The Stage

Venue’s victims

Published Tuesday 4 December 2007 at 11:10

I am one of the lucky ones - Derby Playhouse has closed and I have walked away, it seems, unscathed. How long it will be until all regional theatres are closed? What happens to the staff - the skilled technicians, creatives and actors?

Yesterday (November 29) I was in Derby watching and working on the press night performance of Treasure Island, which also turned out to be the last performance. I am not going to make any judgements here as to the rights and wrongs of what happened or who is to blame. I would like to thank the 60-strong staff of the Playhouse, who were clearly proud and dedicated to their theatre and passionate about the show they were producing.

The theatre was under-funded and under-resourced but the time and commitment the production department gave to me was unwavering. I was never made to feel my creative requests were unreasonable. Even yesterday, as the board members continued to sit and the news was not looking good, we added a star cloth and tightened all the cues on the scene changes. Everyone from stage door to stage management remained very professional.

While the politics may be in the limelight, we must not forget those caught up in the shadows - the real victims of this closure are the everyday people with families and homes.

Johanna Town

Lighting designer

Nimrod Road

London

SW16