Carleton University’s Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre company is in danger of making a permanent stage exit, warns artistic co-director Geoff Burnside.
Burnside said that with the current combination of falling ticket sales, production expenses, and decreasing student involvement, the student-run theatre company could cease to exist within a year or two.
“At the start of the year we had so little cash we weren’t even sure if we would have a season,” said John Ryan, a second-year humanities student and co-artistic director at the Sock ‘n’ Buskin.
“Basically every year we start in debt, until we get our CUSA funding [in November],” Burnside said.
The Sock ‘n’ Buskin pays thousands of dollars each year in rental fees for the use of the Kailash Mital Theatre in Southam Hall. When Ryan and Burnside began their term as artistic directors in May 2012, Sock ‘n’ Buskin owed more than $9,000 to the theatre.
The high production costs and space rental fees aren’t new, Burnside admitted. “We’re not making the same amount of money as we once were.”
There are a number of possible reasons for this, Ryan and Burnside said.
“Production value has gone down,” Burnside said, citing competing arts and culture events in Ottawa that siphon away student money and support from Sock ‘n’ Buskin.
Ryan said the current money crunch has them feeling caught between trying to cast Carleton students and making money.
“For many of the [show] directors, it’s not a question of finding Carleton talent, it’s a question of putting on the best show because we need to make money,” Ryan said.
“If there was less pressure to make money, we would be able to cast more Carleton students.”
Having more Carleton students in the show generally means more support from within the Carleton community, Ryan said, as friends and classmates come out to support the actors.
Both directors hope that their current musical The Rocky Horror Show, which premieres Jan. 17, will be popular enough to put them on good financial footing.
“The Sock n’ Buskin has a pretty long history of financial troubles, as I think probably any theatre company in Canada [does],” said Michelle Blanchard, a Carleton graduate and artistic director at the Sock ‘n’ Buskin’ from 2010-2012.
“What has been happening over the past 10-15 years is that we are increasingly running out of space options,” she said.
“It’s a priority for the Sock ‘n’ Buskin to stay on campus, and as of right now the only theatrical venue is the Kailash Mital Theatre, which is becoming increasingly expensive,” Blanchard said.
Last year, the Sock ‘n’ Buskin’ budgeted very carefully and did a four-show season to help make a profit, Blanchard said. But in the same year the theatre hiked its rental rates, wiping out any gains Sock ‘n’ Buskin had made from their careful planning.
Cedric Broten, manager of the Kailash Mital Theatre, said that the theatre already gives a discount to student groups.
“Student group rates are cost recovery rates designed to recoup our costs in operating the facility. There is no profit margin,” Broten said in an email.
Broten said that the rental rates were raised by a “small amount” to help cover inflation, after rates hadn’t risen for several years.
“We try our best to make a professional performance [space] available to student groups at a reasonable rate. But there is a lot of equipment that is necessary for a performance space and it does cost money to maintain,” Broten said.
In the long term, Blanchard said the Sock ‘n’ Buskin needs more space options.
Years ago the Sock ‘n’ Buskin had its own space for rehearsals and small performances, Blanchard said, but the space was reclaimed by the university.
“What you would need for a basic performance space is a simple lighting system, a couple of dimmer boards, a simple sound system.”
Blanchard said a smaller venue with 60 seats would suffice, as opposed to Kailash Mital’s 440 seats.
“Something like that, I think people could get a lot of use out of.”
