Sydney Theatre Company: ‘Curtain closes unless theatres reopen’
Sydney Theatre Company has posted a loss of $7.8m for 2019 and warns of a bleaker outlook unless theatres reopen soon.
Sydney Theatre Company has posted a $7.8m operating loss for the last year, with its high-powered board, led by former Commonwealth Bank chief Ian Narev, issuing a warning about the institution’s future viability.
Last year’s losses were largely due to depreciation, asset writedowns and planned disruption while the Wharf Theatre on Sydney Harbour is closed for a major upgrade.
But the impact of COVID-19 on the nation’s largest subsidised theatre company has led the STC board in its annual report to flag “material uncertainty” about its ability to continue.
If theatres remain closed for the rest of the year, STC stands to lose $18m in expected box-office earnings and other revenue from its restaurants and fundraising activities.
In its assessment of going concern, the company has based its cashflow projections on theatres reopening in September, its ability to offer a 2021 subscription season, and access to government assistance including JobKeeper.
Executive director Patrick McIntyre said on Monday it had been a “fraught” few years for STC, which has posted operational deficits since 2017, largely due to the Wharf project.
Ticket sales last year were lower than in 2018, with fewer performances because of the Wharf’s closure. The most popular shows were Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, featuring Zahra Newman, Pamela Rabe and Hugo Weaving, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane, with Noni Hazlehurst and Yael Stone.
The group consolidated result, including the building project, was a loss of $4.8m.
The company is now in “hibernation” due to COVID-19, with many staff working reduced hours. It has avoided staff lay-offs and is claiming JobKeeper for 175 employees.
“We are monitoring the situation to see how quickly we can get back on stage safely, and as close as possible to our old operating model,” Mr McIntyre said, adding that it was not commercially viable to open theatres at less than capacity. “We need to come back at full strength in order to wake up the economic model that makes it all possible.”
He said he was waiting for further details about the Morrison government’s $250m Jobmaker plan for the creative economy, which includes $35m earmarked for federally funded organisations such as STC.
“It registers the fact that we need a couple of months’ notice ahead of reopening, to remobilise, and rehearse and build and market,” he said of the stimulus package. “It’s really encouraging that the government understands that we’re the kind of industry that can be switched off overnight, but we can’t be switched on overnight.”
The Wharf is due to reopen in February next year after its refurbishment, when Mr McIntyre hopes audiences will be keen to come back to the theatre.
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