On Wednesday September 21st the Playhouse is going into Voluntary Liquidation. The debts of a small theatre badly managed for too long have become substantial. It's now estimated at around three hundred thousand pounds it owes to various creditors, all wracked up long before we arrived to work there and too deeply hidden for anyone to find until recently. The actions of desperate individuals taking options they thought would revive the theatre over the last twenty years have finally amounted to this.

Unfortunately there was nothing any of us could have done to prevent this while all the information about the finances were being withheld. Combined with the inexperience and naivety of afew who thought they knew better and could prevent the inevitable by appearing to do nothing. Well, it works for a while at least.. Debts weren't paid when they were supposed to, creditors failed to notice, and then panicked when they were made aware of their mistake.

And while all this is happening the theatre is suffering from a lack of maintenance. Walls are succumbing to damp, a large section of the building has been abandoned due to unsafe electrics, pipes have begun to block and leak throughout the entire structure and it couldn't half do with a new lick of paint.. EVERYWHERE! As well as numerous other problems, which I know afew others and I could have solved if the funds had been made available to start the work before it became the massive problem it is now.

Nearly all who've managed to stay through the hard times and terrible lack of structure have grown tired and restless with the place. It's frustrating to watch the potential go untapped and wasted and fall to pieces. It's depressing to watch people pour their heart into something out of desperation in a hope that it'll pay a staff wage, and continue with it while it chews up resources with little if any return.

There have been some successes. A staple life drawing class manages to support itself, small amateur dramatics groups have found a home to rehears and perform with a reasonable and familiar audience. And I'm pleased to say that the event I helped to form back in February became a success and returned twice more with popular turnouts. I'm proud of the work that my team mates have put into our event and that it will strive on in other venues in the future, no doubt continuing in its good fortune.
But these minor victories cannot sustain a theatre alone, and though there are others who have brought in and have made success stories for themselves, all were too few and far between to provide a consistent cash flow substantial enough to keep the whole thing running.

And despite it all, a brave few are about to set up a holding company to run the building while our liquidators try to find a buyer for it. My redundancy starts this coming Wednesday, and I wish these crazed people every scrap of luck. But I reserve and thought of it becoming successful enough to dig itself out of the crater made so long ago. I have afew more belongings to pick up, but I shan't be providing my skills for a cause I just can't believe in anymore.

Bigger and better things ahead. My daughter's just started school a week and a half ago, and I have a tone of volunteer jobs lined up that I'm hoping will give me some kind of spark again. At least I know I'll be working for good people that I trust and can give me some direction and opportunity..

Oh, and I've also just started working on some masks for a cosplay shoot, watch out