Opinion
The idea that selling off the Regent will help the arts is laughable
Elizabeth Flux
Arts EditorI recently visited the Regent Theatre early in the morning. I walked up the stairs, turned right where I’d normally turn left, and found myself in a luxurious room overlooking the street. This is a building that was saved from fire, that the community rallied around to rescue at a time when Melbourne’s heritage was being knocked down on a weekly basis. And hey, it’s where Hugh Jackman starred in Sunset Boulevard.
The sign for Wicked was still up, which has since given way to a sign for Oscar – a newly commissioned work that this week will mark the Australian Ballet’s debut at the almost-100-year-old theatre.
The Regent Theatre.Credit: Simon Schluter
It’s a beautiful building, inside and out. The Regent is a space where you can almost feel the history in every nook and cranny – but even if you couldn’t, even if it were a hideous utilitarian eyesore, Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s re-election plan to sell off the space would still be incomprehensible.
We love the Regent because of its history, yes. But we need the Regent because, as a city, we need to hang on to every dedicated arts space we can. Without it our artists will suffer, and our creative future will be dampened.
Speaking to The Age at the weekend, Reece said: “I think we can get far more public good done if we sell our share in the theatre and put the proceeds back into the creative industries in Melbourne where a helping hand is needed.” He added that “a lot of people do know there are parts of the creative sector that are really struggling at the moment and could use some support from the city”.
The Regent Theatre on Collins Street in the '60s.
He’s correct about the second bit: the creative sector is struggling and would benefit from city support. However, his plan for the hypothetical money from the hypothetical sale, which would occur after his hypothetical re-election, would be, among other projects, to create a “City Solstice Winter Festival” modelled on White Night.
Has Reece thought through this plan at all? Melbourne has festivals. Lots of them. Some of them great – and many that would probably benefit from more financial support. In fact, one of these festivals already exists as a partial replacement for White Night – it’s called Rising, and at the end of this year’s festival its future was in doubt.
In a year when even Australia’s seminal winter festival, Tasmania’s Dark Mofo, was pared back, is Melbourne really crying out for yet another festival when our existing ones are facing issues around attendance and funding?
Even if we were in dire need of a “City Solstice Winter Festival”, selling a long-term asset to fund a risky and potentially short-term venture makes no sense. Reece is surely aware that it isn’t an either/or situation. And what if the festival flops? That money is simply gone forever.
Say the Victorian government (which owns 49 per cent to the City of Melbourne’s 51 per cent and currently has no plans to sell) gets on board and the venue is sold. What if Reece’s confidence that the heritage protections – which are complex – will mean the space remains a theatre are misplaced? Melbourne has one fewer theatre, capacity to put on shows is diminished, less work is available for artists on stage and off, there’s less enticement for artists and audiences to come to our city, and Melbourne’s arts scene becomes that much smaller.
Callum Linnane will be dancing the lead role in Oscar, which marks the Australian Ballet’s debut at the Regent. Credit: Jason South
We are already seeing the issues that occur when a major performing space is taken out of action in our CBD. The State Theatre closed for renovations early this year, and local and national arts companies have been forced to think laterally and find new places to perform.
We can see the impact on the surface: without the State Theatre, we’ve had Opera Australia perform in Margaret Court Arena and the Australian Ballet move to the Regent. What we can’t see are the knock-on effects, the quiet things being lost in between. With productions that would otherwise have been at the State Theatre occupying space in other theatres, we are losing out on shows that would otherwise have been performed simply because there is no space to put them on.
Yes, the arts are struggling, and it’s great that Reece has identified that the sector would benefit from more government assistance. But selling a major piece of Melbourne’s theatre landscape won’t help. If the military is struggling (as if), you don’t sell off your bases to buy better uniforms. If a school is struggling, you don’t sell off the buildings so you can fund weekend courses for students.
Reece’s plan demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of the true value of spaces like the Regent to Melbourne’s cultural identity and longevity.
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