Does the Royal Opera House need £26mio/year taxpayer funds?
Discussion
I am a fan of the arts. But in a city like London, full of tourists and wealthy residents, why is the opera in need of £26 mio a year from the Arts Council?
West End theatres seem to manage without it, don't they?
I can imagine why they might support a touring opera company to take it to the masses in the regions which don't have tourist foortfall or wealthy residents to support it, or use the £26 mio to provide free or cheap seats for people on low income. Bu the OPera house could, and should, survive with out taxpayer help. There are enough City law firms, accountancy firms and Private Equity houses to support this sort of thing.
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/rfo/royal-opera-hous...
West End theatres seem to manage without it, don't they?
I can imagine why they might support a touring opera company to take it to the masses in the regions which don't have tourist foortfall or wealthy residents to support it, or use the £26 mio to provide free or cheap seats for people on low income. Bu the OPera house could, and should, survive with out taxpayer help. There are enough City law firms, accountancy firms and Private Equity houses to support this sort of thing.
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/rfo/royal-opera-hous...
johnfm said:
use the £26 mio to provide free or cheap seats for people on low income.
They have tickets as low as £5, and you can get reasonable seats (albeit up high) for £30 or so. We've been several times and not paid more than £40 each.If you compare with somewhere like the Sydney Opera House, we tried to get tickets but "listening" seats (ie. no view at all of the stage, not just restricted) were $75AU (about £50) and if you wanted to see anything, it was starting at $150AU (£100ish).
Can't account for all of it, but the ROH is one of the most affordable and inclusive places in the world to see top-class opera and ballet.
sjg said:
They have tickets as low as £5, and you can get reasonable seats (albeit up high) for £30 or so. We've been several times and not paid more than £40 each.
If you compare with somewhere like the Sydney Opera House, we tried to get tickets but "listening" seats (ie. no view at all of the stage, not just restricted) were $75AU (about £50) and if you wanted to see anything, it was starting at $150AU (£100ish).
Can't account for all of it, but the ROH is one of the most affordable and inclusive places in the world to see top-class opera and ballet.
Are the cheap seats means tested?If you compare with somewhere like the Sydney Opera House, we tried to get tickets but "listening" seats (ie. no view at all of the stage, not just restricted) were $75AU (about £50) and if you wanted to see anything, it was starting at $150AU (£100ish).
Can't account for all of it, but the ROH is one of the most affordable and inclusive places in the world to see top-class opera and ballet.
It's a pastime. It shouldn't be subsidised by the taxpayer. Is it possible to get a tax subsidy to go to the cinema? To watch Chelsea? To see England play at the Oval or Twickenham...?
If less well off people can't afford to go, tough. I can't afford a 250GT SWB but would desperately love one. The answer is not to get the taxpayer to subside my wants but for me to work harder. Or spunk more on lottery tickets
They were complaining on bbc news earlier that £100 million was being cut from the funding of arts/dance/ballet stuff.
Firstly, these things should be able to support themselves, if I had a small business and spent more than I made I would be in trouble very quickly, how these arts productions can operate by spending money they dont have is beyond me. Actually its how the government runs. Nevermind.
The second biggest problem I had with it was that the report didnt say how much the overall budget was. If they were losing £100 million from a £120 million budget then it is vicious cuts, however if the figure is the billions then its not so severe. Bad Biased reporting as usual.
Firstly, these things should be able to support themselves, if I had a small business and spent more than I made I would be in trouble very quickly, how these arts productions can operate by spending money they dont have is beyond me. Actually its how the government runs. Nevermind.
The second biggest problem I had with it was that the report didnt say how much the overall budget was. If they were losing £100 million from a £120 million budget then it is vicious cuts, however if the figure is the billions then its not so severe. Bad Biased reporting as usual.
k.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff