Rental charges are only a fraction of the financial burden placed on producers who use the National Cultural Centre (NCC), according to producer Gem Madhoo-Nascimento.
In a recent letter published in the Stabroek News, Madhoo-Nascimento, the Managing Director of GEMS Theatre Productions, took issue with a claim by Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony that the NCC was not making money and unable to sustain its operations because of a low rental cost. “If the centre was making money we could have been able to invest this money,” Anthony told a recent press conference, while saying that the ministry would have to find money in its budget to over almost$80M in renovations.
But according to Madhoo-Nascimento, who suggested that the minister was not properly guided, the rental charges are only a fraction of what is collected by the NCC from local productions.
In her letter, which was published in the January 14th edition of Stabroek News, she revealed that the NCC charges a $80,000 flat rental for the entire building, including 27 staff seats in the back of the auditorium, which she said the Ministry of Culture and NCC staff use to invite their families and friends to see shows at no cost and over a dozen ‘VIP’ seats in the balcony front, which are used by the administration to seat their friends and families or anyone else who needs a free seat to the show.
She further stated that producers pay an additional 20% charge an all tickets; bar rentals-even though they are facing competition from vendors at the entrance of centre who do not pay any charge; cost for printing tickets and a charge for the use of a video camera to film the performance; a charge for rehearsal (only one out of three rehearsals is free of charge); charge for ushers, for front house staff and security on a nightly basis. “Calculated on ticket prices of $2000, $1500 and $1000, and a full house, the producer pays approximately 26% of the gross income to the NCC plus 16% VAT to the GRA,” she noted, while observing that local producers receive no assistance from the ministry while foreign acts are being brought into the country and receive tax waivers under the excuse of tourism.
Forty-two percent of producers’ gross income for each night of theatrical performance is handed over to the government, leaving producers hoping for a full house and sponsorship to cover actors, the production team, advertisements, the cost for construction of sets and props, costumes, makeup and hair, royalties, rental for rehearsal space and photography, said Madhoo-Nascimento.
She also lamented that patrons are buying tickets for shows but are unable to hear because of the corroding sound system in the centre. “This has been happening for years even when the sound system was new because of the technical incompetence of the staff. The lights have suffered a similar fate for the same reason. Productions have suffered from the technical staff not doing their jobs. Lights are turned off or on at the wrong time ruining a scene in spite of lighting scripts provided by the production for rehearsals,” she said.
“The Minister needs to make up his mind either to have the NCC run as a business or subsidize it as a state-run institution used for a number of governmental and national events which do not bring in an income and then have the private producers feel the squeeze by the imposition of excessively high rental and other costs to pay for the ‘freebies,’” Madhoo-Nascimento said.
The National Drama Festival Director Godfrey Naughton recently complained that the state of the NCC was affecting the practical work of students at National Drama School—which is housed in NCC—and that the platform used for performance needed improvement.
He had also talked about the poor lighting and sound conditions that actors were forced to work under and he labeled them outdated.
Anthony, however, argued that the centre was already funded by the ministry. “While producers may complain about how much it costs to use the centre, we are actually subsidizing the centre and I think people should understand that,” he noted. He also said, “…If we are to implement market rates I don’t know how many of the producers will be able to afford it.”
Meanwhile, former Stage Manager Bobby Vieira has argued that while producers are vying for modernization of the centre, they should be responsive to fiscal constraints to preserve the centre. In a letter, published in Stabroek News’ January 12 edition, Vieira stated that advanced theatres across the world are struggling to keep up with the advancing technological world at the cost of losing productions. He said that lighting systems are changed at such a rapid pace that producers barely get to familiarize themselves with it.
“The cultural centre like many theatres around the world continues to experience challenges when it comes to lighting equipment… The cultural centre has suffered in many instances since the cost of procuring upgrades of equipment on a frequent basis is not realistic as the fees charged can’t even touch the cost of an engineer to do an analysis, far less buy new modules for a lighting grid every five years,” he said.
He stated that producers should be made aware of the cost of sound equipment, while noting that rental fees at NCC were low since a college theatre in New York charges a minimum of US$10,000 per night. “I am sure if one were to make a comparison with other facilities we will find the rental fees at the cultural centre ridiculous. For example to rent the Walt Whitman Theater at the Brooklyn College costs a minimum of US$10,000 per night,” he said.
“This comes with the basic white light features for general lighting. Each time you ask for an additional lamp or piece of equipment you are charged an additional sum. Therefore we must use balance and consideration in seeking changes, etc. And mind you, this is just a college facility,” he added.
