Painful decision for Strode Theatre

Looking for a low-stress 9-5 job? Then don’t try running a theatre or cinema in mid-Somerset.
You must work long, often anti-social hours and keep the customers coming in a world where the choice of alternative entertainments constantly grows.
No one played video games, surfed the web or watched DVD movies on a 50-inch plasma screen television when Strode Theatre and the Wells Film Centre were launched.
Strode faces particular problems with the threat of the grants they receive from cash-strapped local councils being cut or stopped altogether.
This is an excellent theatre with a reputation for looking after its customers which deserves financial support from councils because it provides a venue for amateur dramatic groups and minority interest films not shown elsewhere in mid-Somerset.
But as the future of the grants is so uncertain, the managers of Strode Theatre face difficult decisions affecting people they have worked with for years as they strive to secure the future of this valuable community asset.
The Mid Somerset Series has reported how financial worries have led the theatre to sever its 39-year link with Strode Productions pantomime.
This came as a bitter blow to the committed and talented members of Strode Productions who have given so much of their unpaid time to entertain audiences.But we should not blame the theatre managers. They have been pressed into a corner and obliged to take painful decisions.
Philip Welch