01/02/2007

The council working party have now decided to run the theatre with the in house Theatre Arts and Events team for at least the next 12 months. They will continue to look for a sustainable long term future for the theatre.

We are all fully aware from our local press and media that this council are in financial difficulties, and that budgets across all departments have been severely restricted. Cultural Services has been hard hit and the budget for the Palace Theatre for the next 12 months has been reduced from £90,000 to £25,000. It does no take much imagination to realise that a cut of nearly

75% will have a dramatic impact on what can be provided at the Palace. Other theatres around the country of a similar size receive funding far in excess of even the previous £90,000 a year. This is a situation which has compounded the difficulties year on year. Each year that the funding for the Palace has

 The Badminton Hall has been let to a Not-for-Profit Company called OVERDRIVE, run by Mark Wilkins & Aly Lascelles. Aly is a local girl who has come home after 7 years in London. She and Mark have decided that Paignton is now the place they want to be, and they are anxious to take an active and positive role in the community.

They will be using the Badminton Hall as an Alternative Art Centre, and will be promoting Comedy Nights, Music Workshops, Spoken Word Initiatives, Visual Arts & Sculpture workshops and exhibitions, along with many other community projects.

They envisage a very full and varied programme of events and activities aimed mainly at young people; creating opportunities for those who may not before have experienced the arts in their widest sense. The programmes they are planning are interactive and will encompass well known names supporting specialised projects who will bring their expertise to the forum.

This will be an exciting innovation for the dear old Badminton Hall which will be re-named – THE BIT ON THE SIDE.

Having plenty of activity and lively people around must be a positive step for the Palace. It will open the doors to a new clientele and the fostering of new talent and ideas will help to regenerate the building and begin to establish the Art Centre that we all espouse. The Project aims to have something going on in the BOTS every day and to have the venue open full time bringing much needed vitality to the Palace

This is a bold and courageous venture which no doubt will add a further dimension to the future of the Palace as THE BIT ON THE SIDE opens its doors.