Thanks very much to Ted Bottle for his support of our struggle against Scarborough Borough Council to save the Futurist Theatre (letters, p8, May 3). He has stated the situation correctly. The council has absolutely no understanding whatsoever of theatre, what it is, how it works, and its place in tourism and society as a whole, despite our best efforts to explain.
It’s all change at a station which sent troops to war with a song in their hearts.
Your Chit Chat column (page 9, May 10) got a lot of mocking mileage out of dancer Kimberly Wyatt having told your reporter that she’d enjoyed seeing a dance production ‘by Jason Bourne’, but the mixing up of names is readily accomplished by those who write professionally rather than simply chat to the media.
An error of judgement was made by a junior freelancer new to Hat Trick in placing an advert seeking actors or extras to participate in filming with the payment of expenses only [Hat Trick becomes latest TV indie to seek unpaid performers, page 4, May 10]. Neither senior members of the company nor the lawyers were consulted on the decision to place the advert or to ask participants to take part for free. As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we immediately asked for StarNow to remove the advert and apologised to Equity and Pact for the error.
I don’t deny I’m having to be dragged hollering and screaming into the computer age. But with reference to your article Court ruling bites YouTube (p13, April 26), surely for a major internet provider to say that, to filter all new material, ‘would impact on the volume uploaded to the site’ is no different than going into a supermarket loading your shopping trolley up to capacity and walking out with it, saying “sorry I haven’t time to pay, or I’ll be late for work”.
I was pleased to read that the Propeller Theatre Company has ended its financial year with a surplus (Biz 2 Biz, page 13, May 3). It deserves one.
Your news piece Trio Run for Equity President (May 3), in its online incarnation mentions that I declined to comment on my decision to stand for the Equity President. While this is correct what it failed to explain is my reason for doing this, which was expressed to The Stage.
Even though I am fully aware that I can book online through various different companies or through TKTS, I choose to book my tickets through the actual venue because I wish to make sure my hard earned money goes back into the theatre (ticketing survey, April 12).
I realise that it’s incredibly costly to mount a West End show, especially a musical, and ticket prices appear high plus booking fees as highlighted in The Stage (April 12).
What a great pity we have to read such sad comments made by ‘Mrs Spratt’ about the Oliviers (online comments, and April 26 page 9) particularly as the artists concerned received standing ovations and prolonged applause. Indeed the loudest and longest of the evening.
A confluence of events has prompted this letter. Equity has launched a low pay/no pay campaign. The Musicians’ Union has issued a Fair Play Guide. Equity has been asking its members if they would pay £59 a year for tax investigation insurance. Members of the Musicians’ Union already have this free. Equity instrument insurance cover is £500. Musicians’ Union cover £2,000. Equity subscriptions are less than those of the Musicians’ Union. Public liability insurance is marginally better with Equity than the Musicians’ Union.
As much as we are always delighted to be mentioned in The Stage, we feel we have been somewhat short-changed in the April 26 issue.
After reading the letters concerning the Royal Shakespeare Company’s acceptance of BP as a sponsor of the World Shakespeare Festival, I am reminded of a comment by the founder of The Salvation Army, General Booth, when faced with a similar conundrum. He said: “Give me your dirty money and I will wash it in the tears of the poor.”
It is heartening to see artists as respected as Mark Rylance, James Bolam and Sue Jameson publicly campaigning against the Royal Shakespeare Company’s acceptance of BP as a sponsor of the World Shakespeare Festival (April 26).
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