Radio to Assist Declining Theatre

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 15, 24 October 1930, Page 5

Radio to Assist Declining Theatre

"THE once supreme attraction of the legitimate stage is fast declining the world over, a fact which has resulted in a proposal, made recently in London, that the British Broadcasting Corporation should devote a portion of its profits to the establishment and maintenance of a National Theatre. The blame for such a state of affairs is attributed to the advance of the talkies, and though radio is in no way included, it is felt that it ean assist materially in helping the stage to maintain its existence. The. committee appointed to investigate the mater suggests that the surplus received from wireless broadcasting, a sum amounting to about £300,000 annually, should be used to defray the cost of such a theatre. In other words, radio, once regarded as a serious competitor to the stage, now appears on the scene, like a fairy godmother, to prevent its complete dissolution.