Nottingham's New Play;house,

From its earliest days on the drawing bord, Nobtaneians £370, 000 Playhouse has been the centre of political controversy in the City, Opposed by the Tories whose predecessors opposed the provision of public libraries, finally decided upon by the casting vote of a Labour Mayor who was accused of usurping his position to squander the City's rates, the controversy still exists although the Playhase has been an obyious success, playing nightly to 90% capacity audicnces, On the night of the opening there was a punch=tp in the Council House between members of the Staff and Corvoration officials; the» latest round in the battle occurred on May 14th when members of the Staff displayed a notice board in the theatre foyer entitled: "Facts about She Playhouse": "The Playhouse was financed from the profits accrued by thé Municipal Gas Undertaking before it was nationalised, It cost £370,000, It was leased to the Nottingham Theatre Trust Ltd, for a period of 21 years. The annual rent payable to the City is £26,000’ or £500 per week, The City gives back to the Trust £13,000 each year, This £13,000 also comes from the Gas Fund, It does not come from the rates, In effect the Trust is paying the City £13,000 a year; the City gives the Trust nothing, At the end of 21 years the Trust will have fully réplenished the Gas Fund's loan with normal interest, The Playhouse will, however, remain the property of the City and have been maintained at no cost to the City. Though the City gives the Playhouse nothing, the County Gives £7,500 a year from the rates, The British taxpayer gives the Playhouse 217,000 a year from the Arts Council, The City of Notting-~ ham Corporation does not support the Playhouse which is a credit to and an amenity of the Cityescsccccsccscessthe biggest single item in the Playhouse budget is the rent," It should be clear from the above that the Playhouse staff believe that there has been a plot aféot to kid the rate-payers that they are footing the bill. Why was it left to the Pl~yhouse Company to do all the explaining ? If the present happy state of affairs as regaritis attendance does not maintain itself, then there will be a clear case for calling on the corporation to lower the rent and treating the Playhouse to the samé considerations that operate in the case of Libraries, Art Galleries and Park",