MUNICIPAL THEATRES IN GERMANY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1024, 13 January 1911, Page 2

MUNICIPAL THEATRES IN GERMANY.

-« , '. SUPPORTING THE DRAMA. METHODS OF OPERATION. There recently appeared an account of the municipal theatre erected by the town of Freiburg at a cost of some .£200,000. Freiburg does not, of course, stand alone in its enterprise (writes a- contributor to ■ the "Manchester Guardian"). The "budgets of most large and many small German towns contain an item; greater or less according to local .--circumstances,/; .--'■ which is intended to coyer,"provision.'for' ' the intellectual lifo of the town." This item is independent' of expenditure on schools, and if .analysed will be" found often to include the maintenance of or subsidies to municipal'' theatres, bands, and orchestras, as-well as grants to_ dramatic and musical Societies of a miscellaneous order. In this provision the the- . atre takes an altogether dominant position, and - the fact -is _ significant as rellecting tho immense importance which in Germany is attributed to-tho drama aa, an educational and. elevating influence on. the life of the -community. Even mors would be dono by the'municipalities in this direction but for the fact that in • the State capitals the patronage of-the - drama is regarded as a tradition, and, indeed, - a duty, of tho reigning prince. - / Hence where Court theatres exist thero '■',;. is as a rule no need for municipal action. ' , In Berlin, for example, there is no muni- -1 ■" cipal theatre,, for there" are ' eo""t" ■ theatres; and the same principle holds'"; good in Dresden,' Munich, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Meiningen, and other capitals.

FIFTY CITY THEATRES. : . In their support of the drama thai German municipalities "follow three sys-' terns. Either the town (1) owns a theatre and works it, or (2) owns a theatre andj leases it, or (3) not owning a theatre, ,• subsidises theatres .in private hands, which are often entitled to describe themselves as "town theatres". (Stadttheater), subject to certain conditions intended to secure to the community a quiipro quo of a material or an ideal character. Mora than fifty German towns known to ma own theatres outright,. and tho average age of these theatres—as insitutiohs, not as buildings—is some fifty years. The list includes large towns like Frankfori-on-Mam, Leipzig, and Mannheim, which own two theatres each; Cologne, Aix-hi-Chapelle, Gharlottenberg, -Nuremberg, Dusseldorf, Bremen, Erfurt, Breslau, Halle, Magdeburg, and Strassburg, all ?- n )J™ K 'v l ™, a 'Population ■ exceeding IoU.UUO; but also comparativelv small towns such as Wurzburg,- with'a popu- ' fe °l B !'P' ('4,000), Irankfort-on-Oder (61,000),- and Liegintz (60,000), towns comparin" in size, say, with Kochdale, Warrington, Bootle! and Barrow. There are, however,, municipal theatres in several German towns with a population not larger than 30,000 -tor example, Oppeln, ijehweidnitz, and Keisse.

Mannheim and Freiburg are instance* ot the rare practice of. inuniciparnianagement, as distinguished from, ownership, of theatres. The usual practice is'to lease, the theatre to an actor-manager, though invariably on tho subsidy principle. This principle is applied in two ways.'- Either the theatre is leased at a low or nominal rent ami the lessee is left.to make the most ho can out of the enterprise ur a rent approximating to a commercial basis is-fixed and'the lessee'is giren an annual .subsidy-;-variations of-tiese-fwo methods are common. Naturally, the libfrailty of tho terms offered depends largely upon the extent and character of tha population to be served. The budite of forty-nine Prussian towns.(thirty-nine owning thcatres);for 1908 showed that iusl over .£100,0,10 was being granted in int and theatres in private hands, an aver, age. of some .£2OOO, the amounts from .£SO and- .£75 in Siegeu- and Neut" Safr "sp«Hveljr. to B jEist6so and .£24,80(1 , n FranL-fort-on-Maih 'and Col-

■ - A'UEEMBERG'S ENTERPRISE. '■''.'■ itfthea 1 ?™ 11^ 1 ' 3 "' l f Nu «niberg' J leasea its theatre to an actor-manager in return for tho payment.of 10 per cent of-tee S Pr T C r d t' *\ rent of. jSIaOO. The town bears the cost of all -important alterations to the. building,afso of fire msuranco. and the: fire- br "ade service' and half the-cost of-the "ate? P r A.'^? t , only ' so ' but "■' certain- 'sunt is contributed yearly to the improvement of decorations, furniture; and fitting .ana tha general conveniences of tho theatre. Nuremberg's first town theatre went back to 1631; the present bnildW was- completed in 1905—it has over 1400 seats, besides a considerable amount of standing-room, and its cost ■ exceeded .£200,000. Tho- town also maintains a band,- and it liberally subsidises another band m return--for; its undertaking to gne a certain, number of free open-air concerts in.the summer months ani '•all concerts at a. low price.' '-. •■'■: In Cologne the theatre director is paid a fixed salary of and .£SO extra for every .£l5O by which the municipal subsidy falls below ■•JEGOOO,.. to' a maximum salary of .£1250 (which can only M Z "tl-M. f ™'% th . e ? übsi(J y is "duced to AdoUU. the lirturt municipal theatre i« leased to a private entrepreneur for- ■£6oit per annum, on condition-that the'profits, alter payment of this rent, are divided between the town and the-, lessee,' the latter first taking .EGSO and .one-third of tho. balance, while the whole of the remainder goes to. the town.... During tho summer months,,, when, the tneatfe i 3 closed, the town pays to each member-of tho chorus who , has no . summer engasrementof a retainer of .£2 10s., and'-fo each' member of the orchestra half this amount.

LOW ADMISSION CHARGES.

Naturally conditions are attached to thegranting, of municipal help to actormanagers in this way. In the main these • conditions are intended to' regulate ■ charges and to'ensure the observance of a high standard alike in. the choice of ' dramas and in' their, presentation. In ': many cases a minimum of performances ig • stipulated, and in most towns a number of performances at popular prices- • have to be given for the benefit of the '. .working, classes and of children attending the elementary schools. The charge'for ■ admission to these popular performances varies from l}d. to Bcf.—the scholars are sometimes admitted free. The contract between the municipality of Bielefeld and ■ the lessee of the town theatre stipulates . for the "presentation of dramas, operas, and operettas in specified number and sequence, and requires performances at low prices lo be given on Saturdays for tho special benefit of with "small incomes. Tho municipality.of Hamburg ' assigns the sum of .£125 towards the cost ; of performances for children in the senior ; classes of the primary schools, these per- ': formances being arranged by the Theatre ; Committee of tie Teachers' Union. The tickets are sold to the children at the ' price of 3d. or are distributed free ac- '■ cording to circumstances. The town also pays S'3so towards the cost of popular performances on Sunday afternoons. The ■ tickets for theso performances cost Gd. and 2Jd. (for seats and standing places , respectively), and are distributed by tho • trade unions and other associations in. . touch with the working classes. ' •

in some towns the municipal theatres are on easy terms placed at the disposal of trade councils and' other workingclass organisation for the purpose of performances at popular prices. • It will hardly be understood in England that these performances are almost invariably confined; to classical works (dramas .of Goethe, Schiller, and Shakespeare are almost equally in favour) or modern plays of tho highest standard. The pries of admission is as low as sixpence, and however these theatres • may be attended at other times the popular performances! aro invariably crowded.