Should theatre departments control their theatres?

[Doug Arrell]

We are just completing a new theatre at the University of Winnipeg - a modest flexible black-box space seating about 150.  The university administration is so pleased with it they have decided to take it over and run it themselves - we will have to book space like everybody else.  

We have lots of reasons why we HAVE to control the space ourselves and why the model proposed by the administration will not work.  We have no intention of hoarding the space, but only we have the expertise to book it appropriately without harming our teaching and production program.  We see the central booking idea as a recipe for disaster.

We would like to hear from the experiences of other theatre departments, especially those who have experienced first hand why the model proposed by the University will not work.  A few horror stories will help us bolster our case!

Thanks

Doug Arrell, Chair,
Department of Theatre and Film,
University of Winnipeg