impact spreadsheet. Yes, some shows are always going to do better than others but look at the figures for the ‘populist’ shows. “Importance of Being Earnest” did £17k less business than could have been expected and “Henceforward” by Alan Ayckbourn took £21k less than other comedies in the same slot. A comparison on a more even field is to compare the two previous Shakespeare’s (Dream and R&J) in the same slot as “As You Like It” and you get a short fall of £45k. If you include Macbeth you get -£51k. Now you either like Shakespeare or you don’t but when three Shakespeare plays have an average of £128k and the next one takes £77k then something is going on that can’t be blamed on programming. The trend was down, regardless of the type of show.

HI Jo, well youve made my day !!
At last someone who understands what Im talking about !!!!!!
Im lost when “PEOPLE” go on and on about who’s to blame…
“Oh yes it is ” and OH no its not!”
How many millions of pounds ?
HOW MANY?
leaked docs…….. DCC feverishly working behind closed doors working out how they can get rid of Karen and Stephen a.s.a.p..
Why the ACE gave the money they promised the Playhouse to the DCC ?
Youre a lovely person and dont worry I wont be giving up with my bloggs !!! So watch this space !!
That means you Bleeding heart and anyone else who doesnt seem to have a heart at all !!!!
Youre quite right Jo…we WILL REMEMBER the joy of being a part of a wonderful theatre…call me sentimental, call me irresponsible, but its undeniably true…I miss my second home…
See you soon Jo and thanks again…Joyce X