Agenda item

The Committee received a joint report of the Corporate Director of Resources and the Interim Corporate Director of Regeneration and Local Services that provided members with a follow up review of the Gala Theatre.

The Chair introduced the Strategic Manager Culture who was in attendance to provide a presentation to Members on the Gala Theatre following the initial report that had been presented to the Committee in January 2019.  The Strategic Manager Culture explained that the Gala Theatre was a 500 seat theatre that included two-screen cinema, café, flexible studio space that could be hired out and an area that was used as a small visual arts gallery. 

She informed the Committee that the Gala Theatre had undergone some major challenges over the last twelve months including changes in the audience numbers and the increase in competition with the new Odeon opening.

The Strategic Manager Culture advised the Committee that the Gala Theatre was constantly being monitored and new ideas had been initiated.  She noted that a new electronic point of sales had been introduced to make stock control more efficient, that also created useful data to target audiences on their secondary spend in the bar and café. The purchasing of tickets online had not only created opportunities to reduce queues at the box office on show nights but allowed customers to be sent preshow emails illustrating what was on offer on the night and also after show surveys to gain feedback that was invaluable information that would be used to improve the experience and give people what they wanted. A new Programme Manager had been employed to refresh the programme for the Gala Theatre although the programme that had been inherited and would need to run its course before any major changes could be made in 2020.  An application for mobile phones was in the making that would allow people to buy drinks in advance and to increase secondary spend.

The Strategic Manager Culture notified the Committee that the seats could be removed from the theatre that made it possible to explore different types of shows that could be offered like live music events, which would tap into a new audience.  The Gala Theatre had a very successful Christmas pantomime season that had seen during Christmas 2019 a low attendance from schools that would need to be addressed to see why the numbers had declined.  She noted that the major issue was the cinema, following the opening of an Odeon cinema in the same vicinity and another cinema under construction.  The Strategic Manager Culture referred members of the committee to the financial element within the report that showed how the Gala Theatre had performed over the last three years and stressed that the Gala Theatre was being monitored frequently to see how things could be improved further.

Councillor Adam indicated that there had been some improvements since the last report working towards positive performance.  He felt that it was work in progress as there was still a lot more to achieve.  He wanted to know if there was a timescale to monitor the issues surrounding the cinema, particularly in view of the increased competition since the opening of the Odeon Luxe in Durham and the anticipated opening of the Everyman Cinema.

The Strategic Manager Culture responded that the cinema element of the Gala Theatre would be monitored for six months with work ongoing to analyse weekly figures.  It was agreed that the situation would be assessed in June to work out the next course of action. She noted that there was plans for a further Everyman Cinema to be opened in Durham and if this came to fruition then it would be very hard for the Gala to remain competitive.  She added that options were being looked at to see what could be done with the space and gave an example of operating just one cinema or using the space of the second cinema in a completely different way.

Councillor Wilkes stated that there were approximately 20,000 students within County Durham with a quarter being made up of foreign students.  He expressed the idea that if other cinemas were playing mainstream films whether it was worth featuring foreign films for the captive audience to create a niche.

The Strategic Manager Culture explained that the Gala Theatre could not show a film for just a couple of times as the contract with the distributer stipulated that films had to be taken for a week.  She had suggested this very idea of showing foreign films when she came into post, however upon looking at the previous programmes there had been seasons where foreign films had been shown including those that targeted Chinese students that had very little attendance.  She added that relations had been established with the university and various societies to try to target students as a key audience but this had only confirmed that there were barriers which had proved ineffective as it was found that the Gala Theatre could not give students what they wanted in a cinema experience with comfy seats and quality sound and would travel further afield for this.

Councillor Willkes felt that if students wanted to go to Newcastle cinemas for a better experience then why not refurbish the cinema with more comfortable chairs and better sound systems.

The Strategic Manager Culture advised that there was no guarantee that if the cinema was refurbished that it would attract more students and other customers to the cinema and without the guarantee it would be a waste of resources.

Councillor Wilkes thought that the future of the cinema element of the Gala Theatre should be seriously considered.

The Strategic Manager Culture agreed that the future of the cinema had to be considered and that was why it was being monitored and thoughts were being processed into potentially using the cinema space in a completely different way to generate revenue. 

Councillor Dunn thought that it would be a mistake to make any rapid decision at this present time without the relevant information to act upon.  He considered that although new cinemas like the Odeon were an exciting prospect for some people but when all was considered, they would rather watch a film in a cinema that was within their budget.  He believed there was still a market for the cinema at the Gala Theatre if it continued to provide a cost-efficient service. He felt that June was too soon to make a terminal decision regarding the future for the cinema.

The Strategic Manager Culture sensed it would be sad if the cinema was lost from the Gala Theatre. She explained that there was a lot to consider but everything was being looked at to save the cinema.

Councillor Maddison informed the Committee that she had experienced the Gala Theatre for the first time recently to see a live streaming of a West End show.  She felt that the whole experience was wonderful with some of the audience participating with the show.  She thought that press releases through the County Council and the use of the website could be used to try to generate interest.

The Strategic Manager Culture highlighted that the cinema offered lots of shows from the National Theatre that were all well attended as not all people could travel to London to see their favourite shows. She thought it was a great opportunity to bring theatre to the people and even though it was on the screen the audience reacted as if they were present in the theatre.

Councillor Batey felt it was a shame that the park and ride could not be used to provide an opportunity to get people to attend the Gala Theatre by means of discounted tickets. 

The Strategic Manager Culture explained that the cost price of tickets had been looked at especially through the festival programme and encouragement was required for the park and ride to support the facility.

Councillor Coult informed the Committee that attendance at the Empire Theatre, Sunderland included a £2 charge to park in the car park all night.  She commended all the work that had gone into the Gala Theatre and had thoroughly enjoyed attending the excellent Christmas pantomime for the last five years.  She thought that a scheme should be introduced to allow people with mobility issues to access the Gala Theatre easily.  She was unaware that the seats could be removed from the theatre area that would enable to think outside the box in relation to its survival.  She felt that it may be hype with the Odeon cinema that could die down but the cost of a ticket was an issue that they needed to get right.

Councillor Adam highlighted the recommendations on page 76 of the report and noted that big decisions needed to be made regarding the Gala Theatre.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted

(ii) That a further report be submitted to a future meeting